Interesting random facts.

[KillerCelt]

Originally Posted by bsslack

The "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" is total BS. He road a tiny distance and got credit for the whole thing. A Civil Servant named Bissell, Rode the long and dangerous road and got little or no credit. Bissell's Family were even Libeled by Revere's when They asserted the Facts in Public. Revere was an Ass.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that Revere voluntarily put himself in harms way and at extreme risk by being rowed across the Charles River and right by the Somerset. While the "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" is a huge fallacy, it is important to remember that Revere did not tell the story nor ask for the glory that Longfellow chose to craft. Revere did help spread the word of the incoming British regulars and many other riders joined as they came into contact with Revere (as many as 40 others). Part of the reason Revere rode a "tiny distance" was because he was captured by British officers. I think this is an example of history where the real story actually makes him seem even more of a hero than Longfellow's fiction. But, just my