Evening star., 1925-04-19
15Oth Anniversary Of Historic Ride
OfPaul Revere Is Observed Today
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in land randP Gunpow

Boston, ana many OF the leading clll-
zens went, to live in the nearby
towns in order to escape the close
presence of the British troops. Thus
it was that the Provincial Congress
met in Concord, apd that Samuel
Adams and John Hancock, upon
whose heads the crown had set
price, were in Concord by day and
in Lexington by night, staying in the
home of the Rev. Jonas Clarke. There
eyed patriots. of whom DIR. Joseph
Warren seems to have been the
leader and director, working through
the Sons of Liberty so effectively that
no slightest move of the British mill
tary escaped notice, and that the
Provincial Congress in Concord was
kept in the closest touch with all
events taking place in Boston. Dr..
Warren selected for his right-hand
man in this service Paul Revere,
whose efficiency as an express had
been tested to the full satisfaction of
the patriots.
On the evening of April 10, l775,
~ the vigilants observed that a new
order had been issued to the British
camp, for the grenadiers and light
infantry were off duty and all the
boats belonging TO the transports
were launched. 1t could, by way of
deduction, mean but one thing, that
the redcoats were preparing to march
to Lexington and Concord to capture
Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
whom they would hang as traitors,
and to destroy the military supplies
gathered In those places.
With the utmost dispatch, DIR.
Warren sent message by Paul Re
we're to Lexington to Hancock and
Adams. warning them of what was
about to take place. The importance
of this ride has been almost COM
pletely overlooked. for the committee
of safety and supplies, under the di-
rection of the two leaders, set prompt
ly to work to apportion the supplies
of war to some eight towns, and to
take precautions to conceal by burial
and other means what equipment they
had been able to get together. More
over, they must have aroused the
minutemen to an understanding
of the imminence of the British move.
ment, for the large number of en-
battled farmers that met the redcoats
in Lexington and in Concord, and who
haraSSed them so mercileSSly on their
return to Boston, could not have been
warned by Revere in his midnight
ride of the 18th of April. Moreover
the safeguarding of the supplies of
war was of inestimable value.
1t is supposed that, in this instance.
Paul Revere logged along in a most
leisurely and object-deceptive manner.
going by day along the road upon
which British soldiers would be met:
thus the ride, marked by no dramatic
touches, was ignored by both his
torians and poets. How vastly diff
ferent was to be the ride begun on
the 18th of April
The British were at last ready to
move their men against the rebels.
The Somerset man-of-war had been
swung mid-stream in the Charles
River to prevent any one lea wing Bos-
ton without permission from the
armed forces. and as a possible pro-
lection to the transports that were to
carry the soldiers across the river TO
CharleStown or Cambridge in order
to save them the long march by way
of Boston Neck The Sons of Liberty
were not asleep: they reported all
these last-minute preparations to DR.
Joseph Warren, who sent in hot haste
for Paul Revere.
Before Revere reported to Dr. War:
rem. so urgent was the need for an
undelayed warning being transmitted
to Adams and Hancock. that Warren
dispatched a William Dawes upon the
same errand, giving him a fair start
over the second rider. There was
much wisdom in the employment of
two men in the same errand, for the
roads were under British patrol. as
events proved, and one or the other
of the expresses was liable to capture
Indeed, both were captured, but es-
capped in time to deliver the message
with which they had been intrusted,
fortunately for the leaders of the re-
bellion. Perhaps 1t is best to let Paul
Revere tell his own story at this
point, a story which we shall inter
rupt more than once:
About 10 o'clock, Dr. Warren sent
in great haste for me, and begged
that l would imediately set off for
Lexington, where Messrs. Hancock
and Adams were, and acquaint them
OF the movement, and that it was
thought they were the objects. When
/ got to DIR. Warren'S house, I found
he had sent an express by land to
LeXington,-a Mr.. William DAVIS
The Sunday before, by desire of DR..
Warren, l had been to Lexington,
to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, who
were at the Rev. Mr. Clark's. l re-
turned at night through Charlestown;
there I agreed with a Colonel Conant
& some other gentlemen that if the
British went out by water, we would
shew two Lanthorns in the North
Church steeple; and if by land, one, as
signal; for we were apprehensive
it would be difficult to cross the
Charles River. or git over Boston
Neck.
Il left DIR. Warren, called upon
friend, and desired him to make the
signals. | then went home, took my
boots and SurtOut, went to the north
part of the town, where 1 had kept
a boat; two friends rowed me across
Charles River. a little to the east
ward where the Somerset man-of- war
lay. 1t was then young flood, the
ship was winding. & the moon was
rising. They landed me on the
Charlestown side
When l got into Town, I met Col
onel Conant, & several others; they
said they had seen our signals. I
told them what was acting, & went
to git me horse. l got a horse of
Deacon Larkin. While the horse was
preparing, Richard Devens, Esq, who
was one of the Committee of Safety,
came to me, & told me that he came
down the road from Lexington, after
sundown, that evening: that he met
10 British officers, all we'll mounted,
& armed, going up the Road
X x X
gee how evident it is that Paul
Revere wasted no time looking
for or waiting for any signals from
the church tower Indeed, it would
appear that he never looked back to
see whether the lanterns were there
or not. Why should he, knowing as
he did the full particulars of the plans
of the British? Moreover his words
indicate that the lanterns were shown
FRI h Ct =