Archeologists unearth musket balls from first battles of Revolutionary War
Archeologists with the National Park Service found musket balls fired during one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)
CONCORD, Mass. - Archeologists with the National Park Service made a remarkable discovery after finding musket balls fired during one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War.
An examination of the five musket balls, ranging in size from a pea to a marble, indicates that colonial militia members fired them at British forces on April 19, 1775.
This discovery of the musket balls is the most ever found from that fight when militia leaders ordered their men to fire on government troops.
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The event led to the fight intensifying and was later called the "shot heard round the world" by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1837 "Concord Hymn," per the NPS.
"It’s incredible that we can stand here and hold what amounts to just a few seconds of history that changed the world almost 250 years ago," Jarrad Fuoss, a Minute Man Park Ranger and historic weapons specialist, said in an NPS release. "These musket balls can be considered collectively as ‘The Shot Heard Round the World,’ and it is incredible that they have survived this long. It is also a poignant reminder that we are all stewards of this battlefield and are here to preserve and protect our shared history."
Archeologists with the National Park Service found musket balls fired during one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)
According to the Associated Press, musket balls were previously found in the historic park of about a thousand acres outside Boston, which marks a series of opening battles of the American Revolution.
Archeologists with the National Park Service found musket balls fired during one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)
In 2014, roughly 30 musket balls were found at the site known as Parker's Revenge, where the Lexington militia company led by Capt. John Parker ambushed British troops. And in the early 19th century, Henry David Thoreau walked in the area and found a few musket balls from what is believed to be the North Bridge fight.
A war reenactment is performed at Minute Man National Historical Park. (National Park Service)
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.