Francis Smith (British officer)
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Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith was the British commander during most of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775.
Francis Smith in 1763
The battle ignited the
Revolutionary War that would see America become a separate nation. Smith was a member of His Majesty's
10th Regiment of Foot (its descendant is the
Royal Anglian Regiment in the modern
British Army). Smith ordered light infantry to move forward while he stayed with the main body of the expedition, thus he was not present at the skirmish in Lexington. Smith's regiment, the 10th foot, was present at both the Lexington Green and the North Bridge in Concord. Later promoted to Brigadier General, in late 1775. On the night of March 4, 1776 during a snow storm, British sentries on duty near the Boston Neck heard digging across the bay on Dorchester Hieghts. This was reported to Smith, who did not report this to his own superiors at the Province House. By dawn on March 5th the Americans now had a full breastworks constructed on the hieghts. The 10th Regiment served in the American Revolution until 1778.
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