This sparked what became known as the Powder Alarm: on September 2, thousands of New England militiamen (with estimates reaching tens of thousands regionally) mobilized and marched toward Cambridge and Boston. Loyalists fled to the city for protection, but once the rumors proved false and the facts emerged, the militia dispersed without firing a shot. The incident served as a major “dress rehearsal” for the revolution, highlighting how quickly colonial forces could assemble in response to perceived threats and significantly heightening tensions in the lead-up to open conflict.
Tens of thousands! All summoned without any electronic communications. Just people riding from town to town sounding the alarm and the populace responding with their rifles and scatterguns.
Too bad that antifa isn’t put down like that.
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
They were “well regulated”: they had arms and knew how to use them.