Shortly after sunrise on April 19, British troops approached Lexington, where they found sixty or seventy minutes of men under arms. No one saw the men marching and marching against, and no one could hear their feet in the soft grass. Armed American civilians who were active in the War of Independence and the period just before the war. They were called Minutemen because they were ready to fight alongside the regular soldiers at any time. The Massachusetts Minutemen were particularly well known. (See Battle of Lexington and Concord.) When the British heard gunfire in this direction, they rushed to find that their men were quickly falling under fire from the tiny men. About two hundred of them stood guard at the north bridge, while a group of tiny men gathered on a hill on the opposite side. Although he acted in the utmost secrecy, he was unable to hide his plans from the vigilant Minutemen. Other rumors circulating in the Phoenix area mention the murder of Minutemen or drug traffickers. She founded Minutemen American Defense a few years ago, ostensibly to protect America from «illegals.» .