William Dawes
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William Dawes Jr. was an American soldier, and was one of several men who, in April 1775, alerted minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British regulars prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution. For some years, Paul Revere had the most renown for his ride of warning of this event.
William Dawes
William Dawes tomb marker in King's Chapel Burying Ground
William Dawes plaque showing the route his ride. Located on Cambridge Common, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Battles of Lexington and Concord
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The Battles of Lexington and Concord was the first major military campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in an American victory and outpouring of militia support for the anti-British cause. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge. They marked the outbreak of armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot militias from America's thirteen colonies.
The Battle of Lexington depicted in a 1910 portrait by William Barnes Wollen
Thomas Gage
Francis Smith, commander of the military expedition, in a 1763 portrait
A March 24, 1775, resolution, signed by John Hancock, resolves that measures for "putting this colony into a complete state of defense, be still most vigorously pursued by the several towns, as well as individual inhabitants".