Theme 7: Atlantic Wars and Revolutions

Part 2: Paul Revere's Ride

By: Amanda Garibay

History 140

Paul Revere’s America~ The Patriot Riders Road to Revolution In our minds eye we tent to

see Paul Revere at a distance, mounted on horseback, galloping through the dark of night. Often we see him in silhouette. His head is turned away from us, and his features are hidden beneath a large cocked hat. Sometimes even his body is lost in the billowing folds of an old fashioned riding coat. The image is familiar, but strangely indistinct.

Picture of Paul revere

Paul Revere’s America~ The Patriot Riders Road to Revolution

Personality:

Paul Revere was a distinctive individual of strong character and vibrant personality.

Middling height, neither tall nor short, strong and stocky, with broad shoulders, a thick neck, muscular arms and powerful wrists.

He was a New England Yankee. His temperament was as American as his ideas. A moralist, a man who sought the path of virtue but enjoyed the

pleasures of the world. Paul Revere became a major leader by 1774 He regarded British Imperial measures as “newfangled”

innovations, and believed that he was defending the inherited folk rights of New England.

First Strokes~ Thomas Gage, Paul Revere, and the Powder Alarms

Picture

Early in the morning of September 1, 1774, General Gage set his plan in motion. His first step was to seize the largest stock of gunpowder in New England. It was stored in a magazine called the Provincial Powder House, high on a remote hill, six miles northwest of Boston.

Thomas Gage

The Powder House

First Strokes~ Thomas Gage, Paul Revere, and the Powder Alarms

Themes:

Gage seizes the provincial powder New England's anger

Gage retreats The Portsmouth alarm

Revere’s Role The Salem alarm Leslie’s retreat

The Battle~ A Provincial Protest Becomes a World War “We saw a large body of

men drawn up with the greatest regularity…. With as much order as the best disciplined troops.”

-British Ensign Jeremy Lister in Concord

“They began to march by divisions down upon us from their left in a very military manner.” -British Lt. Wm. Sutherland, at the North Bridge

•“Whoever dares to look upon them as an irregular mob, will find himself much mistaken. They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about.” - Brigadier Lord Hugh Percy after returning from Lexington

The Battle~ A Provincial Protest Becomes a World War

Topics:

The fighting began early morning on April 19, 1775. Beyond the North Bridge, four companies of light infantry marched to

Colonel Barrett’s house and mill. April 7, when Paul Revere carried his first warning to Concord, the

town had been hard at work, moving military supplies to safety, causing it to be difficult for the British to find anything at all.

The Militia advances and the fight migrates towards the North Bridge. The British retreat begins and results in Parkers revenge.

Epilogue~ The Fate of the Participants The cost turned out to be

very high-higher perhaps than our generation would be willing to pay. On both sides, many of the men who fought at Lexington and Concord died in the long and bitter war that followed. In the British infantry, few of the anonymous “other ranks” who marched to Concord survived the conflict unscathed. Many would be dead within two months.

Epilogue~ The Fate of the Participants

Events:

June 17, 1775, General Gage again used his ten senior companies of grenadiers and light infantry as a corps d` elite.

April 19, an African-American militiaman named Salem Prince. 1785 Captain Adair was “reduced,” and disappeared from the Marine

List. 1777, Percy was promoted to Lieutenant General, but declined due to

his disgust in war. He died July 10 1817. 1775, George Harris was captain of grenadiers at Lexington and

Concord. He fought in every major battle except paigning in the West Indies. He died 1829.

1787 Thomas Gage died at his London home. May 10, 1818 Paul Revere died in the New England Spring.