The first battle was fought on Lexington Green in Lexington. General Gage, along with 700 British soldiers, marched there to find and destroy hidden weapons. However, they were met by 70 minutemen. The battle lasted only a few minutes, but 8 minutemen died and 9 were hurt. Only 1 British soldier had been injured, and the soldiers then went to Concord to seize supplies like food, guns, and ammunition, which were stored by the militia.