Posted on 04/18/2019 6:48:29 AM PDT by harpygoddess
Paul Revere gets all of the credit, but he never actually finished that famous ride, and in fact warned the British that the Americans were coming. William Dawes and Samuel Prescott were left out of the poem and subsequently most elementary history books: it was actually Samuel Prescott who completed the midnight ride.
In addition to Dawes and Prescott, dozens of other men helped spread the word that night. Revere started other express riders on their way before leaving Boston, and he also alerted others along his journey. They too began riding, or shot guns and rang church bells to alert the community. British patrols were posted along the roads, which is why more than one messenger was used for the mission.
In addition to omitting the efforts of Dawes, Prescott and dozens of nameless midnight riders, Longfellow's poem contains other errors as well; most notably, the signal of two lanterns hanging in the Old North Church was a signal from Revere, not a signal to Revere. In his defense, Longfellow didn't intend for the work to be an historical account - the 1860 poem was meant to inspire his countrymen on the eve of the Civil War.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
During Paul Revere’s ride he was stopped and questioned by British soldiers: he describes this encounter in a 1789 letter maintained by the Massachusetts Historical Society, included here.
Thank you.
Even more interesting, perhaps, is the story of an ancestor of mine, Israel Bissell. Standing with Revere, Bissell’s job was to ride, non-stop to Philadelphia and inform the Continental Congress of the British invasion. This he did in 19 hours, killing two horses in the effort.
Upon his word, the gathered Congress began signing the Declaration of Independence.
And so it began...
Good book on “The Day”
The Day the American Revolution Began: 19 April 1775 Paperback, 2001, by William H. Hallahan (Author)
The events you describe are also in here, in detail.
A good read.
A liberal’s take from your story: Your uncle mistreated horses. His name must be stricken from the history books.
To me, on of the stark differences between the men of our founding and the men of today can be found in these three words ... “Upon his word”.
Men of quality and character walked the earth in those days.
Yes. Another point. Unlike the man of means,Revere, Bissell was a stable hand. He was offered some comforts for his ride but declined to stay, saying he needed to get back to work.
Ain’t that the truth.
Actually Revere was an ancestor of Longfellow (great grandfather) so he got the credit
I read somewhere that Revere would not have shouted, “The British are coming,” because at the time, everybody was British.
There is a great cartoon floating around of a mounted rider yelling through town, “The British are coming, and shit.”
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is the ONLY poem that I ever truly enjoyed.
Will people ever tire of nitpicking great works of poetry and painting because “that’s not really what happened?” Recall Aristotle’s definition of all art, that it must not only imitate reality while at the same time transcending it. One of the glories of American art (even though it was painted in Germany) is the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River to attack the Hessian contingent in Trenton, New Jersey. I’ve read so-called historically accurate articles ripping Emmanuel Leutze’s masterpiece as impossibly naive because the boat was too short, it was pitch-black dark and sleeting, who stands up in a boat, etc. But it wasn’t meant to be an illustration - it was meant to be a great painting. It both imitated reality (Washington and his army really did cross the Delaware) but transcended it by becoming a depiction of Washington’s boldness and desperation heading into a do-or-die battle.
It doesn’t take much historical research to learn “the facts” of Paul Revere’s ride. But like Leutze, Longfellow’s poem wasn’t about just the facts of that night but rather using those facts as a basis for an inspiring poem which sought to capture the drama of the situation as well as the patriotism of the men who lived it.
We can easily nitpick the nitpickers but why bother? Stand in front of the painting and/or read the poem and be as inspired as the artist and writer hoped you would be. People act on emotion and justify it later with fact. So be moved to action by the emotion great works of art and literature and music inspire and let lesser men “pick the nits.”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218989.The_Minute_Men
Excellent little book by General Bernard Galvin about Lexington and Concord.
Paul revere stopped at a pub on Main street in Medford where Pewter Pot would one day be and got a little hammered....
The horse’s name is believed to have been named “Brown Beauty” loaned to Revere by the Reverend John Larkin. It was a Narragansett Pacer. The one if by land, two if by sea signal was made from the Old North Church.
Post #4 by FReeper "NFHale "
"The Day" the American Revolution Began: 19 April 1775 Paperback, 2001, by William H. Hallahan (Author)
The events you describe are also in here, in detail.
A good read.
Post #13 by FReeper "skepsel"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218989.The_Minute_Men
Excellent little book by General Bernard Galvin about Lexington and Concord.
Also, follow some of the posting comments: some comedy, mostly serious and informative.
Thank you for posting this.
Good post.
I once had Paul Revere’s statue up on my FR page because he told the “country folk to be up and to arm.”
It got taken down, probably by the owner of the photograph, since I didn’t have permission to use it.
One little anecdote: I started reciting this poem at a meeting one time (I don’t know the whole thing by heart, just the first two stanzas), and a former teacher who was sitting at the table joined in with me. She was a teacher of special-ed elementary kids!
We had to memorize poems in elementary school too. I remember learning “Trees” and “Abou Ben Adam” and others.
No, Bostonians then referred to the British Army (which was occupying them for throwing the tea in the harbor) as the British Army, or British, for short. The slang was Redcoats or Lobsterbacks.
But they did indeed call them “The British”.
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