From the Breeds Hill institute mailing list
April Revolutionary Calendar
Apr 1, 1789:
1st U.S. House of Representatives elects the 1st speaker of the House Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg.
April 3, 1776 Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels. Over 1000 ships will be granted letters of marque (commissioning them as privateers) during the Revolution
Apr 4, 1776:
Washington begins the march to New York
April 7, 1778 The U.S.S. Lexington becomes the first American ship to capture a British warship. Captain John Barry takes command of the captured HMS Edward.
Apr 10, 1778:
John Paul Jones sets out to raid British ships. Jones and his crew of 140 men aboard the USS Ranger set sail from the naval port at Brest, France, and headed toward the Irish Sea to begin raids on British warships. This was the first mission of its kind during the Revolutionary War.
Apr 12, 1770:
British repeal hated Townshend Act
April 13, 1743 Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd U.S. President is born.
Apr 14, 1775:
First American abolition society founded in Philadelphia
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage would later change their name to The Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage in 1784.
Apr 15, 1783:
Congress ratifies peace with Great Britain
The Continental Congress of the United States officially ratified the preliminary peace treaty with Great Britain that was signed in November 1782.
April 18, 1775 Paul Revere mades his famous midnight ride to warn of the approaching British forces. He did not yell "The British are coming" as made famous in story and song but rather "The regulars are coming" since the British soldiers were known as "regular troops". At the time all the Americans thought they were "British."
April 19, 1775 The American Revolutionary War Begins!
Seven hundred British troops out of Boston march toward Concord to confiscate the Colonial gunpowder arsenal. In Lexington the British find 77 armed minutemen standing in ranks on the town's common green as was their right. No one knows who fired the 'Shot heard round the world" but when the battle of Lexington was over eight Americans were dead and 10 more wounded. The American Revolution had begun.
April 21. 1775 The Gunpowder Incident
In Williamsburg Virginia under the orders of Governor Lord Dunmore, Royal Marines removed the colonist gunpowder from the Magazine. Citizens took to the streets in protest.
April 22, 1778 Captain John Paul Jones lead a raid on Whitehaven, England. Taking two small boats from the U.S.S. Ranger, Jones and his crew captured the southern fort. Jones was known for aggressively taking the fight back to the English homeland.
April 28 1758 James Monroe, Revolutionary war wounded veteran and later 5th U.S. President was born.