Remembering: The British are Coming!

April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, orders British soldiers to march on Concord to cease weapon stores and on Lexington to arrest colonial leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

The colonials had been waiting for this move, and plans were prepared. Two riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes, were waiting for a signal to let them know which way the British were headed. One lamp would be lit in the steeple of Boston's Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two would be lit if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge.

On the night of April 18, the two men saw the signal of two lights in the steeple, and set off through the countryside, on different paths, to warn everyone. Hundreds of Minutemen were warned, and armed themselves. They reached Lexington moments apart, and together warned Hancock and Adams. As they left the town they were joined by Samuel Prescott.

The three riders then took separate ways towards Concord. Only Prescott would make it there. Dawes would end up losing his horse avoiding British patrols. Whilst Revere would be captured and questioned, but later released.