Setting the facts straight about Paul Revere’s midnight ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1861 poem about Paul Revere’s ride got some facts wrong, the History Channel says.

For one, Revere was not alone on his mission to warn several founding fathers the British were approaching Lexington. He was joined by two others, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. By the end of the night, as many as 40 men on horseback were spreading the word.

Revere also never reached Concord, as the poem says. Revere was temporarily detained by the British, and Dawes got lost after falling off his horse. That left only Prescott, a young physician, to deliver the message.

– Kelly Hayes, Extensive Enterprises