The battles for Concord and Lexington have become recognized as the starting point of the American War for Independence. “The shot heard round the world” is the way many would describe it. Of course it wasn’t heard around the world literally. Rather, it was an event that echoed across the continents of the globe, shocking the civilized world.

Most of us know the story of the events that unfolded in these towns in April of 1775. And well-known to Americans is the name Paul Revere. We know how he made his famous ride through the darkest of night to warn the patriots that the British regulars were on the march.

He is one of America’s greatest heroes, and was enshrined in the annals of history by Longfellow’s famous poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”.

Yet cloaked in the mist of historical legend remain hidden the stories of the other midnight riders during that fateful April of 1775. Let’s look at a few who have been largely neglected in our history books, but played just as important a role as Paul Revere.

1. William Dawes

Aside from Paul Revere, William Dawes is perhaps the most recognized rider of that night. He was recruited, alongside Paul Revere, by Dr. Joseph Warren to spread the word of the British Regulars who were marching on Lexington and Concord.

They went different routes in the hope that if one was captured, the other would get through. One of them would cross the Charles River by boat and continue on from there, while the other would go by land via the isthmus known as the “Boston Neck”. The man who went by land would have the riskier mission, because he would have to get past the guards stationed there.

Dr. Warren recognized that there was only one man who could potentially get the job done via land — William Dawes. He was a loyal patriot, but he hadn’t yet been labeled as a trouble maker like Revere had been.

Aside from that, he had snuck in and out of Boston many times before, disguised as a beggar, peddler, and sometimes feigning being drunk. He had even smuggled gold coins by sewing them onto his coat like buttons. In the weeks and months prior, he had also “befriended” some of the guards.

Armed with this advantage, Dawes set out on the evening of April 18th. There is some uncertainty as to exactly how Dawes managed to get past the guards this specific night. Some say he once again put on the facade of being a drunk farmer and stumbled past the guards. Other accounts say he slipped past when the guards were distracted with a group of British soldiers that had arrived.

Regardless of how it happened that night, Dawes was able to get past the sentry and continue on his quest to alert the patriot countryside of the coming trouble.

He rode to Lexington in order to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the Regulars were on the march. He arrived just after midnight, and joined up with Revere to carry the word on to Concord.

They only made it half way to Concord when they ran into a British patrol. Initially they were captured, but then they attempted to escape by riding in opposite directions. This forced the patrol to split up and chase after them. Dawes rode up to a farmhouse nearby and shouted “Halloo, boys, I’ve got two of ’em!”

He was referring, of course, to the two British regulars who were behind him. The Regulars feared an ambush from any patriots who may have been inside the house and retreated, leaving Dawes to escape.

In reality, the farmhouse was vacant. Dawes had staged the incident in a desperate hope that the British would fall into his trap. He knew his horse was too tired to have ever been able to escape the Regulars.

As it stood, Dawes had to walk all the way back to Lexington because when he had come up to the house, his horse reared and bolted off.

2. Samuel Prescott

While Dawes and Revere made their way to Concord, they were overtaken by “a young Dr. Prescott”.

The twenty-four year old native of Concord had been in Lexington when Revere and Dawes had arrived with the word that the British Regulars were on the march. Whether Dawes and Revere knew him personally is unclear. Revere later wrote about him that he was “a high Son of Liberty”. This perhaps indicates that Prescott may have done some currier jobs for the Sons of Liberty in the past, and thus was known by Revere.

Whether they knew him or not, they trusted him enough to allow him to help spread their vital message. Apart from his obvious passion for the patriot cause, he knew the people in the area. As their physician, they would be more apt to trust that what he said was true, whereas Dawes and Revere were Boston men — not well known in the Concord countryside.

When the three of them encountered the British patrol, it was Prescott who signaled the other two to make a run for it. He directed his horse to hurtle the stone wall that ran the length of the road, and took off. He was the only one of the three riders to make it to Concord that night.

He aroused the entire countryside. When he finally reached his own home in Concord, he awakened his brother, Abel, and recruited him to carry the word to Sudbury and Framingham.

It is worth noting that had Dr. Prescott not joined Dawes and Revere in their midnight alarm, Concord may have never been warned in time.

Prescott joined the Continental Army shortly thereafter, as a surgeon. But he was later captured by the British and taken to a prison in Canada where he became ill and died.

He never lived to see his beloved America gain her freedom.

3. Abel Prescott

It must have been a shocking awakening for Abel when his brother burst into their home in the wee hours of the morning and informed him of the events that were unfolding.

Abel Prescott quickly readied and mounted his horse to go warn the outlying towns of Sudbury and Framingham. When he reached Sudbury, he went to Thomas Plympton’s home. Plympton was the head of the Sudbury militia, and he immediately set the town alarm bells to ringing.

By this time it was around 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning. All of Sudbury was awake.

Abel rode on to Framingham, where he did the same.

Finally, he made his way back to Concord. As he was approaching the town, a British regular opened fire and wounded him. Sadly, Abel never recovered from his wound. It became infected, and he died a few months later.

He too never saw the end of the war.

4. Unknown

The aforementioned riders were far from being the only riders that night.

There were dozens — perhaps even hundreds — of riders who went out that night, spreading the news of the British march. You may remember an important part of the story that involves lanterns being placed in the steeple of the Old North Church?

Two lanterns meant that the British planned to go by sea, whereas one lantern meant they planned to go by land. But these lanterns were not for the benefit of Paul Revere, or even William Dawes. Rather, Revere had set this method in place as a way of passing information on to dozens of riders he had put on alert across the Charles River. They were instructed to keep watch every night and look toward the Old North Church. When they saw the lights, they would know to go carry the news to their designated areas. When Revere arrived on the other side of the Charles River the night of April 18th, he received word that his network had seen the lanterns and had already disappeared into the night.

As these riders sounded the alarm through little villages along the way, more riders went out to do the same. We know from accounts of that day that when the British were marching to Concord, they were surrounded with the pealing of church bells. The news had traveled so fast that most of New England knew about it before the British even made it to Concord.

No doubt there were hundreds of riders whose identities will forever remain hidden in history.

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Did you know about these “unknown” riders of the midnight ride? What do you think would have been the outcome had Paul Revere been the only rider out that night? Let me know in the comments!

A. M. Watson

Hebrews 13:8