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 Han**** that British troops were marching to arrest them. After being rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. While in Charlestown, he verified that the local "Sons of Liberty" committee had seen his pre-arranged signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck. Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend, as he was afraid that he might be prevented from leaving Boston).

On the way to Lexington, Revere "alarmed" the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. As he approached the house where Adams and Han**** were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!" After delivering his message, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.



REVERE AND DAWES RIDE:
April 18, 1775

In Massachusetts, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Han****, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Han**** and rouse the Patriot minutemen.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from England to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and upon learning of the British plan Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. Taking separate routes in case one of them were captured, Dawes left Boston by the Boston Neck peninsula, and Revere crossed the Charles River to Charlestown by boat. As the two couriers made their way, Patriots in Charlestown waited for a signal from Boston informing them of the British troop movement. As previously agreed, one lantern would be hung in the steeple of Boston's Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge. Two lanterns were hung, and the armed Patriots set out for Lexington and Concord accordingly. Along the way, Revere and Dawes roused hundreds of minutemen, who armed themselves and set out to oppose the British.

Revere arrived in Lexington shortly before Dawes, but together they warned Adams and Han**** and then set out for Concord. Along the way, they were joined by Samuel Prescott, a young Patriot who had been riding home after visiting a friend. Early in the morning of April 19, a British patrol captured Revere, and Dawes lost his horse, forcing him to walk back to Lexington on foot. However, Prescott escaped and rode on to Concord to warn the Patriots there. After being roughly questioned for an hour or two, Revere was released when the patrol heard minutemen alarm guns being fired on their approach to Lexington.

Cont...

 

Cont...
Around 5 a.m., 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington's common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the "shot heard around the world" was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun.

Pic compliments of http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/
http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/Rui...n%20statue.jpg

Also on this day in history

Remember the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. (1943)
Remember the massacre at Waco (1993)
Remember the OKC Retalliation for Waco (1995)
Elian Gonzales was taken from his cousin and repatriated to Que---bah(2000)


Today has true significance for freedom around the world. As you go through your day please keep the brave men who gave us this country in your thoughts or take a moment of silence to meditate on the importance of what they did and what they risked to give it to us.

 

I love that story....its fun to tell it to the kids....we home school so we had them act it out...they loved it.

 

You're a great American vader.

 

Some would disagree

I let my 7 year old play with toy guns and run around "shooting" each other. I've had people mention to me "aren't you concerned with that behavior?"

"Heck no....you see how he has camouflaged himself with the bushes and covered both entry points to the back yard....you cant teach that, thats instinct..."



little crapper actually ambushed me one time.

 

We dug forts, played army, played cowboy and Indians (I liked being an Indian) and had all kinds of toy weapons. We made guns that shot strips of innertubes and chased each other with them. We had BB guns, and then I got a 22 rifle when I was 12. I have never felt the desire to kill any one nor even point a weapon at anyone. About the only violence I have been involved with was one night as my wife and I were out walking. It was late and a pickup with 2 punks came by and tried to see how close to us they could get. Just out of reaction, I ripped the drivers side mirror off as he went by. He did not come back. My point is, respnsibility and good citizenship are taught. That can be taught even while kids play with toy guns. Maybe even better, if you think about it.

 

Ever had a chance to attend the re-enactment? It's usually cold as winter when i go, though it's not bad this year. Draws a huge crowd every year, you have to get there around 3:30-4:00 in the morning for a good spot, but worth it. The historical society has some great houses from that day to tour also.

 

I would love to do that. I love historical stuff. I really enjoyed the Texas Ranger Museum at Waco. They have recently opened a Civil War Musem in Fort Worth, looking forward to going there. I would love to see some of the colonial historical museums and reenactments.

 

Never been but when my boy gets a little older we'll go down to Williamsburg, VA. It is a great place to see history alive.

 

I'd have to really plan to see the events in Boston, but it sounds cool.


I have had the good fortune to live in the cradle of America's begining, well the southern part anyway.

Like I said in a previous thread, my family arrived here sometime between 1683 and owned land, slaves, cattle, and horses by 1733. One of our former family homes, that remains standing, is on the National Register of Historical Homes in America. Sadly it was sold out of the family in the 1940's. Beautiful house on the water too. I now live in Norfolk in the Hampton Roads area. Some serious shiat went down in this area over our history. Fort Monroe, fortified in 1609 was my last official Army Duty station. The casemate there saw all kinds of history. Robert E. Lee worked on it as a LT in the Army, he never attacked it. President Lincoln watched a naval battle there and even departed from there, went across the river to Norfolk, landed and directed troops during a battle. Jefferson Davis was held in a cell in that very casemate, I have seen it with my own eyes. To the right, up the James river was the battler of the Monitor and Merrimack (ironclads). Further up the road is Yorktown, we all know the historical part that town played. Hop on the Colonial Parkway and go to Jamestown where it all started. Next year is the 400th anniversary of the town. Go on up to Williamsburg and walk the streets that some of our Founding Fathers walked, see the same buldings they saw, and drink hot buttered rum in one of the taverns. It's hard to be more connected with history short of being a living history actor. My job is to make sure my kids see those sites when the grow older and understsand their importance.


If I finish my ECO-201 homework I'll post some pics of Yorktown that I took a while back.

 

That's some seriously cool stuff. My family has only been here since the early 1900's, so it was pretty easy to follow. I'm glad I live on the east coast, there is so much here, especially if you live in one of the original 13, there's two houses from 1640 within two miles from my house that are still in use, and so many other sites. Unfortunately I waited until I was almost 40 to be interested in this and am still going to many places. You're right about getting your kids involved, choosing the right time is tough.

 

On this day last month (march 19) I won my two jackpots at Casino Windsor.

 

While that all well and good, it sorta pales in comparison.

 

Sorry.