'Concord - The First Blow for Liberty', (1877). American patriots going off to fight the British. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (Arlington), and Cambridge. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. From "Our Country: a Household History for All Readers, from the Discovery of America to the Present Time", Volume 2, by Benson J. Lossing. [Johnson & Miles, New York, 1877]