The ride of Paul Revere is originally attributed to April 18th; however, the majority of the events surrounding it took place overnight, into the wee hours of the morning, then ultimately into mid-day of April 19, 1775, when the Battle of Lexington took place. I hope y’all enjoy this. I revisit this moment in history each year because it shows how ONE ORDINARY MAN can make a huge difference.
Patriots’ Day…
A friend once asked: “How do you celebrate Patriots’ Day?” Which, perhaps, should spur me to share my own thoughts on this day of consequence.
Many are familiar with the poem Paul Revere’s Ride, however, far fewer know that Paul Revere actually memorialized the events of the April 18 and 19, 1775, in an eight-page letter written several years later.
Each Patriots’ Day I remind myself to read his letter from a copy handed down, and I think about how Paul Revere was really just a common man of otherwise undue significance…. yet, capable to the task at hand.
To me everything about the heart of Revere, which you can identify within his own writing, is what defines an American ‘patriot’.
There is no grand prose, there is no outlook of being a person of historical significance, there is just a simple recollection of his involvement, an ordinary man in extraordinary times.
Unsure if anyone else would enjoy I have tracked down an on-line source for sharing and provide a transcript below (all misspelling is with the original).
Paul Revere personally recounts his famous ride. – In this undated letter, Paul Revere summarizes the activities surrounding his famous ride on 18 April 1775. He recounts how Dr. Joseph Warren urged him to ride to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of British troop movements. He arranged to signal the direction of the troops with lanterns from Old North Church, and then had friends row him across the Charles River borrowing a horse for his ride.
Revere wrote this letter at the request of Jeremy Belknap, corresponding secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Revere signed his name to the letter but then wrote above it, “A Son of Liberty of the year 1775”, and beside it, “do not print my name.” Nonetheless, the MHS included Revere’s name when it printed the letter in 1798.
EXPLORE THE DOCUMENT – Or Read the incredible transcript below:
Dear Sir,
Having a little leisure, I wish to fullfill my promise, of giving you some facts, and Anecdotes, prior to the Battle of Lexington, which I do not remember to have seen in any history of the American Revolution.
In the year 1773 I was imployed by the Select men of the Town of Boston to carry the Account of the Destruction of the Tea to New-York; and afterwards, 1774, to Carry their dispatches to New-York and Philadelphia for Calling a Congress; and afterwards to Congress, several times.* [This asterisk points to a note in the left margin written by Jeremy Belknap: “Let the narrative begin here.” ]
In the Fall of 1774 & Winter of 1775 I was one of upwards of thirty, cheifly mechanics, who formed our selves in to a Committee for the purpose of watching the Movements of the British Soldiers, and gaining every intelegence of the movements of the Tories.
We held our meetings at the Green-Dragon Tavern. We were so carefull that our meetings should be kept Secret; that every time we met, every person swore upon the Bible, that they would not discover any of our transactions, But to Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, & one or two more.
About November, when things began to grow Serious, a Gentleman who had Conections with the Tory party, but was a Whig at heart, aquainted me, that our meetings were discovered, & mentioned the identical words that were spoken among us the Night before. We did not then distrust Dr. Church, but supposed it must be some one among us.
We removed to another place, which we thought was more secure: but here we found that all our transactions were communicated to Governor Gage. (This came to me through the then Secretary Flucker; He told it to the Gentleman mentioned above).
It was then a common opinion, that there was a Traytor in the provincial Congress, & that Gage was posessed of all their Secrets. (Church was a member of that Congress for Boston.) In the Winter, towards the Spring, we frequently took Turns, two and two, to Watch the Soldiers, By patroling the Streets all night.
The Saturday Night preceding the 19th of April, about 12 oClock at Night, the Boats belonging to the Transports were all launched, & carried under the Sterns of the Men of War. (They had been previously hauld up & repaired). We likewise found that the Grenadiers and light Infantry were all taken off duty.
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From these movements, we expected something serious was [to] be transacted. On Tuesday evening, the 18th, it was observed, that a number of Soldiers were marching towards the bottom of the Common.
About 10 o’Clock, Dr. Warren Sent in great haste for me, and beged that I would imediately Set off for Lexington, where Messrs. Hancock & Adams were, and acquaint them of the Movement, and that it was thought they were the objets. When I got to Dr. Warren’s house, I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington – a Mr. Wm. Daws.
The Sunday before, by desire of Dr. Warren, I had been to Lexington, to Mess. Hancock and Adams, who were at the Rev. Mr. Clark’s. I returned at Night thro Charlestown; there I agreed with a Col. Conant, & some other Gentlemen, in Charleston, that if the British went out by Water, we would shew two Lanthorns in the North Church Steeple; if by Land, one, as a Signal; for we were aprehensive it would be dificult to Cross the Charles River, or git over Boston neck.
I left Dr. Warrens, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the Signals. I then went Home, took my Boots and Surtout, and went to the North part of the Town, where I had kept a Boat; two friends rowed me across Charles River, a little to the eastward where the Somerset Man of War lay.
It was then young flood, the Ship was winding, & the moon was Rising. They landed me on Charlestown side. When I got into Town, I met Col. Conant, several others; they said they had seen our signals. I told them what was Acting, & went to git me a Horse; I got a Horse of Deacon Larkin.
While the Horse was preparing, Richard Devens, Esq. who was one of the Committee of Safty, came to me, & told me, that he came down the Road from Lexington, after Sundown, that evening; that He met ten British Officers, all well mounted, & armed, going up the Road. I set off upon a very good Horse; it was then about 11 o’Clock, very pleasant. After I had passed Charlestown Neck, got nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on Horse back, under a Tree.
When I got near them, I discovered they were British officer. One tryed to git a head of Me, & the other to take me. I turned my Horse very quick, & Galloped towards Charlestown neck, and then pushed for the Medford Road. The one who chased me, endeavoring to Cut me off, got into a Clay pond, near where the new Tavern is now built. I got clear of him,
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and went thro Medford, over the Bridge, & up to Menotomy. In Medford, I awaked the Captain of the Minute men; & after that, I alarmed almost every House, till I got to Lexington.
I found Mrs. Messrs. Hancock & Adams at the Rev. Mr. Clark’s; I told them my errand, and inquired for Mr. Daws; they said he had not been there; I related the story of the two officers, & supposed that He must have been stopped, as he ought to have been there before me.
After I had been there about half an Hour, Mr. Daws came; after we refreshid our selves, we and set off for Concord, to secure the Stores, & there. We were overtaken by a young Docter Prescot, whom we found to be a high Son of Liberty. I told them of the ten officers that Mr. Devens mett, and that it was probable we might be stoped before we got to Concord; for I supposed that after Night, they divided them selves, and that two of them had fixed themselves in such passages as were most likely to stop any intelegence going to Concord.
I likewise mentioned, that we had better allarm all the Inhabitents till we got to Concord; the young Doctor much approved of it, and said, he would stop with either of us, for the people between that & Concord knew him, & would give the more credit to what we said.
We had got nearly half way. Mr Daws & the Doctor stoped to allarm the people of a House: I was about one hundred Rod a head, when I saw two men, in nearly the same situation as those officer were, near Charlestown. I called for the Doctor & Daws to come up; were two & we would have them in an Instant I was surrounded by four; – they had placed themselves in a Straight Road, that inclined each way; they had taken down a pair of Barrs on the North side of the Road, & two of them were under a tree in the pasture. The Docter being foremost, he came up; and we tryed to git past them; but they being armed with pistols & swords, they forced us in to the pasture; -the Docter jumped his Horse over a low Stone wall, and got to Concord.
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I observed a Wood at a Small distance, & made for that. When I got there, out Started Six officers, on Horse back, and orderd me to dismount;-one of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from, & what my Name Was? I told him. it was Revere, he asked if it was Paul? I told him yes He asked me if I was an express? I answered in the afirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston? I told him; and added, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River, and that There would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up.
He imediately rode towards those who stoppd us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop; one of them, whom I afterwards found to be Major Mitchel, of the 5th Regiment, Clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name, & told me he was going to ask me some questions, & if I did not give him true answers, he would blow my brains out.
He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then orderd me to mount my Horse, after searching me for arms. He then orderd them to advance, & to lead me in front. When we got to the Road, they turned down towards Lexington. When we had got about one Mile, the Major Rode up to the officer that was leading me, & told him to give me to the Sergeant. As soon as he took me, the Major orderd him, if I attempted to run, or any body insulted them, to blow my brains out.
We rode till we got near Lexington Meeting-house, when the Militia fired a Voley of Guns, which appeared to alarm them very much. The Major inquired of me how far it was to Cambridge, and if there were any other Road? After some consultation, the Major
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Major Rode up to the Sargent, & asked if his Horse was tired? He told answered him, he was – (He was a Sargent of Grenadiers, and had a small Horse) – then, said He, take that man’s Horse. I dismounted, & the Sargent mounted my Horse, when they all rode towards Lexington Meeting-House.
I went across the Burying-ground, & some pastures, & came to the Revd. Mr. Clark’s House, where I found Messrs. Hancok & Adams. I told them of my treatment, & they concluded to go from that House to wards Woburn. I went with them, & a Mr. Lowell, who was a Clerk to Mr. Hancock.
When we got to the House where they intended to stop, Mr. Lowell & I my self returned to Mr. Clark’s, to find what was going on. When we got there, an elderly man came in; he said he had just come from the Tavern, that a Man had come from Boston, who said there were no British troops coming. Mr. Lowell & myself went towards the Tavern, when we met a Man on a full gallop, who told us the Troops were coming up the Rocks.
We afterwards met another, who said they were close by. Mr. Lowell asked me to go to the Tavern with him, to a git a Trunk of papers belonging to Mr. Hancock. We went up Chamber; & while we were giting the Trunk, we saw the British very near, upon a full March.
We hurried to wards Mr. Clark’s House. In our way, we passed through the Militia. There were about 50. When we had got about 100 Yards from the meeting-House the British Troops appeard on both Sides of the Meeting-House. In their
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In their Front was an Officer on Horse back. They made a Short Halt; when I saw, & heard, a Gun fired, which appeared to be a Pistol. Then I could distinguish two Guns, & then a Continual roar of Musquetry; When we made off with the Trunk.
As I have mentioned Dr. Church, perhaps it might not be disagreeable to mention some Matters of my own knowledge, respecting Him. He appeared to be a high son of Liberty. He frequented all the places where they met, Was incouraged by all the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, & it appeared he was respected by them, though I knew that Dr. Warren had not the greatest affection for him. He was esteemed a very capable writer, especially in verese; and as the Whig party needed every Strenght, they feared, as well as courted Him.
Though it was known, that some of the Liberty Songs, which We composed, were parodized by him, in favor of the British, yet none dare charge him with it. I was a constant & critical observer of him, and I must say, that I never thought Him a man of Principle; and I doubted much in my own mind, wether He was a real Whig. I knew that He kept company with a Capt. Price, a half-pay British officer, & that He frequently dined with him, & Robinson, one of the Commissioners. I know that one of his intimate aquaintances asked him why he was so often with Robinson and Price? His answer was, that He kept Company with them on purpose to find out their plans.
The day after the Battle of Lexington, I came across met him in Cambridge, when He shew me some blood on his stocking, which he said spirted on him from a Man who was killed near him, as he was urging the Militia on. I well remember, that I argued with my self, if a Man will risque his life in a Cause, he must be a Friend to that cause; & I never suspected him after, till He was charged with being a Traytor.
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The same day I met Dr. Warren. He was President of the Committee of Safety. He engaged me as a Messinger, to do the out of doors business for that committee; which gave me an opportunity of being frequently with them.
The Friday evening after, about sun set, I was sitting with some, or near all that Committee, in their room, which was at Mr. Hastings’s House at Cambridge. Dr. Church, all at once, started up – Dr. Warren, said He, I am determined to go into Boston tomorrow – (it set them all a stairing) – Dr. Warren replyed, Are you serious, Dr. Church? they will Hang you if they catch you in Boston. He replyed, I am serious, and am determined to go at all adventures.
After a considerable conversation, Dr. Warren said, If you are determined, let us make some business for you. They agreed that he should go to git medicine for their & our Wounded officers. He went the next morning; & I think he came back on Sunday
evening.
After He had told the Committee how things were, I took him a side, & inquired particularly how they treated him? he said, that as soon as he got to their lines on the Boston Neck, they made him a prisoner, & carried him to General Gage, where He
was examined, & then He was sent to Gould’s Barracks, & was not suffered to go home but once.
After He was taken up, for holding a Correspondence with the Brittish, I came a Cross Deacon Caleb Davis;-we entred into Conversation about Him;-He told me, that the morning Church went into Boston, He (Davis) received a Bilet for General Gage-(he then did not know that Church was in Town)-When he got to the General’s House, he was told, the General could not be spoke with, that He was in private with a Gentleman; that He waited near half an Hour,-When General Gage & Dr. Church came out of a Room, discoursing together, like
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like persons who had been long aquainted. He appeared to be quite surprized at seeing Deacon Davis there; that he (Church) went where he pleased, while in Boston, only a Major Caine, one of Gage’s Aids, went with him.
I was told by another person whom I could depend upon, that he saw Church go in to General Gage’s House, at the above time; that He got out of the Chaise and went up the steps more like a Man that was aquainted, than a prisoner.
Sometime after, perhaps a Year or two, I fell in company with a Gentleman who studied with Church -in discoursing about him, I related what I have mentioned above; He said, He did not doubt that He was in the Interest of the Brittish; & that it was He who informed Gen. Gage That he knew for Certain, that a Short time before the Battle of Lexington, (for He then lived with Him, & took Care of his Business & Books) He had no money by him, and was much drove for money; that all at once, He had several Hundred New Brittish Guineas; and that He thought at the time, where they came from.
Thus, Sir, I have endeavoured to give you a Short detail of some matters, of which perhaps no person but my self have have documents, or knowledge. I have mentioned some names which you are aquainted with: I wish you would Ask them, if they can remember the Circumstances I alude to.
I am, Sir, with every Sentment of esteem,
Your Humble Servant,
Paul Revere
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society
“The Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775,” Oil on canvas by William Barns Wollen, 1910.
I have had the opportunity to visit several times the Concord Bridge and the battle sites in Lexington. Tremendously moving for any Patriotic American. Be a challenge to find as many like minded Patriots today in those Massachusetts fields,
Regrettably, I’d have to concur with that observation.
I’ve attended the Lexington Patriot Day re-enactment and celebration, which is held every year. The night before, Paul Revere’s ride to the house where Adams and Hancock were is re-enacted with close attention to historical detail. The actual house is used. Then at 5a.m. the first battle is re-enacted on the Lexington Green, with British soldiers and the Minutemen with their muskets, and the women running from their houses to their fallen men after the British march off toward Concord. It is incredibly moving. The Green is surrounded by so many spectators that it’s difficult to find a place where you can see. Historic inns are open for tours throughout the day, and in the afternoon there’s a big parade through Lexington.
People come from all over to these celebrations; inns and hotels are jammed. My sister lived a few houses away from the Adams/Hancock house and a short walk from the Green, so we were right there and didn’t have to think about lodging or parking. It was simply wonderful to be there. Six of my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, so the event was that much more meaningful to me.
I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised. Media’s primary mission is to ‘…make the big things look small and make the small things look big,’ per Sun Tzu. Consider the consistent, blowout attendance at PDJT’s rallies and the media treatment thereof.
Walt Disney made a movie in 1957 about the Boston Tea Party and the Sons of Liberty called “Johnny Tremain”
Paul Revere was portrayed in the movie.
Today’s woke Disney would never make that movie!
Or if they did, Paul Revere would be a tranny, and perhaps black.
Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah.
So true!
Yep, already a new movie coming out with a black woman playing the greek Queen Cleopatra. Isn’t it sad that they think so little of their race, and they prefer to play a famous WHITE person. Oh..the irony. That is rascism in itself on their side, and they are to shallow to even realize that.
I would strongly encourage you to read the book entitled the same, Johnny Tremain. It is an absolutely wonderful intimate view of the goings-on leading up to the night of April 18th and 19th 1775.
It was a favorite book in grade school.
The absence of American history being taught & songs sung in today’s America, is not accidental.
Love Yankee Doodle Dandy! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Wow, this amazing letter makes one realize what danger they were all facing.
I remember hearing about Paul Revere’s ride as a child in school, and even hearing that famous poem read by a teacher, however I do not ever remember reading or hearing read this letter. Of course after jr high school with California’s public school system already deteriorating we didn’t hear much more about Paul Revere, or the Revolution.
I count myself fortunate to have had at least two ancestors who helped out in the Revolution. So many these days who mock and scorn our country (whIle enjoying the benefits and blessings of being an American) have no idea of the battles these early Americans went through.
Thank you for sharing this.
No truer words, Liz!🇺🇸🇺🇸
And those who won our Independence were outmanned, out armed but absolutely roared with the determination to be Free!
I believe they would fight the same war against the lazy, blasé scum that have taken over this Country today!
I had never heard of this letter either. My ggg grandfather, Major James Carter, was killed by the British during the Siege of Augusta in 1780. He was Col. Elijah Clarke’s adjutant.
These Patriots risked everything for freedom. At the time these brave Patriots were facing down the super power of the day and by their actions they would be summarily executed.
Actions by regular folks made the difference and will make a difference today. Our commonality will be their demise.
The method of divide & conquer is a cheap swamp technique attributed to Julius Caesar, this to keep us fighting each other while they finish us off.
Please Lord bring us all together as we face these demons again and like Paul Revere all do our part to save our great nation, set aside our petty differences and unify all Americans against a common foe, for our children and grandchildren.
Thank You Lord!
Amen
Amen, Amen, Stan!
My ancestors did not put their lives on the line to allow some misguided politician to claim the right to lock us up over a pretend emergency.
With respect, your ancestors did not have as their antagonists, several million employees of government at every level. These people, even if they consider themselves patriots, will consider their JOBS/RETIREMENT BENEFITS much more important than their Country, so that they can keep their toys, and trappings.
In all likelihood, this applies to Union members to a considerable degree.
My school-days impression of these historical American patriots has been the only impression I’ve had as an adult. The history books of elementary school and high school gave me the impression that Paul Revere and his compatriots were highfalutin upper-class types. This letter puts paid to that false impression. To be named as a “high Son of Liberty” sounds like a good enough epitaph for anybody. Thanks for a real history lesson, Sundance.
“Sons of Liberty” is an American television miniseries dramatizing the early American Revolution events in Boston, Massachusetts, the start of the Revolutionary War, and the negotiations of the Second Continental Congress which resulted in drafting and signing the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It originally was on the History channel but can be ordered as a DVD, Sons of Liberty, 2015.
Another good drama/history about the revolution period is the film, “The Crossing” (1999) which tells the story of General Washington’s crossing the Delaware River on Christmas, fighting and defeating the Hessian British troops in Trenton, New Jersey. Jeff Daniels, as George Washington, has to overcome many obstacles, including traitors within his own general corp (sound familiar, as in pennnnceee).
I had an opportunity, several decades ago, to dine at a restaurant overlooking the spot of the crossing. Relatives on both sides of my family fought on the side of the patriots during the revolution war so this film illustrated some of the tough times they endured to win our freedom.
It is our responsibility to “pay them forward.”
“Let’s go Brandon the democrats and the GOPe, especially the DeXX gang!”
I believe it’s time for us to meet at the Tavern
My gr.gr grandfather several times removed, John Greenwell, came to America [Maryland] in 1640 as an indentured servant. His 5th generation gr.grandson was Bennet Greenwell born in 1761; and joined the Maryland militia as a minuteman on 12/8/1777. He served in the Light Horse cavalry guarding the Chesapeake Bay, between the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and along the Maryland seashore. It is said that this was the same unit that Paul Revere started with. He recalled his duty “was keeping good lookout for British vessels and maintaining two good horses in the stable to carry expresses to the troops nearest the station, until the surrender of Cornwallis”. His pension for his service [#16,391] was allowed on 2/28/1833; $40 per annum. On another side of the family is the clan McAtee from Ireland that fought with William Wallace and because of that were stripped of all lands and most older males put to the sword. Not much love for the Brits in this family; nor many current politicians except our great PDJT!!!!! CG
Thanks for sharing your family story, Craig. Very interesting. My daughter has done research into our family’s history to prove that she should be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I don’t have the details but I also know that my ancestor was on the original Mayflower. It was the Scots/Irish who fought with William Wallace. Now I understand where my fierce patriotism comes from.
All I know is that since my ancestors came to America the country has gone to hell…… 😉
Hey, a fortune! (approx. $1300. today)/s.
We celebrated Patriots Day with trip to the gun range.
My grandsons first grade class did a presentation, a kind of show and tell about different Americans from that time period. He did Paul Revere so this was of great interest to me and to share with him and my wife.
I was in fourth grade when our parents made a family vacation from the Boston Freedom Trail walk about. They made learning so much fun with stories on the radio in between stops. The buildings were so huge to me and That trip and adventures made US History one one my favorite subjects in school. Thank you Sundance for bringing back some happier memories. Makes me so grateful they were just ordinary individuals, used for a mighty cause.. Are we as tough as they were?
Even though the Patriots were fewer in number than the Loyalists, there was probably a higher patriotic percentage of the population back then than there is today. I mean people ready to make a sacrifice for their country.
Plenty of snakes back then, too, but nothing like the Biblical multitudes of them today.
Thanks Sundance. I put up the narrative about Paul Revere’s dog helping him on the night of his famous ride. It seems to me that God has his fingerprints all over events in the lives of our Founders.
This would be a great event for someone like Mel Gibson to do. “The Shot Heard Round the World.”
Given the BS money-losing films woke-wood is making it would net a great return for anyone that produced it.
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.
He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war:
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers
Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed to the tower of the church,
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,—
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, “All is well!”
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,—
A line of black, that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed on the landscape far and near,
Then impetuous stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height,
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!
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 that flies 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.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer’s dog,
And felt the damp of the river-fog,
That rises when the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.
You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,—
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard-wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,—
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
This poem is in the public domain.
Thank you TS. Hopefully, history repeats itself.
Such beautiful people. They were all of the same passion, to gain their full freedom. Revere was a very intelligent man and a great silversmith. These patriots were just beautiful men. So sad, that the guys in gop are doing their best to not slow down the destruction. They don’t even have to fear for their lives like these men did, their only fear is being called names and not obeying orders from their master puppet in rino party.
This group will enjoy this book, for all the right reasons – Angel in the Whirlwind (Bobrick):
https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Whirlwind-Triumph-American-Revolution/dp/B098TW1JSJ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1BHC885492NUK&keywords=benson+bobrick&qid=1682028792&s=books&sprefix=benson+bobrick%2Cstripbooks%2C129&sr=1-6
Captain John Parker is my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great uncle on my father’s side. My wife and I visited Lexington several years ago and walked down Battle Road to Parker’s Revenge. Those guys were heroes. This letter from Revere is a testament to their bravery. God bless them.
What I think is extraordinary about this letter is that Revere gives us a clear personal example of a traitor, that has been later confirmed by British files.
They walk amongst us…
There’s a fine musical-poetry video of Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride: The Landlord’s Tale”.
Traitor. That sticks out this year.