I always thought it interesting that so many people were awake at 2am on April 19th as Mr Revere activated his communications network. Kind of broke my mental model that our ancestors were "early to bed, early to rise..." Could this be an explanation?
http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/
That doesn't surprise me.
What surprises me is that you actually found an article on this? What were you looking for? ;D
Thanks for the interesting article. Another reason, at least for the night of the 18th, is that word of the planned raid on Concord spread a few days before, although the exact date wasn't known until the afternoon of the 18th. Some people were actually making cartridges late that night.
That was a great read. Another bit of history in the old bank. ^:)^
Casper
Someone had to tend the fire some time during the dark hours. Otherwise, they would have to break the ice in the water bucket before they could put the porridge on to simmer.