Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

When he was hired as a lookout by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, nobody knew how important Paul Revere’s express messaging would become. It was the eve of the Revolution, and most of his fellow Massachusetts Patriot plotters went into hiding for fear of arrest. Only a few rebellion leaders were left in Boston with Revere, who that night was serving double duty as a reconnaissance man for the imminent Redcoat invasion.

On this night, April 18, in 1775 Paul Revere went from reconnaissance to an early-warning system, as he went by boat and horse from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock the British were advancing to arrest them.

Prior to his ride, Revere created a pre-arranged code with the “Sons of Liberty” in a church at Charleston. They could see the British advance from their location and tell Revere which route they were using: one lantern in the belfry for a land advance, and two if by water. Seeing the two lights briefly, Revere knew exactly what warning to sound — telling a sentry in Lexington that asked him to quiet down “You’ll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!”