True Tales of American History

The midnight ride of Revere, Dawes, and Prescott

A True Story from the #American Revolution

On the evening of April 18, 1775, a twenty-four-year old doctor named #Samuel Prescott from Concord, Massachusetts, rode his horse seven miles down the road to visit his fiancée, Lydia Mulliken of Lexington.  He had no idea that before the night was over, he would be caught up in a great historic event!

At 1 a.m. Dr. Prescott left Lydia, mounted his horse, and rode back home.  It wasn’t long before he came upon two other patriots on horseback, #Paul Revere and #William Dawes.  Revere and Dawes were headed to Concord to warn the residents that the British were marching toward their town, intent on seizing guns and ammunition.

Dr. Prescott, a Son of Liberty and a true patriot, joined Revere and Dawes on their mission.  When they were about three miles out of Lexington, Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were stopped by British soldiers.  Prescott veered his horse to the left and broke through the British patrol.  He jumped a low stone wall, rode through a swampy forest, and raced ahead to Concord, arriving about 1:30 a.m. He shouted a warning and the town bell began to ring.  The militia sprang into action.

In the meantime, William Dawes broke free from his captors but was later thrown from his horse.  Paul Revere was caught but then released after the British took his horse.  Both Dawes and Revere returned to Lexington on foot.

Paul Revere is well-known thanks to Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” written almost a hundred years after that fateful night.  But it was Samuel Prescott who actually finished the ride and alerted the people of Concord that the British were coming.

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Prescott served as a doctor to the wounded during the #Revolutionary War.  He died at age twenty-six while a prisoner of war, giving his life for the cause of liberty.

#Children’s Nonfiction Books about the American Revolution and Paul Revere’s Ride:

#How Did Tea and Taxes Spark a Revolution? And Other Questions about the Boston Tea Party by Linda Gondosch  (Lerner Publishing Group)

Paul Revere and the Minutemen of the American Revolution by Ryan P. Randolph (Rosen Publishing Group

The Many Rides of Paul Revere by James Cross Giblin  (Scholastic Press)

Let me know of books you have read about the American Revolution that you enjoyed.  I’d love to hear from you.

Linda Gondosch