Paul Revere Statue

Paul Revere Mall

The statue was designed by Boston Artist Cyrus Edwin Dallin in 1883 and he spent 16 years working on it (1899). The statue was not displayed until 1940. If you go by this statue when one of Boston’s sports teams is in a championship series/game, Paul will be donning a shirt of the team playing for the trophy.

As for his infamous ride, the poem from 1860 immortalized a few myths and misconceptions.

Myth – Paul Revere sent the signal or was waiting in Charlestown to receive the signal. Fact – He set up the alarm system with lookouts and couriers who reacted and sent the signal. Paul Revere received notice directly from Dr Joseph Warren then crossed the harbor slipping past the HMS Somerset warship into Charleston and rode from there.

Myth - Paul Revere was shouting “The British are coming.” Fact – Locals considered themselves British and would’ve found this confusing. He shouted, “The Regulars are coming out” Which referenced the Regular Army not the State Militia.

Myth - Paul made it all the way to Concord. Fact - He was arrested near Lincoln while both William Dawes and Samuel Prescott made it all the way to Concord.

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Paul Revere was a very active man (See Paul Revere House) and also worked as a courier for the patriot cause (See Green Dragon Tavern). He helped establish a colonial alarm system. When not carrying messages , the couriers would monitor British movements in occupied Boston, relaying their movements to Patriot leaders. They failed to react in time to protect the Somerville powderhouse. However, on the very day that Anglican Pastor Mather Byles Jr resigned his post at Old North Church the British were spotted moving out on a mission to capture and destroy the cache of weapons stored in Lexington/ Concord to prevent them from falling into the colonist hands as well as arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

This time Dr Joseph Warren gave the order to sound the alarm, then sent for Paul Revere and William Dawes to ride out. They departed around 10pm with around 40 other men (including one woman) in differing directions. This was around the same time the two signal lanterns briefly showed from the Old North Church steeple, a prearranged signal designed by Revere to alert the alarm network across the Harbor. The famous “one if by land, two if by sea” signaled that the British would be rowed across Boston harbor instead of marching out over the neck. (See Old North Church)

Paul crossed the harbor (now filled in as the Back Bay) to get on a horse that had already been prepared for him. Even before Revere landed, the alarm was already spreading across the countryside. Upon reaching the Charlestown shore, Revere mounted and began his ride to Lexington. Passing through the towns of Somerville, Medford, and Menotomy (Arlington), Revere did not yell “the British are coming!”, instead accounts show that Revere passed the message of “the Regulars are coming out.”

As Revere passed through, more alarm riders rode out, signal guns fired, church bells rang, all alerting the countryside to the coming threat. As the alarm spread, Minutemen grabbed their weapons and headed for town greens, followed by the rest of the Militia.

By the time the British finished unloading at Cambridge, the alarm had already reached Concord; Revere’s network had worked splendidly this time. As the British column moved out, they could hear the signals sounding across the countryside, a foreboding sound heralding a hostile country.

Revere’s famous ride ended on the outskirts of Lincoln, when he, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott ran into a British patrol. While Dawes and Prescott escaped, Revere was captured and his horse confiscated. There his ride ended. Prescott managed to make it home to Concord and alerted the town. Before the British arrived, the weapons had already been raided and the colonists’ intricate alarm system had summoned local militia of Concord, Acton, Bedford, and Lincoln to ambush them.

As the British marched into Lexington, they faced a small company of 70 men killing 7 and wounding one as the small group immediately retreated and soldiers continued on to Concord where they faced much larger numbers blocking North Bridge and fighting ensued. Major Buttrick of Concord shouts, “For God’s sake, fire!” and the militia respond, killing 3 British soldiers and wounding 9 others. This volley is considered “the shot heard round the world” and sends the British troops retreating back to Boston where they are attacked from all sides by swarms of angry militia along what is now known as Battle Road. There were 1,500 British men who faces 3,960 Americans throughout the running fight from Lexington to Boston. Americans had 93 casualties compared to British 300. After that patriot militia all swarmed together as discordant rabble into Boston numbering 20,000 and George Washington organized the camp into the Continental Army.

-Source Links-

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/paul-reveres-ride-legends-myths-and-realities

https://professorbuzzkill.com/paul-revere-myths/

https://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/midnight-ride-of-paul-revere.html

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/the-five-riders/ details on a few other riders including a 16 year old girl