The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

On the afternoon of April 18, 1775, a 13-year-old boy, Sam Ballard, overheard two British officers talking about a raid to Lexington and Concord to arrest revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

Ballard headed to the Green Dragon Tavern - secret headquarters of the rebel group known as The Sons of Liberty - and told the landlord what he had heard. The landlord sent a messenger to Paul Revere’s house.

Upon receiving the message, Revere began his storied 20-mile journey. Built in 1680, The Paul Revere House, where Revere lived for 30 years (1770-1800), is the oldest dwelling in Boston. It is the only colonial building of this type to survive in the heart of an American city.

In the days before April 18, Revere had instructed Robert Newman, the sexton of the Old North Church, to send a signal by lantern to alert colonists in Charlestown as to the movements of the troops when the information became known. One lantern in the steeple would signal the army's choice of the land route, while two lanterns would signal the route by water across the Charles River. This was done to get the message through to Charlestown in the event that both Revere and Dawes were captured. On the night of April 18th, Newman and Captain John Pulling momentarily held two lanterns in the Old North to indicate that the British soldiers were in fact crossing the Charles River that night. (Wikipedia)

At about 10 p.m. Revere rowed across the Charles River, directly under the guns of an English ship. He used a pieces of cloth to muffle the sound of his oars. Dawes was sent the long way around, via the Boston Neck and the land route to Lexington. (Wikipedia)

In Charlestown, associates tipped off by the lanterns provided Revere with a swift horse named Brown Beauty, and he set off for Lexington. (Wikipedia)

Riding through present-day Somerville, Revere warned patriots along his route - many of whom set out on horseback to deliver warnings of their own. By the end of the night there were probably as many as 40 riders throughout Middlesex County carrying the news of the army's advancement. (Wikipedia)

In Medford, Revere stopped at the house of Isaac Hall, Captain of the Medford Militia to warn him of the British march. He then proceeded to Menotomy (present day Arlington).

Revere continued his ride warning the colonials, but he did not shout the famous phrase later attributed to him (''The British are coming!''), largely because the mission depended on secrecy and the countryside was filled with British army patrols; also, most colonial residents at the time considered themselves British as they were all legally British subjects. Revere's warning, according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere's own descriptions, was ''The Regulars are coming out!''. (Wikipedia)

Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight, with Dawes arriving about a half hour later. Samuel Adams and John Hancock were spending the night at the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, and they spent a great deal of time discussing plans of action upon receiving the news. Revere and Dawes, meanwhile, decided to ride on toward Concord, where the militia's arsenal was hidden.

Revere and Dawes stopped at the Buckman Tavern before setting off to Concord. They were joined by Samuel Prescott, a doctor who happened to be in Lexington returning from a lady friend's house at the awkward hour of 1 a.m. (Wikipedia) The Buckman Tavern was also the gathering place of the Lexington Militia who faced the British Regulars at Lexington Green on the morning of the 19th.

Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were detained by British troops in Lincoln at a roadblock on the way to Concord. Prescott jumped his horse over a wall and escaped into the woods; Dawes also escaped, though soon after he fell off his horse and did not complete the ride. Revere was detained and questioned and then escorted at gunpoint by three British officers back toward Lexington.

As morning broke and they neared Lexington Meeting-house, shots were heard. The British officers became alarmed, confiscated Revere's horse, and rode toward the Meeting-house. Revere was horseless and walked through a cemetery and pastures until he came to Rev. Clarke's house where Hancock and Adams were staying. As the battle on Lexington Green continued, Revere helped John Hancock and his family escape from Lexington with their possessions, including a trunk of Hancock's papers. (Wikipedia)

Prescott knew the countryside well even in the dark, and arrived at Concord in time to warn the people there. The warning allowed the militia to prepare for the British troops on there way to Concord and confront them at the Old North Bridge in the famous first battle of the American Revolutionary War.