108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 149
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the celebration of Patriots’
Day and honoring the Nation’s first patriots.
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 149
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas on the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was
sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to
Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and
John Hancock that British troops were marching to ar-
rest them;
Whereas after leaving Charlestown on his way to Lexington,
Paul Revere alerted the inhabitants of the villages and
•HCON 149 EH
towns along his route, stopping in Medford (formerly
Mystic) at the home of Isaac Hall, the captain of the
Medford Minutemen during the Revolutionary War, be-
fore 
continuing 
on 
through 
Arlington 
(formerly
Menotomy) and arriving in Lexington around midnight;
Whereas William Dawes and a third rider, Dr. Samuel Pres-
cott, joined Paul Revere on his mission and they pro-
ceeded together on horseback to Lincoln;
Whereas while en route they encountered a British patrol
that arrested Paul Revere, but William Dawes and Sam-
uel Prescott managed to escape and continued on to Con-
cord where weapons and supplies were hidden;
Whereas the midnight ride of Paul Revere was brilliantly and
forever commemorated by the great American poet Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1861 poem ‘‘Paul Revere’s
Ride’’;
Whereas the actions taken by Paul Revere, William Dawes,
and Samuel Prescott afforded the Minutemen time to as-
semble to confront the advancing British troops and were
heralded as one of the first great acts of patriotism of
our nation;
Whereas 38 Lexington Minutemen boldly stood before 600–
800 British troops who had gathered at Lexington Green;
Whereas Captain Parker of the Lexington Minutemen com-
manded his men, ‘‘Don’t fire unless you are fired on; but
if they want a war, let it begin here.’’;
Whereas when the British continued onto Concord, a battle
ensued at the Old North Bridge, where Minutemen from
every Middlesex village and town routed the British and
forced them into retreat back to Boston;
•HCON 149 EH
Whereas Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized this moment in
American history as where ‘‘the embattled farmers stood
and fired the shot heard ’round the world.’’;
Whereas the United States has recognized the historic signifi-
cance of the Nation’s original patriots with the creation
in 1959 of the Minute Man National Historical Park, lo-
cated in Concord, Lincoln, and Lexington, Massachu-
setts, to preserve and protect the numerous significant
historic sites, structures, properties, and landscapes asso-
ciated with the opening battles of the American Revolu-
tion, and to help visitors understand and interpret the co-
lonial struggle for their rights and freedoms; and
Whereas the heroic acts of April 19, 1775, are celebrated in
Massachusetts and Maine every year as part of Patriots’
Day with a reenactment of Paul Revere’s famous ride,
battle reenactments and educational programs, parades,
and civic activities, and remembered by Americans across
the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
(1) expresses support for the annual celebration
of Patriots’ Day;
(2) recognizes the extraordinary dedication to
freedom demonstrated by the Nation’s first patriots
during the earliest days of the Battle for Independ-
ence in April 1775; and
•HCON 149 EH
(3) honors those first patriots who lost their
lives in defense of liberty and freedom.
Passed the House of Representatives April 29, 2003.
Attest:
Clerk.