Part 2 - Sound the Alarm! - by Three'oEight

[308LIBERTY]

In 1774 General Thomas Gage, commander of British forces in America was made governor of Massachusetts in order to quell any civil unrest. It was his job to implement the Coercive Acts, what we refer to as the Intolerable Acts a means by which to dissuade any allusions of Independence by the colonists. Some say he was too lenient in those duties, but I think you will find out that was not the case. He was simply between a rock and a hard place, surrounded on all sides by an ever growing spirit of Liberty that could not be diminished by a few pieces of paper and a handful of troops, probably no more than (2000?) at his disposal.

Gen. Gage began plans to move powder belonging to the King as well as powder and supplies belonging to the colonists back into Boston, effectively preventing a possible uprising. Rebels learned of the plan and created something called a powder alarm, a means by which the countryside could be alerted if troops came to seize the powder stores. They set up an entire network of riders, alarm bells and signal fires to quickly spread word of impending troop movements. No, there was no single lone rider, galloping through the countryside, yelling "The British are coming!" first of all because we were ALL British. It took a community effort, the likes of which should put our own modern communities to shame to get the word out.

You see there was no TV, internet , cell phones or other means by which to spread a message, yet somehow they were able to alert tens of thousands in a very short time. How many people could YOU get to come to your aid in a time of crisis? 100? Maybe 10? The colonists were able to mobilize as many as 20,000 in a few short hours. Now, that's pretty impressive for the 18th century.

On Sept. 1, 1774 Gen. Gauge sent 250 men to siege 125 barrels of powder at Cambridge in secret. Rumors spread that people had been killed in the seizure and that Boston was being bombarded by British ships. This was likely just propaganda started by none other than Samuel Adams in order to drum up support from a new Continental Congress. (Technically an illegal gathering at this point) In response, as many as 20,000 militia converged on Boston to fight back. It was only through careful  persuasion they were sent home after discovering the rumors had been false. The only powder having been taken belonged to the King because powder belonging to the colonials had already been hidden away and nobody had been killed.

Because of this event, General Gauge cancelled plans for a second raid, pulled back all of his troops to Boston and sent a hasty request to London, calling for reinforcements. His words were "if you think ten thousand men sufficient, send twenty; if one million is thought enough, give two; you save both blood and treasure in the end." You see, General Gauge had no illusions about what he was facing  and he knew there was only a total of 12,000 troops in London. Despite the fact his men were soldiers facing what was considered a loose faction of farmers and shopkeepers, the simple numbers were not in his favor. When London received his request they thought him mad and only sent 400 marines back to Boston. General Gauge was hemmed in on all sides with few options.

By March, 1775 Gen. Gage had his orders to siege the next largest supply of powder and provisions kept in Concord. He knew this would now be no easy feat and he tried to keep his plans secret. Some say his wife alerted her Doctor, Joseph Warren (and a High Son of Liberty himself) of the plans in advance, but that may not have been necessary, as a well known silversmith and courier of the time named Paul Revere already had a network of spies in place to alert them at the first signs of troop movements.

On April 16th, Revere had witnessed boats for transporting troops across the water which had previously been in dry dock for repairs. This could only herald one thing. The redcoats were about to make a move. He rode into Lexington to warn two other High Sons of Liberty, John Hancock and Samuel Adams who had recently been at a meeting of patriots in Concord. They were essentially hiding out, being well known in support of the rebel cause and had already ordered some of the arms and cannon at Concord to be hidden away.

This was also a bit of a dry run for the powder alarm that would take place again 2 days later. People were actually getting used to this routine by now and there had been several false alarms previously which is probably responsible for the poor turnout of militia at Lexington on April 19.

By April 18th, Gen. Gage had sent out scouting parties which were poorly disguised so it was no great surprise what they were up to. Dr. Joseph Warren summoned Paul Revere and William Dawes to ride out in different directions, once again, to warn Lexington, Concord and other villages that an attack could be eminent. Dawes traveled south, through the narrow neck of Boston and managed to get past the guards shortly before it was ordered that no one else should pass. Revere alerted John Pulling Jr to have two lanterns hung above the Old North Church to signal those in Charlestown the redcoats would be coming by boats. This is where the phrase "One if by land, two if by sea" originated. Another rider, begins his own ride from Charlestown across the river before Revere and Dawes even makes it out of Boston. We don't know his name, but he is believe to be of African decent and not the only former slave who would be supporting the rebel cause that night.

As Dawes is beginning his ride, Revere has 2 friends gather to row him across the river to Charlestown right under the shadows of the HMS Somerset. They were lucky that the moon was casting long shadows across the river this night but the oars and hardware were still noisy. They needed a way to muffle the oars so they could quietly pass by. Revere goes to a nearby balcony where he sees a lady standing, taking in the fresh evening air, and pleads with her to drop down her petticoat so that Revere could embark on a "secret mission." I guess Revere must have been a handsome fellow, because the lady complied although I can only imagine her surprise as he ran away into the night, the petticoat "yet warm from the body of a fair daughter of Liberty."

His gamble paid off and he finally makes it across to Charlestown where he borrows the fastest horse he can find from a man named Deacon Larcon. In retrospect, this horse was the equivalent of borrowing someone's sports car today and I imagine there may have been the slightest bit of a thrill as Paul Revere finally embarks on his famous midnight ride.

DwightC

[Two Wolves]

Keep'em coming. The suspence is killing me!