The Night Rider
This text is adapted from an original work of the Core Knowledge Foundation.
By the year 1775, tensions were high between Britain and its American colonists. Some colonists had already begun preparing for war. In Massachusetts, special troops were created to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice. The men in these units were called minutemen.
The British government knew that these preparations were underway. In April 1775, the British tried to capture some weapons that members of the patriot movement had hidden in Concord, west of Boston. Approximately 700 British soldiers marched out of Boston on the night of April 18, hoping to surprise the militia in Concord. But the patriots were watching every move the British soldiers made.
By the year 1775, tensions were high between Britain and its American colonists. Some colonists had already begun preparing for war. In Massachusetts, special troops were created to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice. The men in these units were called minutemen.
The British government knew that these preparations were underway. In April 1775, the British tried to capture some weapons that members of the patriot movement had hidden in Concord, west of Boston. Approximately 700 British soldiers marched out of Boston on the night of April 18, hoping to surprise the militia in Concord. But the patriots were watching every move the British soldiers made.
One of the men keeping an eye on the British was Paul Revere. He had heard that the British soldiers were getting ready to march out to Concord. He knew there were only two ways to get to Concord from Boston. One was to march there on foot. The other was to cross the Charles River in boats and then march the rest of the way. It was not possible to tell which way the British would go until they set out. Revere came up with a clever plan. He told a friend to hang lanterns in the belfry of the North Church in Boston. If the soldiers left Boston on foot, Revere’s comrade was to hang one lantern; if they set off in boats, he was to hang two lanterns.
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On the night of April 18, 1775, Revere’s friend ran up to the belfry and hung two lanterns. Then, Revere and several other patriots jumped into action. Revere got into a rowboat and rowed across the Charles River—right past a British warship! Once he made it across, he jumped onto a horse and set off along the same road the soldiers would be taking. Paul Revere and other riders, including William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, rode through the night to awaken the sleeping colonists.
Paul Revere, well-known for the popular cry, “The British are coming!” never actually spoke those words, let alone yelled them into the darkness. Today, historians believe it is more likely he quietly warned colonists, “The regulars are coming out!” Paul Revere never made it to Concord that night. But he did ride to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were wanted by the British and in hiding there.
Because of Revere and the other riders, people who lived along the road knew the British soldiers were headed toward Concord. Hundreds of minutemen grabbed their guns and prepared to defend their homeland. The Revolutionary War was about to begin. |
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This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/