Paul Revere made the famous midnight ride to warn Patriots of the approaching British troops.
On the night of April 18–19, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren sent Revere from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British regulars were marching into the countryside. William Dawes rode by a separate route, and the two men met in Lexington before continuing toward Concord.
Samuel Prescott joined them on the road, but a British patrol intercepted the riders near Lincoln. Prescott escaped and reached Concord; Dawes also escaped but did not complete the route. Revere was detained, questioned, and taken back toward Lexington before being released. Thus, the famous ride was actually a shared warning effort, not a journey completed by Revere alone.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1861 poem, “Paul Revere's Ride,” made Revere the central figure in popular memory. The poem also introduced inaccuracies, including the idea that Revere reached Concord. The alarm nevertheless helped local militia prepare for the Battles of Lexington and Concord.