Introduction

There were multiple opportunities for the war to break out over the winter of 17 74 75. The one that finally did the trick was general thomas gage's attempt to bring all the guns and powder in new england under his control. Town militias would often store their guns and ammunition in collective cashes. It was a race to see who could withdraw the powder from those cashes first without provoking the other side to start shooting. Before lexington and conquord, there were three big incidents of this type.