BOSTON (AP) — The historic midnight ride of Paul Revere is set to be reenacted Monday but with some modern-day tweaks: It will be run in the middle of the day, and the horse and rider will get a police escort. Revere’s ride took place on April 18, 1775, when the silversmith and express rider was dispatched to Lexington to warn Revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming to arrest them. He then headed to Concord to warn about raids on military stockpiles. Revere reached Lexington around midnight, and another rider, William Dawes, got there soon after along a different route with the same message.
Their efforts resulted in militiamen, muskets in hand, confronting a much larger contingent of British regulars marching from Boston on the Lexington Battle Green. The British regulars were eventually chased back to Boston, where militias pinned them down for 11 months in what became known as the Siege of Boston.
“It’s important because you have to have someone to meet the British troops,” said Nina Zannieri, executive director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association, which owns and operates The Paul Revere House. “It becomes a turning point. If no patriots had turned out on the green, it would have been different.”
The reenactor, dressed in Colonial costume and accompanied by another horseman, will roughly trace the route taken by Revere 251 years ago, starting in Boston’s North End and moving through Charlestown, Somerville, Medford, and Arlington, before finishing in Lexington.
While some aspects of the historic night will not be part of the event, such as Revere's boat trip to Charlestown, others will focus on the importance of his alerting citizens of British movements. This year, participants will traverse modern paved roads filled with stoplights and urban layouts unimaginable to Revere.
Michelle DiCarlo-Domey, who organizes the ride for the National Lancer, a historic mounted cavalry unit, emphasized the educational value of the reenactment, stating that it helps connect children with their history. “Whenever you can interact with the riders and the horses, it can help carry history on,” she said.
Their efforts resulted in militiamen, muskets in hand, confronting a much larger contingent of British regulars marching from Boston on the Lexington Battle Green. The British regulars were eventually chased back to Boston, where militias pinned them down for 11 months in what became known as the Siege of Boston.
“It’s important because you have to have someone to meet the British troops,” said Nina Zannieri, executive director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association, which owns and operates The Paul Revere House. “It becomes a turning point. If no patriots had turned out on the green, it would have been different.”
The reenactor, dressed in Colonial costume and accompanied by another horseman, will roughly trace the route taken by Revere 251 years ago, starting in Boston’s North End and moving through Charlestown, Somerville, Medford, and Arlington, before finishing in Lexington.
While some aspects of the historic night will not be part of the event, such as Revere's boat trip to Charlestown, others will focus on the importance of his alerting citizens of British movements. This year, participants will traverse modern paved roads filled with stoplights and urban layouts unimaginable to Revere.
Michelle DiCarlo-Domey, who organizes the ride for the National Lancer, a historic mounted cavalry unit, emphasized the educational value of the reenactment, stating that it helps connect children with their history. “Whenever you can interact with the riders and the horses, it can help carry history on,” she said.
