In front of the First Church of Salem, left to right, Charlie Newhall, Jonathan Streff, Charles Thorland. The reenactors held a virtual celebration of the event this year.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
SALEM â A regiment of British regulars, bayonets flashing atop their muskets, waited until Sunday services were full and the streets were empty on Feb. 26, 1775. They had sailed from Boston, hiding below deck, before leaving a troop ship in Marblehead and marching to neighboring Salem.
Their mission resembled one fatefully ordered two months later for Lexington and Concord: Seize the weapons the restive colonists had been hoarding and hiding as the threat of war grew ever more ominous.