Revere gets all the attention, but William Dawes left Roxbury to warn the colonists this morning

William Dawes returned to the First Church of Roxbury this morning, for the first time since before the start of the pandemic, to ride off to Lexington and Concord to warn the colonists that the Redcoats were on their way.

A small group of people gathered to watch Dawes recite a poem about him and then ride off down Roxbury Street and up Tremont on his way through Brookline and Allston, where he'd cross the river and gallop up Mass. Ave. into Arlington.

Dawes, accompanied by a rider from the National Lancers, before taking off to sound the alarm:

The Midnight Ride of William Dawes (source):

I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, "My name was Dawes"

'Tis all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear --
My name was Dawes and his Revere.

When the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!

History rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.

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