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Posted on 09/20/2003 5:27:30 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 December 13, 1774 First he rode to Portsmouth Months before his horseback ride into American history (April 18, 1775) made legendary by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere was on the icy Boston Post Road to warn the citizens of New Hampshire of a potential British troop landing. Had the British been more aggressive and the weather less ferocious, Revere's "Portsmouth Alarm" may well have signaled an earlier start to the American Revolution. As it turned out, the resulting raid on Fort William and Mary by the seacoast area militia is still considered by many as the first strike of the battle for independence.  Paul Revere and his watchful "mechanics" were well known to the British who kept an eye, in turn, on them as they patrolled Boston streets alert to signs of English military movements. Revolution, pungent as wood smoke, was in the winter air. Revere had learned early in December that a new English Order in Council prohibited import of arms and ammunition into any part of North America. Portsmouth, an imperial port, had a large store of ammunition at the poorly defended Fort William and Mary on New Castle Island. The order also required that the munitions currently in the Colonies should be immediately protected.  With just a half dozen soldiers defending the armory at William and Mary, and with word of heavily manned British ships on their way from England, it was a natural leap of logic to assume they were heading toward New Hampshire. Among them was the ship of the line HMS Somerset with a large crew of British Marines. Nearing the Portsmouth latitudes, the Somerset met an almost insurmountable winter storm.  Portsmouth Alarm On December 13, Revere started toward Portsmouth in the same harsh weather. A combination of deep snow and slushy thaw had suddenly frozen into sharp icy furrows on the crude roadway. Revere's 40 mile ride up the North Shore, across the Merrimack River to Hampton Falls and to Portsmouth was made more difficult by a biting west wind.  Revere arrived the same afternoon and met immediately with the local Whigs at the waterfront home of merchant Samuel Cutts. The Portsmouth Council of Correspondence learned from Revere that two regiments of British soldiers were coming by sea to protect the stockpiled ammunition at Fort William and Mary. In fact, they were not.  The troops were assigned to more pressing duties with British General Gage in Massachusetts. But Revere and the Portsmouth leaders feared the worst. New Hampshire's British Royal Governor John Wentworth had already dismissed meetings of the local Assembly. He had railed against the "infectious & pestilential disorders" of firebrands like Revere. Would British soldiers be billeted in the Seacoast? Would the munitions blockade snuff out plans for the upcoming Contiental Congress? The men of Portsmouth decided to act quickly.  Meanwhile, Loyalists in town immediately told Gov. Wentworth that the notorious Mr. Revere was holding a secret Whig meting in town. Wentworth warned the half dozen soldiers at the fort and sent a courier immediately to Massachusetts requesting emergency British support from Generals Graves and Gage.  Wentworth Graves ordered the sloop HMS Canceaux toward Portsmouth, but it arrived too late. A day after Revere's alarm, 200-400 Portsmouth area men had stormed the garrison, hauled down the British flag and disappeared into the falling snow with 100 barrels of stolen gunpowder. The next day, roused by word of Revere's message, a thousand men assembled in Portsmouth and returned to the fort to remove muskets and cannons. These munitions would soon be dispersed throughout the seacoast and find their way to a crucial battle at Bunker Hill, where NH men would again play a key role.  The Final Straw Paul Revere was safely back in Boston before the HMS Canceaux arrived at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Adding insult to injury, a local Yankee pilot guided the warship into shallow water where it was stranded for days When the rerouted HMS Scarborough did at last arrived on December 19, there was nothing to do but stand by the pilfered garrison as a warning against more aggression to the King's property.  But the handwriting was on the wall for the British rule in Portsmouth. Gov. Wentworth complained to his British patrons that the Massachusetts influence of men like Paul Revere and Sam Adams had turned his quiet New Hampshire townsmen into a violent mob. Yet, taking the pulse of the times, Wentworth wrote sadly, "no jail would hold them long, and no jury would find them guilty."  HMS Scarborough ended its military vigil over Portsmouth Harbor on August 23, 1775, shortly after Bunker Hill and the battles at Lexington and Concord. Aboard the departing British warship was the last British Royal Governor, his possessions and his family. His Excellency John Wentworth, born in Portsmouth, educated at Harvard. had been driven from town by his own subjects. His fear of dangerous men like Paul Revere, in the end, was well deserved.  The primary goal of the British regulars was to aprehend the leaders of the opposition, Sam Adams and John Hancock. There secondary goal was, to disarm the populace along the way.  John Hancock Revere confronted 2 British regulars manning a road block as he headed north across Charlestown Neck. As he turned around, the regulars gave chase and he eluded them. He then continued on to Lexington, to the home of Jonas Clarke where Sam Adams and John Hancock were staying. There, his primary mission was fulfilled when he notified Adams and Hancock that "The Regulars are coming out!" (he never exclaimed, "The British are coming". This would have made no sense at the time since they considered themselves British).  Sam Adams Revere and Dawes then headed for Concord and came across Doctor Prescott who then joined them. They decided to alarm every house along the way. Just outside of the town of Lincoln, they were confronted by 4 Regulars at another road block. They tried unsuccessfully to run their horses through them. Prescott, who was familiar with the terrain, jumped a stone wall and escaped. Revere and Dawes tried to escape and shortly into the chase they were confronted by 6 more regulars on horseback. Revere was surrounded and taken prisoner. Dawes got away as they were taking Revere into custody.  William Dawes The British officers began to interrogate Revere, whereupon Revere astonished his captors by telling them more than they even knew about their own mission. (HA!) He also told them that he had been warning the countryside of the British plan and that their lives were at risk if they remained in the vicinity of Lexington because there would soon be 500 men there ready to fight. Revere, of course, was bluffing. The Regulars had Revere remount his horse and they headed toward Lexington Green, when suddenly, they heard a gunshot! Revere told the British officer that the shot was a signal "to alarm the country!". Now the British troops were getting very nervous (hehe).  A few minutes later, they were all startled to hear the heavy crash of an entire volley of musketry from the direction of Lexington's meeting house and then the Lexington town bell began clanging rapidly! Jonathan Loring, a Lexington resident captured earlier, turned to his captors and shouted "The bell's a' ringing! The town's alarmed, and you're all dead men!" The British officers then talked urgently among themselves and decided to release their captives so as they would not slow their retreat.      |
That is my all time favorite book! Seriously it is. I take it with me each time I go to the Patriot's day celebration in Concord! It is a great book. Well, GMTA, I guess!!
And I printed off this whole thread for my class! Wish me luck. I have two new children joining us tomorrow!
HUGS!
Good luck and thanks for depending on the Foxhole. We know others use it for homeschooling, too and it just makes it that much more fun to do.!
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