“Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…”
Saturday, April 18 marks the anniversary of Revere’s ride, “The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America.” According to a statement, author Kostya Kennedy will be visiting the New Haven Museum to present little-known aspects based on his book of the same title.
The free NHM250 event will be held at 2 p.m. with a reception at 1:30 p.m. Attendees should register.
Known as the night of the “most famous horse ride in American history,” according to Kennedy, the story of Revere’s ride to warn of approaching British troops is deeper and richer than previously assumed.
“That night in in 1775 was 12 hours that changed the world,” Kennedy said.
Revere, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and staunch anti-British political operative, inspired the poem and legend of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
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Kennedy said Revere was not the only rider that April night in 1775, but was the most critical. According to a statement, “the patriots’ best and most trusted ‘express rider,’ he had already completed at least 18 previous rides throughout New England, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, Kennedy asserts, and its consequences in the months and years following — as the American Revolution transitioned from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war — became one of our founding tales.”
“There’s a layered story to Paul Revere’s ride, a story that speaks directly to the tenor, values and resolve of America’s founding,” Kennedy said. “Without the ride the course of the nation’s history would have begun much differently than it did.”
Kennedy has crafted a new narrative of the ride, informed by primary and secondary research into archives, family letters and diaries, contemporary accounts, and more. He said “it was a coordinated ride of some 40 men that included near-disasters, capture by British forces, and ultimately success. While Revere was central to the ride and its plotting, Kennedy will highlight myriad other men and women who proved crucial to the events that helped set in motion what would lead to America’s independence. He will also dispel some of the myths around the legend, including that of Revere purportedly saying, ‘The British are coming!’ during the ride.”
“It’s another reminder of how relatively small actions, and a relatively small network of people, can have an enormous impact,” he said.