On a misty morning in Lexington, muskets ring out, recalling first shots of Revolutionary War

British soldiers fired their muskets during the re­enactment of the Battle of Lexington early Monday morning.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

Hours before a wave of Boston Marathon runners took off at the race’s starting line in Hopkinton, thousands in Lexington were awake.

Before dawn Monday, crowds gathered on Lexington Common to commemorate 248 years since the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, reenacting a skirmish between Colonial militia and British soldiers that resulted in the “shot heard ’round the world” and kick-started a fierce seven-year war for independence from British rule across all 13 US colonies.

American militia lost the Battle of Lexington, but the reenactment serves as an annual celebration of American revolutionary soldiers on Patriots Day. The event is organized by the Lexington Minute Men, an independent military organization formed by the Massachusetts Governor’s Council in 1689. The Minute Men have sponsored the reenactment since 1971, only taking a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

The skirmish took place in the early hours of April 19, 1775, and involved more than 3,500 American militia men and 2,100 British redcoats, leaving eight dead and 10 wounded. This year, the battle had more than 220 reenactors that rehearsed for months in advance: 77 Lexington Minute Men as American Colonists and more than 150 British historians as British soldiers.

Dressed in Colonial garb, a family participated in the reenactment, including youngest member Teagan McWeeney, 7, of Nashua, N.H., who waited before dawn for the battle to begin.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

The Lexington Militia, including the role of drummer William Diamond, waited for the British to arrive.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

Several members of the Lexington Militia lay dead and wounded amid clouds of smoke from musket fire during the re­enactment.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

Adam McClellan, of Tewksbury, and his daughter Charlotte, 6, waited to watch the historical action unfold before their eyes before the reenactment began.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

A woman who portrayed the wife of a militia man wounded in battle ran out after the skirmish to attend to her husband on the battlefield.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

Alex Elverum, 11, Emilia Elverum, 9, and Elle Roell, 11, all of Lexington, pretended to mourn the death of Samuel Hadley after the battle that left several Lexington Militia dead.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

It was a misty morning in Lexington in the pre-dawn hours for the reenactment of the Battle of Lexington.Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff