Paul Revere Capture Site
Posted by: 
Shorelander
N 42° 26.934 W 071° 16.786
19T E 312523 N 4702137
The site where Paul Revere's midnight ride ended.
Waymark Code: WMA88
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/10/2006
Views: 200
The site of the capture of Paul Revere is inside Minute Man National Historic Park, near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Mill Street. A circular memorial marks the site, with three commemorative markers - one of unknown origin, with two National Park Service markers flanking it. The central plaque reads:
"At this Point, on the old Concord road as it then was, ended the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
"He had, at about two o'clock of the morning of April 19, 1775, the night being clear and the moon in its third quarter, got thus far on his way from Lexington to Concord, alarming the inhabitants as he went, when he and his companions, William Dawes, of Boston, and Dr. Samuel Prescott, of Concord, were suddenly halted by a British patrol, who had stationed themselves at this bend of the road. Dawes, turning back, made his escape. Prescott, clearing the stone wall, and following a path known to him through the low ground, regained the highway at a point further on, and gave the alarm at Concord. Revere tried to reach the neighboring wood, but was intercepted by a party of officers accompanying the patrol, detained and kept in arrest. Presently he was carried by the patrol back to Lexington. There released, and that morning joined Hancock and Adams.
"Three men of Lexington, Sanderson, Brown and Loring, stopped at an earlier hour of the night by the same patrol, were also taken back with Revere."
The left of the NPS plaques is titled "The Midnight Riders" and reads:
"In September of 1774, Patriot leaders initiated a system of alarms and express riders to warn area towns whenever British troops marched out of Boston.
"On April 18th, at about 10:00 in the evening, two riders set out from Boston ahead of 700 British troops. William Dawes took the land route south of Boston. Paul Revere crossed the Charles River, obtained a horse, and began his ride. They stopped in Lexington to warn Patriot leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams, then headed on to Concord, where military supplies for the colony were stored.
"As the two men alerted the countryside, other towns sent more riders out into the night. About 4,000 Massachusetts Militia and Minute Men took up arms and arrived in time to fight on April 19th. By day's end, about 20,000 were on the march."
The right NPS plaque is titled "The Capture of Paul Revere," and reads:
"At this stretch of the Battle Road, the famous 'Midnight Ride of Paul Revere' came to an end.
"While passing through Lexington at around midnight, Revere and William Dawes met Dr. Samuel Prescott of Concord, who was riding home after courting Lydia Mulliken. Prescott agreed to help spread the alarm that 'the Regulars were out.'
"The three men ran into a patrol of ten mounted British officers posted here to prevent word of the British march from reaching Concord. Revere was captured. Dawes escaped back towards Lexington. Prescott jumped his horse over a stone wall and eluded his pursuers. It was Prescott who carried the alarm to Concord and beyond.
"Revere was questioned, held for a while and then released, but the British officers confiscated his horse. Revere walked back to Lexington in time to hear the gunfire at dawn on the town Common."
Agency Responsible for Placement: National Park Service
County: Middlesex
City/Town Name: Lincoln
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Not listed
Year Placed: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
When logging a Massachusetts Historic Marker, we ask that you not only describe your visit, but to upload a picture from it. The picture does not have to be of the marker - one picture of the marker is enough. But a photo of you standing next to the marker or a photograph the subject of the marker - those are examples of possible photographs to upload.