Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five,
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.” -from “Paul Revere’s Ride”
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-1860
Wait a minute, Longfellow, you’ve left out some people; quite a few people actually. Paul Revere wasn’t out there by himself in the middle of the night yelling “the British are coming! the British are coming!” Many courageous men risked their lives 251 years ago to stop the British. It reads like a thriller, actually.
April 18, 1775: It’s late. Sons of Liberty leader Dr. Joseph Warren sees that the British are preparing for a march into the countryside. He tasks 30 year old William Dawes to ride from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the danger of their arrest. Dawes rides out just before the British seal the town, and all the roads out of it.
Dr. Warren knows he can trust William Dawes. Hasn’t Dawes been a member of the Boston militia since he was 23? Just last September when the British were about to confiscate four small cannons from Boston’s militia artillery company didn’t Dawes help secure them? Wasn’t it Dawes and some others that snuck two small cannons out through the back window of a building, right under the nose of the British grenadier guarding them?
Dr. Warren also tells Paul Revere to arrange for riders to warn of the British army route. Revere does this with lanterns hung in the Old North Church. To make sure the message gets through, Revere rows across the river in the darkness and starts riding westward himself.
It’s midnight: Dawes and Revere meet up on the road in Lexington, successfully warning Sam Adams and John Hancock that the British are coming to arrest them. After Adams and Hancock make a quick exit, Revere and Dawes ride towards Concord to complete their second mission: to warn provincial officials there that the British are also coming to confiscate or destroy the armaments the militia has been stockpiling for defense.
It’s 1 AM: Samuel Prescott, a physician and patriot, is headed home to Concord after visiting a lady friend. He encounters Dawes and Revere on the road. When he hears about their mission, he offers to assist them, pointing out that he’s known to the area of residents and they’ll be more likely to believe a warning coming from him rather than strangers. The three men knock on doors, warning residents all the way to Lincoln, Massachusetts.
It’s 2 AM: a British mounted patrol waits on the road in Lincoln not far from Concord. Other riders heading west have already been arrested. They see Dawes, Revere, and Prescott and order them to halt. The three men take off in different directions, hoping at least one will escape. Revere is captured. Dawes races to a nearby farmhouse yelling that he’s lured two British officers there. The officers stop chasing him, fearing they’ll be ambushed. Dawes gets thrown off his horse and has to walk back to Lexington. Prescott takes off towards a stone wall, jumps his horse over it and disappears into dense woods. He rides through woods and swamps, emerging at the Hartwell Tavern. The Hartwell family, in turn, race off to warn others. One of those is Captain William Smith, commander of the Lincoln minutemen. He orders the town bell rung to muster the company, alerting houses in Lincoln and sending other riders off to alert other towns. As soon as Prescott gets to Concord, the Concord First Parish church bell is rung alerting the town. Samuel Prescott completes the second mission given to Revere and Dawes.
It’s early: before dawn, April 19. The alert keeps going. Prescott’s brother Able rides off to warn local militias and companies. He is wounded by the British but escapes capture. Minuteman and militia companies muster and march to Concord in time to engage the British army at the old North Bridge, the first battle in the American War for Independence.
“A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.”
-Longfellow
Link to the Poem - https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/1861jan/paulrev.htm
“Who Rode with You, Paul Revere?” was first published in www.sandinourshorts.blogspot.
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