Musket balls found near famed Revolutionary War bridge tied to iconic phrase ‘Shot Heard Round The World’

Archaeologists found a handful of musket balls near a famed Revolutionary War bridge in Massachusetts — and they were likely fired by a colonial militia during a skirmish that later inspired the legendary phrase, “The Shot Heard Round the World.”

The five bullets — which range from the size of a pea to the size of a marble — have survived the centuries buried in the dirt near the North Bridge in the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts, according to the New York Times.

An analysis of the 18th century ammunition revealed the lead balls weren’t just dropped there, either.

Each bullet was fired at British soldiers as they formed up to storm the bridge on April 19, 1775, in a fight commemorated 62 years later in a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson — who coined the famous phrase about the war’s first shot.

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“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,” Minute Man Park Ranger and historic weapons specialist Jarrad Fuoss said in a statement from the National Park Service.

“These musket balls can be considered collectively as ‘The Shot Heard Round the World,’ and it is incredible that they have survived this long,” he continued. “It is also a poignant reminder that we are all stewards of this battlefield and are here to preserve and protect our shared history.”

Archaeologists found the pieces as they were surveying the park to make sure a $27 million maintenance project — which will prepare the battlefield for the war’s 250th anniversary next year — wouldn’t disturb any fragile cultural resources, according to the Times.

On that day centuries ago, about 800 British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord to seize munitions and military supplies gathered by the colonial rebels, the park service said.

But thousands of militia members tried to stop the soldiers after they were woken up by riders like Paul Revere, who called to groggy townspeople that the “regulars” were coming.

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The British routed the militia during a brief encounter on Lexington Green, then headed to Concord Bridge.

That’s where the militia shined, sending volleys into the charging British troops that sent them fleeing back to the town — and set the stage for a running battle that hounded the redcoats all the way back to Boston.

The archaeologists’ big find was the first time NPS workers had discovered something directly related to the day’s fighting, Fuoss said.

“It is a reminder of how fragile the landscape can be,” said David Wood, the curator of Concord Museum who was there when the musket balls were found.

“You don’t always think of the fact they were still there, even though the fields had regularly been plowed for two centuries,” he said. “The slightest thing could have swept them away, and then you would never know.”

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Found pieces like discarded flints, fired musket balls or other artifacts of the Revolution give historians a glimpse into what actually happened that day, Wood said.

“This is the virtue of archaeology, when it tells us things no other record reveals,” he said.

Concord — about 20 miles northwest of Boston — still has a number of homes standing that were present during the Revolution, the Times said. Its museum has on display a number of pieces from that period.

The little lead balls, which ranged from .40 caliber to .70 caliber, show telltale marks that they’d been fired, not dropped — including rubbing, scrapes and gunpowder residue.

They were likely made in the months before the fight, as houses in the area were stockpiled with locally-produced ammunition, Fuoss said.

But none appear to have hit their target, he added — they’re missing the deformities that come from a speedy impact.

Three British soldiers died during the brief fight, Wood added. Two Minutemen were also shot dead.

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