If you know nothing else about Paul Revere, you know that he was an American patriot who hopped on his horse to warn colonial militias that “The British are coming! The British are coming!”
One of the fascinating things about history is what survives the decades after certain historical events, and how. So much of history is lost due to the fact that many who were involved or who witnessed it never talked about it, or wrote about it, or didn’t live to do either. Meanwhile, other events take on larger-than-life status over time, and the story may eventually not even resemble what actually occurred.
So, who was Paul Revere, and what was it about his ride?
He was born in Boston in 1735, the son of a French protestant immigrant father named Apollos Rivoire. His mother was Deborah Hitchborn, born in Boston herself. His father trained Paul to be a silversmith, and he earned a reputation as one of the more talented artisans in New England.
Revere created trophies, spoons, teapots, church silver, and engravings, some of which reflected his own political leanings. Some of his engravings were actually used in the propaganda campaigns to strengthen and grow the resistance to British rule in the colonies. His most famous creation, “The Bloody Massacre in King-Street,” featured the Boston Massacre of 1770 in a way that was so dramatic, it influenced public opinion throughout the colonies.
Historians have said that while it doesn’t depict an accurate reflection of the event, it captures the spirit that Revere wanted to convey. It features a line of British soldiers firing their muskets into an American crowd, along with a poem said to be written by Revere himself.
He had his hand in many business ventures, from copperplate engraving and military supply production to dentistry. After the Revolutionary War, he would get into the business of industrial copper manufacture.
Before the war, Revere was already a member of the Sons of Liberty. He attended meetings at the Green Dragon Tavern, and he became a trusted messenger for the movement. Revere won the trust of several key figures in the revolution, including Samuel Adams, who relied on him to deliver some of their more sensitive communications into the colonies.
He played a role in the creation of an intelligence-gathering and sharing system. The network monitored British troop movements and created signals, such as the now legendary “lantern plan” at Boston’s Old North Church. This is where lanterns were used to signal whether British troops were traveling over land or by water.
The Real Story
And so, on the night of April 18, 1775, Revere’s plan and his ride would do more than make him famous; they would make him a legend. There is some debate on whether Revere himself climbed the ladder to the steeple of the Old North Church. The consensus is that it was more likely that church sexton Robert Newman and Capt. John Pulling placed the lanterns.
According to the plan, two lanterns were placed at Old North Church’s steeple to signal that British forces were marching to Lexington and Concord “by sea” across the Charles River. (“One if by land; two if by sea.”)
This set into motion an entire system for communication, which involved riders spreading out across the region to deliver the warning. Revere crossed the Charles River, and then he began his midnight ride.
Dr. Joseph Warren had summoned Revere and instructed him to ride to Lexington, Mass., to deliver the news that the British army was on its way. They had intelligence that the army was planning to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were known to be staying in town at the time. Concord was next, where the army had planned to destroy patriot stockpiles of gunpowder, ammunition, and cannon. It turned out that the information on what the British were planning to do was inaccurate, but it was correct that they were on a major mission.
In fact, Revere was not alone on his ride. William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott joined him. A British patrol actually intercepted all three along the way. Dawes and Prescott got away, but Revere wound up being held, questioned, and released – without his horse. He had to walk to Lexington, but he made it in time.
By the time the British got to Lexington in the morning, local militia met them with muskets and cannon, marking the start of the Revolutionary War.
Revere did not shout, “The British are coming!” He didn’t shout at all.
For one thing, historians are quick to point out that at this time, colonists were themselves considered British. When Revere got to the people he needed to reach (Samuel Adams and John Hancock), he discreetly told them that “regulars” (regular army troops) were coming. He then went on to Concord to warn about British plans to seize and destroy their stockpiles.
Related: 'America 250' Tuesday: Spreading Word of the Revolution to All 13 Colonies
During the war, Revere served as an officer. After the war, he became a very successful businessman. He founded the first big copper-rolling mill in the United States, the Revere Copper Company. It provided the copper sheathing for navy boats, including the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”). He also produced church bells, cast iron stoves, and other metal products.
In 1861, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which firmly placed Revere into the category of American legend, his ride now a part of the lore of a nation. The poem has been critiqued for its historical inaccuracies, but for our purposes here, I include an excerpt to pay homage to Revere, Longfellow, and the American spirit associated with the actual events that took place:
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.’…
