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Battles of Lexington and Concord

Six Fun Facts About Paul Revere’s Ride

The poem Paul Revere’s Ride took an obscure patriot of the American Revolution and elevated him to American myth.

In 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow first asked his children to listen so they shall hear the midnight ride of Paul Revere. He meant it as legend but people took it as historical fact.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1868

The poem created legions of Paul Revere fans, who solidified his fame after the Civil War. They installed an equestrian statue in Boston’s North End, where he had lived for 30 years. His great grandson then bought his house to save it from demolition. The Paul Revere Memorial Association raised the money to buy and restore it. Paul Revere’s house is now an important stop on Boston’s Freedom Trail.

But the backlash had already started in 1896, when a poet named Helen F. Moore wrote a parody of Paul Revere’s Ride called The Midnight Ride of William Dawes. It read, in part,

‘Tis all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear —
My name was Dawes and his Revere.

1. Paul Revere’s Ride

Paul Revere’s Ride was really about fighting slavery, which Longfellow hated. He gave money to fugitive slaves, bought slaves their freedom and supported African-American churches, schools and newspapers. His close friend, U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner, was such an outspoken abolitionist that a southern colleague, Preston Brooks, beat him within an inch of his life on the Senate floor.

Longfellow published Paul Revere’s Ride in The Atlantic Monthly magazine, which appeared on newsstands the day South Carolina seceded. At the time, people viewed it as a call to arms for the North. More recently, historian Jill Lepore has argued the poem is an allegory about slavery itself. Paul Revere’s Ride is “a poem about waking the dead,” wrote Lepore in The American Scholar. “The dead are Northerners, roused to war. But the dead are also the enslaved, entombed in slavery…”

2. Paul Revere Made Lots of Rides

Paul Revere had made the same ride a week and a half earlier. He made lots of rides, in fact. On Dec. 13, 1774, Revere rode all the way to Portsmouth, N.H., to warn the patriots that the King’s troops were on their way to seize gunpowder from Fort William and Mary in New Castle. The redcoats arrived three days late, and they didn’t intend to take the powder in the first place. But a skirmish did result — between 400 New Hampshire volunteers and six British soldiers defending the fort. The redcoats surrendered. Then, 11 days before his midnight ride, Revere rode to Concord to warn that the redcoats would probably come to seize the large cache of military supplies stored there. The patriots moved the supplies.

3. Longfellow and Revere

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had a family connection to Paul Revere dating to the American Revolution. His grandfather, Peleg Wadsworth, commanded Revere, then a colonel, during the disastrous Penobscot Expedition. Recrimination followed the worst U.S. naval disaster until Pearl Harbor. And investigation revealed Revere had made enemies because of his arrogance. He demanded a court martial, which exonerated him.

Penobscot Expedition by John Thomas Serres

4. Some Birthday Present

Rose Kennedy made all of her children memorize the poem. John F. Kennedy campaigned for U.S. Congress in 1946 at the base of Paul Revere’s statue in the North End. His brother Edward recited the entire poem during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing. When in 1975 Rose Kennedy turned 85, she asked each of her 28 grandchildren to memorize a stanza of the poem as a birthday present.

5. Mistakes Were Made

The poem got a lot of facts wrong about Paul Revere’s ride. For example, Revere – not a friend – ordered the lanterns hung in the belfry of Old North Church. He also had help, which Longfellow omits. The aforementioned William Dawes took a parallel route to the south and met in Lexington. There they encountered a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott, while”‘returning from a lady friend’s house at the awkward hour of 1 a.m. (Revere’s words).”

Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

6. Obituary Omission

No one outside of the Boston area knew who Paul Revere was until Longfellow wrote Paul Revere’s Ride. Even during his lifetime, Bostonians knew Revere as a successful businessman who had lots of friends. That’s how his obituary read after he died on May 10, 1818. It didn’t even mention the ride.

This story was updated in 2022.

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Peter Edes: 107 Days in Prison for Watching the Battle of Bunker Hill

Peter Edes spent 107 days in a sweltering hellhole of a prison because the British didn’t like his attitude while he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Peter Edes’ printing press

Also, they didn’t like his dad.

Peter Edes apprenticed to his father, Benjamin Edes who, with John Gill, printed the radical newspaper Boston Gazette. His father managed to escape the Siege of Boston and settle in Watertown, Mass, where he continued to publish the Gazette.

His son didn’t immediately follow him. On April 19, 1775, Peter watched the British retreat from Concord and Lexington, and he failed to hide his joy. That annoyed the regulars. Then on June 17 they didn’t like how he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill with anxious and tearful eyes for the patriots.

Peter Edes

Peter Edes was born Dec. 17, 1756 in Boston and trained from a young age in the patriotism of the American Revolution. John Hancock, John Adams and Joseph Warren congregated in his father’s office. On the day before his 17th birthday, he refilled the china punch bowl several times for them as they dressed as Indians to throw tea into Boston Harbor.

The Destruction of the Tea at Boston Harbor, Nathaniel Currier.

British authorities arrested him two days after the Battle of Bunker Hill, having watched his reaction to the battle from Copps’ Hill. They imprisoned him for keeping a weapon. By the time he was released, only 11 of the 29 prisoners taken at the Battle of Bunker Hill were still alive.

That isn’t surprising, considering more revolutionaries died in British prisons than on the battlefield.

Edes kept a diary in which he recorded the prisoners’ sufferings. They were confined in close, stifling quarters, beaten, insulted and starved. For his first 37 days he was only allowed bread and water. The wounded weren’t given medical care.

Oaths, Curses, Debauchery, Blasphemy

Edes found the soldiers’ language: “a complicated scene of oaths, curses, debauchery and the most horrid blasphemy,” which they kept up night and day because it offended the prisoners.

Edes called it “the suburb of hell.” On August 15, he wrote:

Close confined; the weather very hot. Died, Capt. Walker, a prisoner taken at Bunker’s Hill. Swearing began at 3 this morning, and continued all day. The place seems to be an emblem of hell. At 9 at night, most horrid swearing and blasphemy. The worst Man of War is nothing compared with this diabolical place. They sometimes gave us water in the pail in the morning, and by the heat of the weather and our cell, it grew very warm, and they would not change it, and d—-d us, saying we must have that or none.

Peter continued to work for his father after his release, first as an apprentice and then as a partner. He moved to Newport, R.I., for a while and began to print the Newport Herald on March 1, 1787. He returned to Boston in 1791 and printed books. An especially influential volume was Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Susan B. Anthony donated her copy to the Library of Congress.

Maine

Edes then moved to Maine, where he worked as one of the first publishers and the first printer in Bangor. The printing press he brought to Bangor by ox-cart was donated to the Bangor Historical Society, but was destroyed in a fire.

As an old man, he had suffered financial reverses, and his friends thought to print his prison diary as a way to raise money for him

Peter Edes died March 29, 1840, at the age of 82. According to his obituary, he was the oldest printer in the United States at the time of his death.

“BostonGazette 1756” by Boston Gazette, Justin Winsor. Memorial History of Boston. 1880. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library/Rare Books.). Licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons. This story was updated in 2022.

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Capt. John Parker on April 19, 1775: ‘Stand your ground!’

Capt. John Parker was dying of consumption when he led 70 militiamen against 700 British regulars during the Battle of Lexington.

Capt. John Parker, Detroit Publishing Co., courtesy Library of Congress

Born July 13, 1729, in Lexington, Mass., he had lived 45 years and didn’t have one more left. But his military experience made him a natural choice to command the local militia. He had fought in the French and Indian War, then settled down as a farmer, mechanic and town officer. He and his wife, Lydia Moore Parker, had seven children.

His grandson, Theodore Parker, described him as “a great, tall man, with a large head, and a high, wide brow.”

On April 18, 1775, locals had seen redcoats in the area, including mounted officers. That night, Paul Revere and other express riders swarmed the countryside, spreading the alarm.

A messenger had roused Parker from his sickbed to tell him the British regulars had left Boston and were headed toward Concord.

John Parker left his house in the wee hours of April 19 and walked two miles to the Lexington Green. There, 30 militiamen — farmers mostly — waited in the dark for the arrival of British troops. Parker sent two men to scout the British. One returned saying he’d seen nothing. At the crack of dawn the other scout came galloping up the road shouting the regulars were just a mile behind him.

Parker ordered the drummer to beat a call to arms. He lined up his 77 militiamen in two lines on the Lexington green. Then he called the roll, and told them to load their firearms with powder and ball.

The British

Lt. Col. Francis Smith, commander of the expedition to Concord, had his own scouts. From them he learned the militia might try to oppose his troops on their march to Concord. He ordered a detachment of light infantry to march ahead under the command of Maj. John Pitcairn.

As the redcoats came into view, some heard Parker say, “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Paul Revere, off to the side, heard him say, “Let the soldiers pass by. Do not molest them without they begin first.”

A British officer, probably Pitcairn, then yelled, “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels!”

Parker ordered his men to disperse, but they didn’t all hear him, perhaps because his illness left him with a raspy voice. Some men had turned their backs when the famous shot went off. The redcoats fired at the militiamen and then charged with bayonets. Col. Francis Smith then arrived with the main body and saw British soldiers running amok. He ordered his drummer to play “Down Arms,” again and again. Finally the troops returned to their ranks.

John Parker saw his cousin, Jonas Parker, lying on the ground, bayoneted to death. Seven other Americans died, eight were wounded. Col. Smith ordered the men to march on to Concord to seize arms and ammunition. The British fired a victory volley and marched out of Lexington.

Line of the Minutemen Memorial, courtesy Library of Congress

In Concord, 500 militiamen forced the British troops to retreat–back through Lexington.

Parker’s Revenge

Parker rallied his men, once they’d gotten over their shock and bandaged their wounds. They reformed along the road the British would take on their way back to Boston. When the redcoats appeared, Parker’s men fired on them from behind rocks and trees in an attack called “Parker’s Revenge.” One musket ball hit Lt. Col. Smith in the thigh and knocked him from his horse.

Archaeologists in 2017 located and mapped Parker’s Revenge. They concluded that the British were ordered to line up near the bottom of a granite outcrop. Parker’s men fired one volley, then turned and ran over the hill, planning to intercept the redcoats again. The British troops then fired a single time and ran after the militiamen, bayonets fixed. (Watch the video here.)

Colonial forces repeated those tactics as the British retreated, inflicting heavy casualties. They killed 79 British soldiers and wounded 174, losing 49 themselves over the course of the day.

Legacy

John Parker participated in the Siege of Boston, which began as soon as the British returned. But his tuberculosis progressed to the point that he couldn’t join in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He died on Sept. 17, 1775.

His grandson, abolitionist Theodore Parker, helped keep his memory alive. Parker inherited his eloquence, inspiring some of the most well-known speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 19th century, Parker gave two of John Parker’s muskets to the commonwealth of Massachusetts. They hung in the Senate Chamber in the Statehouse until a renovation in 2018.

The statue The Lexington Minuteman, erected in 1900, is said to be modeled on Capt. John Parker, though there are no known likenesses of him.

This story was updated in 2021.

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Joseph Warren Dies a Martyr in the Battle of Bunker Hill

Dr. Joseph Warren died a martyr’s death in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. According to British Gen. Thomas Gage , his death was “worth the death of 500 men.”

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill by John Trumbull. Courtesy Wadsworth Athenaeum.

So passionate was Warren’s dedication to the cause of liberty that he told his mother in the weeks before the battle,

Where danger is, dear mother, there must your son be. Now is no time for any of American’s children to shrink from any hazard. I will set her free or die.

Or maybe he had a death wish.

When the British taunted that the patriots wouldn’t fight, he declared, “I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood!”

Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren was born June 11, 1741, in Roxbury, Mass., a prosperous farmer’s son. After graduating from Harvard he practiced medicine and surgery in Boston.

Marrying an heiress helped him acquire a stellar list of clients, including John Adams and his family. He once saved 7-year-old John Quincy Adams’ finger from amputation.

Warren also had Loyalist patients: the children of Thomas Hutchinson, British Gen. Thomas Gage and his wife Margaret. Some believe Joseph Warren had an affair with Margaret Gage after his own wife died. She may have tipped him off about the British plans to raid Concord and arrest Hancock and Adams.

Son of Liberty

Joseph Warren was gregarious, charming and a powerful speaker who enlisted in the patriot cause.

He played a leading role in the fight for independence, joining Sam Adams and John Hancock in the Sons of Liberty. In 1775, he won election as president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. In addition to practicing medicine in Boston, he gave speeches, wrote newspaper essays and authored the Suffolk Resolves, a bold declaration of resistance to British authority.

As a good friend of Paul Revere, he enlisted Revere and William Dawes to take their famous midnight ride.

Joseph Warren

On the day of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Joseph Warren sneaked out of Boston and led militia in harassing the British returning to the city. A musket ball struck his wig, nearly killing him. That’s when he told his mother he wouldn’t shrink from danger.

Warren returned to Boston, where he organized soldiers for the siege of Boston and negotiated with Gage.

Bunker Hill

On June 13, colonial leaders learned the British planned to send troops to take the unoccupied hills surrounding the besieged city. That night, 1,200 colonial troops stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, on which they built an earthworks overnight.

Warren showed up the next day and asked Gen. Israel Putnam where the heaviest fighting would be. Commissioned a major general in the Massachusetts militia, he insisted on fighting as a private because he had no military experience.

Battle of Bunker Hill by Howard Pyle.

During the battle on June 17 he fought behind the earthworks until the patriots exhausted their ammunition. He stayed there to give the militia time to escape while the British made their final assault. A British officer recognized him and shot him in the head. Joseph Warren died instantly.

The British stripped his body and stabbed it beyond recognition, then threw him into a shallow grave with another patriot killed in the battle. Paul Revere later identified his body.

Inexpressible Grief

The next day his friend James Warren (no relation) wrote a letter to his wife, Mercy Otis Warren, about the battle and Joseph Warren’s death. The British, he wrote,

…are reinforced but have not Advanced, so things remain at present as they were we have killed many men & have killed & wounded about [six] hundred by the best accounts I can get. Among the first of which to our inexpressible Grief is my Friend Doctor Warren who was killd. it is supposed in the Lines on the Hill at Charlestown in a Manner more Glorious to himself than the fate of Wolf on the plains of Abraham. Many other officers are wounded and some killd. it is Impossible to describe the Confusion in this place, Women & Children flying into the Country, armed Men Going to the field, and wounded Men returning from there fill the Streets.

Had Warren lived, said Loyalist Peter Oliver in 1782, George Washington would have been ‘an obscurity.’

Of Joseph Warren, military historian Ethan Rafuse wrote, “No man, with the possible exception of Samuel Adams, did so much to bring about the rise of a movement powerful enough to lead the people of Massachusetts to revolution.”

This story about Joseph Warren was updated in 2022.

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The Battles of Lexington and Concord, By John Rowe

Boston merchant John Rowe knew everyone involved in the run-up to the American Revolution, and he quickly learned about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Fortunately for historians, John Rowe kept a diary for more than 10 years during that tumultuous time.

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Rowe famously owned one of the tea ships, the Eleanor, involved in the Boston Tea Party.

Born in England in 1715, he emigrated to Boston as a young man and lived the rest of his life there. He made a fortune as a smuggler, a slave trader and a land developer. He owned vast swaths of property, and today his name remains a Boston landmark. The wharf he owned to this day bears the name Rowes Wharf.

He managed to walk a middle path during the American Revolution. Rowe belonged to the Loyal Nine, forerunners of the Sons of Liberty. Royal Gov. Thomas Hutchinson accused him of inciting the mob that destroyed his house.

But he had friends among loyalists, and unlike many patriots he didn’t leave the city during the Siege of Boston. Somehow he managed to stay neutral during the Revolution and he did not favor war with Great Britain. That makes his account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord especially interesting.

Lexington and Concord

His account of what happened at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 goes as follows.

19 Aprill Wednesday Last night the Grenadirs of Light Companies belonging to the Severall Regiments in this Town were Ferryd over Charles River & Landed on Phipps Farm in Cambridge from whence they Proceeded on their Way to Concord, where they arrivd Early this day. On their march they had a Skirmish with Some Country People at Lexington. The First Brigade commanded by Lord Percy with Two pieces of Artillery set off from this Town this morning abt Ten of Clock as a Reinforcement which with the Grenadiers & Light Infantry made about Eighteen hundred Men. The People in the Country had Notice of this movement Early in the Night.

John Rowe stuck to the middle of the road during the American Revolution.

Large Numbers

Alarm Guns were fird thro the Country & Expresly sent off to the Different Towns so that very Early this morning Large Numbers from all Parts of the Country — were Assembled. A Generall Battle Ensued which from what I can Learn was Supported with Great Spirit on both Sides and continued untill the Kings Troops got back to Charlstown which was near Sunset. Numbers — are Killd & Wounded on Both Sides. Capt Linzee & Capt Collins in two Small Armd Vessells were indeed up Charles River to Bring off the Troops to Boston but Lord Percy & Generall Smith thought Proper to Encamp on Bunkers Hill this Night. — this Unhappy — affair is a Shocking Introduction to all the Miseries of a Civil Warr.

I dind at home with the Revd Mr Parker Mr Linzee Mrs Rowe & Geo Inman, & spent the Evening at home with Mr Inman Mr Linzie Mrs Rowe Geo Inman & Jack.

John Rowe died in 1787.

This story about John Rowe’s account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord was updated in 2022.

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The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, In His Own Words

Paul Revere gave a deposition to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress about the most famous midnight ride in history. The Congress wanted to establish that the British had fired the first shots in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere couldn’t help them with that, but he told a great story.

Going to Lexington

I, Paul Revere, of Boston, in the colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England; of lawful age, do testify and say; that I was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren, of said Boston, on the evening of the 18th of April, about 10 o’clock; when he desired me, ”to go to Lexington, and inform Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Hon. John Hancock Esq. that there was a number of soldiers, composed of light troops, and grenadiers, marching to the bottom of the common, where there was a number of boats to receive them; it was supposed that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them, or go to Concord, to destroy the colony stores.”

I proceeded immediately, and was put across Charles River and landed near Charlestown Battery; went in town, and there got a horse. While in Charlestown, I was informed by Richard Devens Esq. that he met that evening, after sunset, nine officers of the ministerial army, mounted on good horses, and armed, going towards Concord.

John Singleton Copley painted this portrait of John Hancock around 1771. Courtesy Massachusetts Historical Society.

I set off, it was then about 11 o’clock, the moon shone bright. I had got almost over Charlestown Common, towards Cambridge, when I saw two officers on horse-back, standing under the shade of a tree, in a narrow part of the road. I was near enough to see their holsters and cockades. One of them started his horse towards me, the other up the road, as I supposed, to head me, should I escape the first. I turned my horse short about, and rode upon a full gallop for Mistick Road. He followed me about 300 yards, and finding he could not catch me, returned. I proceeded to Lexington, through Mistick, and alarmed Mr. Adams and Col. Hancock.

Sam Adams, warned by Paul Revere. Also painted by John Singleton Copley.

‘My name is Revere’

After I had been there about half an hour Mr. Daws arrived, who came from Boston, over the Neck.

We set off for Concord, and were overtaken by a young gentleman named Prescot, who belonged to Concord, and was going home. When we had got about half way from Lexington to Concord, the other two stopped at a house to awake the men, I kept along. When I had got about 200 yards ahead of them, I saw two officers as before. I called to my company to come up, saying here was two of them, (for I had told them what Mr. Devens told me, and of my being stopped). In an instant I saw four of them, who rode up to me with their pistols in their bands, said ”G—d d—n you, stop. If you go an inch further, you are a dead man.” Immediately Mr. Prescot came up. We attempted to get through them, but they kept before us, and swore if we did not turn in to that pasture, they would blow our brains out, (they had placed themselves opposite to a pair of bars, and had taken the bars down). They forced us in. When we had got in, Mr. Prescot said ”Put on!” He took to the left, I to the right towards a wood at the bottom of the pasture, intending, when I gained that, to jump my horse and run afoot. Just as I reached it, out started six officers, seized my bridle, put their pistols to my breast, ordered me to dismount, which I did. One of them, who appeared to have the command there, and much of a gentleman, asked me where I came from; I told him. He asked what time I left . I told him, he seemed surprised, said ”Sir, may I crave your name?” I answered ”My name is Revere. ”What” said he, ”Paul Revere”? I answered ”Yes.” The others abused much; but he told me not to be afraid, no one should hurt me. I told him they would miss their aim. He said they should not, they were only waiting for some deserters they expected down the road. I told him I knew better, I knew what they were after; that I had alarmed the country all the way up, that their boats were caught aground, and I should have 500 men there soon. One of them said they had 1500 coming; he seemed surprised and rode off into the road, and informed them who took me, they came down immediately on a full gallop.

Grant_Wood_The_Midnight_Ride_of_Paul_Revere_1931

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Grant Wood

Prisoner

One of them (whom I since learned was Major Mitchel of the 5th Reg.) clapped his pistol to my head, and said he was going to ask me some questions, and if I did not tell the truth, he would blow my brains out. I told him I esteemed myself a man of truth, that he had stopped me on the highway, and made me a prisoner, I knew not by what right; I would tell him the truth; I was not afraid. He then asked me the same questions that the other did, and many more, but was more particular; I gave him much the same answers. He then ordered me to mount my horse, they first searched me for pistols. When I was mounted, the Major took the reins out of my hand, and said ”By G—d Sir, you are not to ride with reins I assure you”; and gave them to an officer on my right, to lead me. He then ordered 4 men out of the bushes, and to mount their horses; they were country men which they had stopped who were going home; then ordered us to march. He said to me, ”We are now going towards your friends, and if you attempt to run, or we are insulted, we will blow your brains out.” When we had got into the road they formed a circle, and ordered the prisoners in the center, and to lead me in the front. We rode towards Lexington at a quick pace; they very often insulted me calling me rebel, etc., etc. After we had got about a mile, I was given to the sergeant to lead, he was ordered to take out his pistol, (he rode with a hanger,) and if I ran, to execute the major’s sentence.

William Dawes

Alarms

When we got within about half a mile of the Meeting House we heard a gun fired. The Major asked me what it was for, I told him to alarm the country; he ordered the four prisoners to dismount, they did, then one of the officers dismounted and cut the bridles and saddles off the horses, and drove them away, and told the men they might go about their business. I asked the Major to dismiss me, he said he would carry me, let the consequence be what it will. He then ordered us to march.

When we got within sight of the Meeting House, we heard a volley of guns fired, as I supposed at the tavern, as an alarm; the Major ordered us to halt, he asked me how far it was to Cambridge, and many more questions, which I answered. He then asked the sergeant, if his horse was tired, he said yes; he ordered him to take my horse. I dismounted, and the sergeant mounted my horse; they cut the bridle and saddle of the sergeant’s horse, and rode off down the road. I then went to the house were I left Messrs. Adams and Hancock, and told them what had happened; their friends advised them to go out of the way; I went with them, about two miles across road.

The Shot

After resting myself, I set off with another man to go back to the tavern, to inquire the news; when we got there, we were told the troops were within two miles. We went into the tavern to get a trunk of papers belonging to Col. Hancock. Before we left the house, I saw the ministerial troops from the chamber window. We made haste, and had to pass through our militia, who were on a green behind the Meeting House, to the number as I supposed, about 50 or 60, I went through them; as I passed I heard the commanding officer speak to his men to this purpose; ”Let the troops pass by, and don’t molest them, without they begin first.”

Paul Revere, DDS

I had to go across road; but had not got half gunshot off, when the ministerial troops appeared in sight, behind the Meeting House. They made a short halt, when one gun was fired. I heard the report, turned my head, and saw the smoke in front of the troops. They immediately gave a great shout, ran a few paces, and then the whole fired. I could first distinguish irregular firing, which I supposed was the advance guard, and then platoons; at this time I could not see our militia, for they were covered from me by a house at the bottom of the street.

Signed Paul Revere.

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