9781422287583

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This statue in Boston commemorates the April 1775 ride of Paul Revere to warn colo- nial villagers that the British Army was on its way. A young child named SamWilson was among the people who were awakened by Paul Revere; Sam would later become the basis for one of the most famous American symbols, Uncle Sam. Lexington and Concord

M ost school children are familiar with the story of Paul Revere, the American patriot whose ride across the Massachusetts countryside the night of April 18, 1775, warned colonists that 700 British soldiers under Lord General Hugh Percy were on the march. As Revere rode down the Medford Road, his horse galloped through the tiny Massachusetts village of Arlington, which in 1775 was known as Menotomy. He passed a house where Edward and Lucy Wilson lived with their 13 children. One of those children was the Wilsons’ eight-year-old son, Samuel. A short distance up the road from Menotomy was the town of Lexington, where some 70 minutemen awaited the arrival of the British. Minutemen were members of the civilian militia in Massachusetts who volunteered

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