Lead: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured the excitement and import of Paul Revere's famous ride, but on that nights events the poet did not get his facts right.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Sometime on the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere discovered that his best laid plans were falling apart. It was discovered that the British had dispatched several hundred troops to capture colonial ammunition stored at Concord. Revere had prearranged a signal to fellow patriots waiting for news of the British route so the alarm could be spread. When Revere went over to Charlestown to check whether word had been sent, he discovered that his men were confused by "one if by land, two if by sea," and no one was doing anything. Revere borrowed a horse and was off.

According to essayist Richard O'Connell, Longfellow failed to mention that Revere had already covered the same ground two days before and the ammunition in Concord had, for the most part, been moved out of harms way. Revere's trip on the eighteenth was in large measure to warn two patriot leader's hiding in Lexington; John Hancock and Samuel Adams. After a quick bite to eat, Revere then joined by William Dawes, set out for the seven mile ride to Concord.

On the way they were blocked by six British officers and Revere was arrested. A pistol was placed against his head and in contrast to his courageous portrayal in Longfellow's poem, the great Patriot told everything, but he escaped during the night and got back to Lexington in time to help Adams and Hancock escape. In this last escapade, he was quite possibly on foot since the British had confiscated his horse. Revere never made it to Concord, but his ride inspired some of the most heroic, if slightly inaccurate, verse in American literature.

So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,-- A cry of defiance and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

What is the name of the horse Paul Revere rode on his famous ride? If you know, write down the name along with your name and address and telephone number on a post card. Send it to A Moment in Time, Box 1776, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23173.

Resources

Arvin, Newton. Longfellow: His Life and Work. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, Publishers, 1963.

Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride. New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

O'Connell, Richard W. " 'On the Eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five..,' Longfellow Didn't Know the Half of It, " Smithsonian 4 (1, April, 1973), 72-78.

Copyright 1995 by Educational Broadcast, Inc.