Paul Revere never actually shouted, “The British are coming!”

Paul Revere in Lexington

In the popular imagination of many Americans, few aspects of the Revolutionary War are more iconic than the event that came to be known as “Paul Revere’s midnight ride.” On the evening of April 18, 1775, the Patriot leader rode from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning the rebelling colonists that British soldiers stationed in Boston were planning to march into the countryside surrounding Lexington and Concord. However, while Revere’s midnight ride was, in fact, a significant moment in the American Revolution, some details that found their way into the popular retelling have been subject to a bit of dramatic embellishment. Namely, Revere never actually shouted the now-legendary warning, “The British are coming!” In fact, if he had shouted this, it would have been detrimental to his mission.

For one, at the time, colonists still considered themselves to be British subjects, and although they were rebelling against the British crown, American revolutionaries did not consider “the British” to be a separate, hostile nation. What’s more, as a known revolutionary agent riding through a region full of British troops, Revere needed to complete his ride with as much discretion as possible. His actual journey was one of secrecy and narrow escapes, including a clandestine boat ride across the Charles River, during which he narrowly avoided capture from a British patrol ship before continuing his covert ride by horseback on the other side of the river. Revere did deliver crucial warnings about the British military’s impending advance on Lexington, but these warnings were quietly given to revolutionaries at individual households along his route.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Paul Revere was not the only rider sent out to spread the warning about British soldiers.

While Paul Revere has gone down in history as an American hero, he wasn’t the only person who went on a secret ride in the middle of the night to warn colonists about the British soldiers’ plan to advance. At the same time that Revere set out on his ride from Boston to Lexington, another man, William Dawes, also departed Boston with instructions to alert colonial militias of the mobilizing British troops. Revere and Dawes had the same destination, but the routes they took were different: Revere left Boston by secretly crossing the Charles River, while Dawes took the riskier land route out of the city, which required him to sneak through a British checkpoint. As Dawes rode toward Lexington, he alerted other riders of the British movement, and these riders in turn spread the message to yet more colonial militia members throughout the countryside surrounding Lexington.