Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Location: Zoom Virtual Lecture
Time: 7:00 pm (EDT)
This presentation addresses the events that led to, and the outbreak of, the armed conflict known as the Revolutionary War. Starting with resistance to British colonial policies that Americans perceived as arbitrary and violations of their liberty, and efforts to seek a redress of grievances, the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was declared to be in a state of rebellion by the British government. 
As a provisional shadow government prepared for a potential war against the British military occupation, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, commander in chief of his Majesty’s forces in North America and royal governor of Massachusetts, sent an expedition to destroy or confiscate arms, ammunition and military stores, and possibly capture patriot leaders, at Concord. On the morning of April 19, 1775, an encounter between American militia and British regulars on the village green in Lexington ignited what became the War for American Independence and led to the creation of the U.S. Army.
(At the conclusion, participants will better understand the constitutional crisis that led to rebellion and then revolution, the difference between militia and minutemen, and the strategy, tactics and conduct of the battle of Lexington and Concord. The material is based on research for the essay “Let It Begin Here!” in The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution (Regnery History, 2020).
Registration required. Registration closes one half hour prior to lecture.
Cost: $15 per household for General Admission; $10 per household for HA Members, Military, and HA Docents
Can’t watch the lecture live? We invite you to register; all registrants will receive a link to the recording of the lecture to watch at their convenience. The lecture recording will be available for two weeks. Live closed captioning is available for all lectures.
This lecture will be offered virtually by Zoom. Upon registration, you will be sent the link for the video conference to join on the evening of the lecture. If you do not receive your confirmation email after you register, please check your Spam folder, or email Cara Garside at cara.garside@annapolis.org. To learn more about Zoom and to download the app to your computer, visit the Zoom website.
About Our Presenter: Dr. Glenn F. Williams is a retired Army officer who entered public history as a second career. He is currently a Senior Historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Fort McNair, DC, where his previous positions included Historian of the National Museum of the U.S. Army Project and Historian of the Army Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration. He has also served as Historian of the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service, Curator/ Historian of the USS Constellation Museum, and Assistant Curator of the Baltimore Civil War Museum – President Street Station. He is the author of several books, including Year of the Hangman: George Washington’s Campaign Against the Iroquois (Westholme), recipient of the Thomas J. Fleming Award for the Outstanding Revolutionary War Book of 2005, and named one of “The 100 Best American Revolution Books of All Time” by the Journal of the American Revolution in the spring 2017 issue. His newest book, Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era, was released in May 2017. In 2018 he was recognized for contributions to the study of 18th Century American military history with the Shelby Cullom Davis Award of the Society of Colonial Wars and the Judge Robert K. Woltz Award of the French and Indian War Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Maryland, College Park.
The information contained in the HA Virtual Lecture series represents the historical research, views and opinions of the lecture presenter and may not represent the views or opinions of Historic Annapolis, Inc.