where did fighting first occur between the british and the american colonists
American Revolutionary War On April 18, 1775, 700 troops were sent to confiscate militia ordnance stored at Concord.[94][95] Fighting broke out, forcing the regulars to conduct a fighting withdrawal to Boston. Overnight, the local militia converged on and laid siege to Boston.[96] On March 25, 4,500 British reinforcements arrived with three senior generals; William Howe, John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton.[97] On June 17, the British seized the Charlestown peninsular after a costly frontal assault,[98][99] leading Howe to replace Gage.[100] Many senior officers were dismayed at the attack which had gained them little,[101] while Gage wrote to London stressing the need for a large army to suppress the revolt.[102] On July 3, George Washington took command of the Continental Army besieging Boston. Howe made no effort to attack, much to Washington's surprise.[103] After a plan to assault the city was rejected,[104] in early March 1776, the Americans fortified Dorchester Heights with heavy artillery captured from a raid on Fort Ticonderoga.[105] On March 17, the British were permitted to withdraw unmolested, sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington then moved his army to New York.[106]