I apologize for the formatting.
Great post!
BUMP
Someone was talking about his ride the other day - maybe on Rush. The ride was incredibly long and through the night. Remember - no street lights, flash lights, nothing, etc. Through the night on a horse.
There were also two other riders. So appropriate today. Sadly the public cares more about watching ball games and reality shows on TV. This also seems so “quaint.” These people risked everything 235 years ago.
Evil dems, liberals and RINOs.
The words “The shot heard round the world” have been popping up into my mind the last few days.
I grew up in the area around Lexington and Concord. The surrounding towns are developed now but still retain their small town charm. For houses people still prefer the Colonial architectural look and feel. It is definitely well worth a day to stop and visit the area. The green still exists in Lexington and you can still see a clean hole in a glass window from a redcoat shot. You will see the door frame of a house where a minuteman was standing and saying goodbye to his wife as he was ready to run out and take his position on the green. He never made it beyond the door.
In Concord, just a few miles further inland, you will see the North Bridge where the shot heard round the world was fired. The whole battlefield looks exactly as it did on that day, 235 years ago.
Reverse direction and head back towards Lexington, like the British did. Starting on the narrow dirt roadways in Bedford and then almost all the way back to Boston, Massachusetts Minutemen rallied behind stone walls and trees and extracted a terrible price from the lobsterbacks on that fateful day. Stop at the National Park visitor center to learn all about that great day and our heroic Massachusetts farmers. A lengthy section of the dirt road still exists near the visitor center where you can relive history. It is not be missed.
There is one more treat, Follow the Post Road out to Sudbury to visit the wonderful Wayside Inn. Some say it is old. Damn right it is old, it existed on the original Patriots day. George Washington stopped there for refreshments later that summer, 1775, as he came north to accept control of the Continental army. Anyway, stay there for a day or several days and enjoy the pristene setting just as it was in 1775. The floors at the inn are all wide pine planks and the stone fireplaces are truly grand. The food and refreshment are great and you will meet other like minded people who care enough to seek out a place such as this. A little known secret is that Babe Ruth’s Massachusetts house from his time with the Red Sox is about one half mile north of the inn on a quiet country road.
I lied about there being one more treat. Actually there is another one. When returning to Boston, be sure to take the short walk from Fanuiel over to Paul Revere’s house. It is still there just a few blocks away surrounded by today’s Italian neighborhood in the North End. Paul had something like 19 children by two wives in that house. Can you even imagine the sights and sounds Paul and his family observed from that house. He also became a very successful early industialist, branching out from his silversmith days. In retirement Paul moved to a family farm a few miles to the west and spent his golden years surrounded by many grandchildren and an admiring public. Let us hope that our current day tea party movement produces some bigger than life characters like Paul Revere.
Thread Bump.
Adding links to your good thread Oratam.
Videos:
“The Ride - Paul Revere [short educational film piece]”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1El-guPeEo
“Longfellow ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ [Poem Animation Movie]”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp0gdaXhOsg
Thanks for the post. We learned this is 2nd grade, and recite it every Patrioyt;s Day.
This is a POEM. Formatting is your friend.
Great post, Oratam! Thanks.
This thread may be of interest to you...
Beautiful poem. Although the statue on my FR home page shows the horse with only two feet on the ground, which indicates that the rider died in combat, Revere died a peaceful death at home long after his brave ride.
I loved this poem as a child. My mom used to read it to me regularly. It helped shape my political consciousness at a very early age. It so captured my imagination, that on the evening of April 18th, 1975 (I was 11 then), I rode my Shetland pony through the streets of our town, crying, “The British are coming!” — perhaps I was the only reenactor on the 200th anniversary of the ride? The only one in California at any rate, I suspect.
It did have one negative effect on me though...
One fine Saturday morning, when I was very, very small, we were at the local public pool for swimming lessons. I and the other kids noticed a skywriter writing some huge words in smoke high above us and somewhat to the east. I remember distinctly that (a) I just barely knew my letters and couldn’t really read yet, and (b) the sun was in my eyes, which was the case for the other kids too, so it would have been tough to read in any case. However, the lifeguard squinted, shaded his eyes, and slowly read the words aloud for us, the terrifying words blazoned in the skies for the whole San Fernando Valley to see:
“THE....RUSSIANS....ARE...COMING”.
Pure terror! Especially having heard that Longfellow poem at mother’s knee! Mommy, Daddy, the Russians are coming!!!
I didn’t figure out til my 40’s, that the skywriter must have been hired by Hollywood to promote the comedy movie, “The Russians Are Coming” (released 5/25/1966). Which means that I was a few months shy of age 3 at the time. Who says early experiences don’t determine your politics? LOL
Grant Wood (American, 1892–1942). The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931. Oil on Masonite. 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm). Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950 (50.117). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Minuteman Park
British Soldier's Grave Marker
British Grave Marker at Concord
Concord Bridge, where the Shot Heard Round the World was fired, from left to right:
Minuteman
The Concord Minuteman
...The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a military action by the British for some time, and upon learning of the British plan, Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes were ordered to set out to rouse the militiamen and warn Adams and Hancock. When the British troops arrived at Lexington, Adams, Hancock, and Revere had already fled to Philadelphia, and a group of militiamen were waiting. The Patriots were routed within minutes, but warfare had begun, leading to calls to arms across the Massachusetts countryside... (Courtesy of History.com
