The British Are Coming

newepicauthor

William Dawes fell off his horse and he was unable to complete his midnight ride.  Dawes rode with four other men that night, Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissell, and Sybil Ludington to warn the colonists of the approach and movement of the British forces.  Longfellow made Paul Revere into a legend with his poem, as Dawes became the Rodney Dangerfield of the American Revolution, getting no respect at all.  Longfellow never included Dawes in his poem, but he rode with Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott to Concord, where Revere was captured.  Prescott and his horse hurtled over a stone wall and managed to make it to Concord.  Dawes was thrown from his horse and then it ran away.  He was unable to locate his horse, so Dawes was forced to limp into the moonlit back to Lexington, as he receded into obscurity.

Written for Simply 6 Minutes hosted by Christine Bialczak.

17 thoughts on “The British Are Coming”

    1. Dawes is just a footnote in history, that most people never heard of. He will always be the forgotten rider on that night, and everyone will view him as having been insignificant.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. There is a little more to this story, but it didn’t fit the picture, and you are supposed to write this in six minutes or less.  William Dawes was being chased by the British and he ran into a barn, and he started talking really loudly, and that made it sound like there were a few other Colonists in there with him, so the soldiers moved on, thinking that they were probably outnumbered.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.