On Patriots Day, remember the lost John Dawes

My little ones, please pay attention and wait while William Dawes takes his midnight trip.

Okay, so Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was aware that he could make “hear” and “Revere” rhyme more effectively, but as a result of his well-known poem from “Tales of a Wayside Inn,” William Dawes, Paul Revere’s fellow rider, is mostly forgotten to most Americans. For Dawes on this Patriots Day, how about three cheers?

Sexton of the Old North Church Robert Newman, who ascended the steeple on the evening of April 18, 1775, to hang two lamps there, ignited their historic voyage.

The lanterns indicated that the British had started a march to Lexington in search of revolutionary leaders, including John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Following the hanging of the lanterns, Revere and Dawes went for Lexington to warn their fellow patriots. They were held captive by the British while they traveled to Concord, their next destination. While Revere ultimately gained more notoriety for being freed on foot, Dawes was able to escape. It’s possible that the former’s ability to travel covertly served him well, but not so much in the history books.

While the 70 Minutemen who waited at Lexington on April 19 in the morning would eventually prove to be capable combatants, the British encountered little opposition on their trip to Concord. Upon observing the overwhelming number of redcoats, the colonists at Lexington had the good judgment to disperse. However, the war had already begun when one of their number, or maybe a British soldier, fired the shot that would become famous throughout the world.

Minute Man National Historical Park was founded in 1959 and today occupies the location of the conflict. In the 1960s, the park service purchased numerous contemporary buildings and had them razed while restoring the fields and orchards. Lincoln, Lexington, and Concord together make up the 1,038 acres of the park.

This significant event in American history is still commemorated in just two states: Maine and Massachusetts. Massachusetts naturally celebrates the day in a more overt manner than Maine: there are reenactments, readings, and the Boston Marathon. Maine commemorates it in a less raucous but no less patriotic way.

The remaining states, too? This week’s absence of this significant day in their history may not be as conspicuous because their schoolchildren are likely also on holiday. However, it wouldn’t harm anyone if more tricorn hat-wearing people read Longfellow’s poem on a national scale. perhaps excluding the Dawes who was overlooked.