PAUL REVERE'S REAL MIDNIGHT RIDE
Paul Revere (1734-1818) was an American silversmith and patriot who had an important role in the first days of the American Revolution. His bravery is well known to American school children, who still read the 1861 poem 'Paul Revere's Ride' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Revere's ride took place the night of April 18–19, 1775, before the battles of Lexington and Concord. Revere and William Dawes had been instructed by Joseph Warren to ride from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the movements of the British Army, which they believed was going to arrest Hancock and Adams and seize the weapons stores in Concord.
When the army began its move across the Charles River toward Lexington, Warren sent Revere across the Charles River to Charlestown, where he could ride to Lexington. while Dawes was sent the long way around to Lexington.
In the days before, Revere had instructed Robert Newman, the sexton of the Old North Church, to set lanterns out as a signal in case he couldn't complete his ride. As school kids know, the code was 'one if by land, two if by sea', according to the British Army's movements. Newman and Captain John Pulling briefly held two lanterns, since the British were crossing the Charles River.
Revere rode through present-day Somerville, Medford, and Arlington, quietly warning patriots that the British were coming, so as not to alert spies. As many as 40 other riders took off in other directions to spread the news. Samuel Prescott also rode to raise the alert.
The warning successfully allowed the colonial militia to repel the British troops in Concord, who were attacked by guerrilla fire along the road back to Boston. Hancock and Adams were also successfully warned.
The famous opening lines of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem are:
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
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