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Revere, Paul: The Midnight Ride

 The Real Story of Paul Revere’s Ride:




In 1774 and 1775, the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety waged 'Paul Revere' as an deliverer to carry news, messages, and copies of important documents to New York and Philadelphia.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren called Paul Revere and gave him the task of riding to Lexington, Massachusetts, with the news that British soldiers based in Boston were about to march into the countryside northwest of the town. According to Warren, these troops planned to arrest 'Samuel Adams' and 'John Hancock', the  two leaders of the 'Sons of Liberty', who were staying at a house in Lexington. It was believed that they would then continue to the town of Concord, to seize or ruin military stores gunpowder, ammunition, and several cannons that had been stocked there. In fact, the British troops had no orders to arrest anyone  Dr. Warren’s intelligence on this point was faulty but they were enormously on  a major mission out of Boston. Revere contacted an unidentified friend (probably 'Robert Newman', the sexton of Christ Church in Boston’s North End) and told him to hold two lit lanterns in the tower of Christ Church (now known as the Old North Church) as a signal to fellow Sons of Liberty across the Charles River in case Revere was unable to leave town.

The two lanterns were a predecided signal stating that the British troops lined up to row 'by sea' across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than march 'by land' out Boston Neck. Revere then stopped at his own house to pick up his boots and overcoat, and headed to the shortest distance to Boston’s North End waterfront. There two of his  friends rowed him across the river to Charlestown. proceeding from the British warship 'HMS Somerset' in the darkness, Revere landed safely. After informing Colonel Conant and the rest of the local Sons of Liberty about recent events in Boston and verifying that they had seen his signals in the North Church tower, he borrowed a horse from 'John Larkin' (who was a Charlestown merchant and a patriot sympathizer). While there, a member of the Committee of Safety 'Richard Devens' notified Revere that there were a number of British officers in the area who might try to intercept him.

At about 11 o’clock Revere rode off on horseback. After narrowly avoiding capture just outside of Charlestown, Revere changed his arranged route and rode through Medford, where he warned Isaac Hall ( the captain of the local militia of the British movements). He then alarmed almost all the houses from Medford, through Menotomy (today’s Arlington) — cautiously avoiding the Royall Mansion whose property he rode through (Isaac Royall was a well-known Loyalist) — and arrived in Lexington after midnight.

In Lexington, as he arrived at the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, Sergeant Monroe, who was guarding outside the house, asked that he should not make so much noise. 'Noise!' cried Revere, 'You’ll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!'.   John Hancock, who was awake, heard Revere’s voice and said 'Come in, Revere! We’re not afraid of you'. He entered the house and delivered the message.

About half past twelve, William Dawes, who had traveled the longer land route out of Boston Neck, arrived in Lexington carrying the same message as Revere. After both men refreshed themselves, they decided to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts to verify that the military stores were properly scattered  and hidden away. A short distance outside of Lexington, they were caught up by 'Dr. Samuel Prescott', who they determined was a fellow high Son of Liberty. A short time later, a British patrol caught all three men. Prescott and Dawes escaped; while Revere was held for some time, questioned, and released. Before he was released,  his horse was taken away to replace the tired mount of a British sergeant. Left alone on the road, Revere returned to Lexington on foot in time to witness the concluding part of the battle on Lexington Green.


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