'Journee de Lexington', 2 June 1774

From a volume, 'Receuil d'Estampes representant les Different Evenements de la Guerre qui a procure l'Independence aux Etats Unis de l'Amerique, 1775-1783', of 17 line engravings by F Godefroy and N Ponce, published by N Ponce and Godefroy, Paris, 1783 (c).

This French propaganda print depicts British Redcoats fleeing from American militiamen. In fact, the militia withdrew first following a brief skirmish with few casualties on either side. More importantly, the fighting was politically disastrous for the British. The violence turned a colonial revolt against British economic policy into the American War of Independence (1775-1783).