Posted by
DecoNservAtiVE on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:36:24 PM
It's time that we as Americans stood up for ourselves and
for those who came before us. It's time that we as Americans remember our
founders for who they were and not what our history books tell us they
were. It's time that we as Americans started teaching our children about
the reality of the founding of our nation. History books will tell our children
about Paul Revere's ride through the Massachusetts countryside. They will tell our children about him yelling
“THE BRITISH ARE COMING, THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” They will tell our children that people
dressed like Indians and threw English Tea overboard in Boston Harbor, that the
Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th (it was actually
signed on July 2nd), and that George Washington was our first
president. These are wonderful things
for our children to know, even if some of them are partly incorrect. It’s the stories that the history curriculums
“just don’t have time to tell” that we as Americans need to be telling our
children. It’s the story of HOW and WHY
the British came to Boston Harbor, and on to Concord and Lexington that REALLY
shows the brilliance, courage and sacrifice of Paul Revere, Dr. Warren, John
Hancock, Samuel Adams, etc.
The colonial uprising had already
begun. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress had been established and at the
head of it was John Hancock who resided in Concord, Ma. At 9PM on the night of April 18th
1775 Dr. Joseph Warren was, as many colonials were, lying in bed drifting off
to sleep. Dr. Warren was a well known,
well liked man who was active in colonial politics. In fact, his drafting of the Suffolk Resolves
caused the King of England to put a price on his head. He knew that at any moment the Redcoats may
knock at his door. It was late, and well
passed the time when the British had cleared the As he lay drifting to sleep,
there came a knock at his door. He knew
this could be it. The British Redcoats
had come to take him; he would never put it past the British to come at night, when
all were asleep. Instead of redcoats,
there stood a young man that Dr. Warren new well. Dr. Warren quickly ushered the young man
inside his home. “What are you doing
here? It’s well past curfew and you know if the British catch you..” he said
softly. The young man stopped him
before he could finish, speaking in hurried but hushed tones, “Dr. Warren, the
scene unfolding at the harbor warrants any such dangers. The Redcoats are massing, they’re dressed in
full battle dress with muskets and assembling.” Warren considered this. It was
not unexpected, in fact, he and others had planned for such an occurrence. He knew
that the British had learned of the cache of weapons and ammunition the
colonials had stored in Lexington and Concord. Warren knew that the British would march on those towns and that the
revolution would be stopped before it could begin. He knew he had to act now. He
said to the young man, “I want you to go and get two men for me, Paul Revere
and William Dawes, do you know them?” The young man replied that he did and he hurried off. 15 minutes later Dawes and Revere knocked
softly at Dr. Warren’s door. Dr. Warren
hurried them inside and explained his plan. Revere was to go into town and cross the Charlestown River. On the other side he would meet up with John
Larkin who had a horse named Beauty. She
was touted as the fastest horse in Boston. Dawes was to ride south out of Boston, taking the longer land route to
Lexington and Concord. It was safer and fewer
Redcoats patrolled south out of town and fewer still through the farmlands south
and west of Boston. In the event that Revere and Dawes were captured, Dr.
Warren had arranged for lanterns to be hung in the Old North Church, viewable
from across the Charles River. One
lantern would be lit if the British marched by land, and two if they were to
cross the river by boat. Both men departed with strict instructions to
carry their messages directly to Lexington and Concord. They were not to go home, not to tell anyone
what they were doing. Paul Revere
gathered two men to help him cross the river. As they ducked in and out of bushes, avoiding the many British patrols,
they noticed on this warm night that the moon was full. Another light was shining that night; in
fact, many of them were shining from the deck of a huge Man-O-War docked on the
river. Revere and his companions saw
that they had no choice but to cross the river here, and that they would cross
directly beneath the bow of the huge British ship. “We’ll never make it!” hushed one of the
young men. “We MUST make it.” uttered Revere. As they climbed into the boat they made a
pact that if they were seen, they would tip the boat over and swim as fast as
they could for the opposite shore. They
knew they would be caught or worse killed by the British. Before they set out, they became aware that
the ore locks were so loud that the British would surely detect them. One of Revere’s companions ran off, he
grabbed three pebbles and went to a nearby home. It was the home of a girl he knew and he
tossed those pebbles one at a time at her window. “Who is it?” the girl whispered after opening
her window. “It’s Tom, our ore locks are
noisy and we need something to quiet them.” The girl turned and when she came back she tossed down pairs of her
underwear. Tom stuffed them into the ore
locks and quieted them. The three
companions began to row their boat out into the river. As they got closer, less than 100 yards away,
the full moon shining down on them, their doubts only increased. Paul Revere whispered, “Keep your heads down,
do not let them see your white faces, only the hair on your head.” They were 50 yards from the huge warship when
they noticed something. It appeared they
were being assisted by someone else. A
single cloud had appeared in the otherwise empty sky. As the men rowed closer to the warship, the
cloud also began to pass in front of the full moon. The men were able to quietly slip unnoticed beneath
the hull of the huge ship and pass safely to the opposite shore. Here, Paul Revere met with John Larkin and
learned that the lanterns within Old North church had been lit. There was to be a river crossing of
Redcoats. Quietly, Revere was led out to
the stable where Beauty was kept. He
mounted her and set off for Lexington and Concord. He did not make it far out of eyeshot and
still within earshot of Larkin and Revere’s companions when the listeners heard
the British guards shouting, “Stop, ye rider or we will shoot you.” Revere rode harder, his head down as Larkin
and the others heard the muskets fire. Then
they heard the first of Revere’s cries, “THE BRITISH ARE COMING, THE BRITISH
ARE COMING.” Paul Revere road hard
through the Massachusetts night and he stopped at every town crying out to the
local patriots with those same four words. He rode all night, stopping only to alert the townspeople along his
route, of the advancing Redcoats. He
arrived in Lexington around midnight and met up with his counterpart
Dawes. He also found John Hancock,
Samuel Adams and Jonas Clark. He
delivered his message to the three leaders of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and resumed his ride, this time accompanied
by Dawes and a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Before the trio could ride the five
miles between Lexington and Concord, they encountered a roadblock manned by British
soldiers. Responding to the urgency of the moment, they proceeded to break
through. Prescott used his intimate knowledge of the countryside to his
advantage and successfully eluded capture - he was the only one of the three to
complete the journey and deliver the alarm to Concord. Dawes initially appeared to have escaped his
pursuers, but was thrown from his horse and captured. Revere was taken prisoner
and during his interrogation deliberately provided greatly inflated numbers of
militiamen awaiting the British at Concord. During the ride back to Lexington,
Revere and his captors heard shots fire and church bells ring throughout the
area — events that gave some credence to Revere’s report of colonial
preparations. Fearing for their safety, the Redcoats released Revere, but Revere’s
horse had been used to replace the tired mare of a British officer. Revere was given the officer’s older horse.
Revere later joined Hancock and
Adams as they retreated into the countryside, but made a frantic return to a
Lexington tavern where Hancock had inadvertently left some valuable papers. As
dawn broke, Revere departed from the town with the valuable documents in hand
and rode past militiamen in the process of assembling. A short time later he
could hear shots and see smoke in the distance, the opening rounds in the
struggle for independence.