“Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”

— “Concord Hymn” Ralph Waldo Emerson

On April 19, 1775, tensions between the American colonists and the British government climaxed, resulting in the first military engagements of the American Revolution. Militiamen from nearby towns came to aid the local colonists to push the British regulars back to Boston. Ralph Waldo Emerson captured the significance of the battles of Lexington and Concord with his phrase “the shot heard round the world.” Nothing was ever the same as the colonists took the first steps toward revolution and independence. 

In just a few short months, the Continental Army—the precursor to the U.S. Army—was formed on June 14, 1775. The minutemen who joined together against the British regulars began America’s fight for independence. Honor the spirit of those brave minutemen and join the Lexington & Concord Society to help support the National Museum of the United States Army.

As the battles of Lexington and Concord represented the beginning of the American Revolution, the Lexington & Concord Society provides you the opportunity to join an elite circle of donors who support the National Army Museum at its beginning. Make your mark and ensure the history and heritage of our American Soldiers is preserved in perpetuity; to create a museum that will carry on the proud tradition and values of the U.S. Army from its inception.