Minute Man National Historical Park, Mass

— National Park Service —

In September of 1774, Patriot leaders initiated a system of alarms and express riders to warn all towns whenever British troops marched out of Boston.

On April 18th, at about 10:00 in the evening, two riders set out from Boston ahead of 700 British troops. William Dawes took the land route south of Boston. Paul Revere crossed the Charles River, obtained a horse, and began his ride. They stopped in Lexington to warn Patriot leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams, then headed on to Concord, where military supplies for the colony were stored.

As he two men alerted the countryside, other towns sent more riders out into the night. About 4,000 Massachusetts Militia and Minute Men took up arms and arrived in time to fight on April 19th. By day's end, about 20,000 were on the march.

"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."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride (1861) has helped make the alarm rider an American icon.

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Show me all markers in:  Hanscom AFB, MA  |  Middlesex County  |  29687  |  Massachusetts  |  United States of America

End of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride
The Capture of Paul Revere
Weapon of the Day
Paul Revere Capture Site
Thorning Boulder
Josiah Nelson House
Thomas Nelson Jr. House
Minute Man Visitor Center
April 19, 1775-The Dawn of Revolution
Whittemore House

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