MA, USA
Paul Revere and William Dawes Warn Lexington
April 19, 1775
Shortly after midnight on April 19, Paul Revere arrived at the Hancock-Clarke House to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British regulars were marching toward Lexington and Concord. William Dawes arrived approximately half an hour later, having taken a different route from Boston through Roxbury.
Revere had been rowed across the Charles River and obtained a horse in Charlestown. He spread the alarm through Medford, alerting households along the way. His ride was not a solo mission but part of an organized alarm network that brought hundreds of militiamen to the roads that morning.
After warning Adams and Hancock, Revere and Dawes continued toward Concord, joined by Dr. Samuel Prescott. British patrol captured Revere, but Prescott escaped to complete the warning to Concord.
People Involved
Boston artisan who became the Revolution's most famous messenger, riding to warn Lexington and Concord of the British approach on April 18, 1775.
The organizer who built the resistance movement in Boston through town meetings, correspondence committees, and strategic confrontations with British authority.
President of the Continental Congress who was staying at the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington on the night of April 18, 1775. Revere rode to warn him and Samuel Adams of the approaching British.