Samuel Prescott

Samuel Prescott (born August 19, 1751 in Concord , Massachusetts Bay Colony , † probably 1777 ) was one of the patriots in the American Revolutionary War . He was best known for his role in the "Midnight Ride" shortly before the outbreak of war, through which the residents of Concord were warned of the approaching British troops. Prescott was the only rider to reach Concord.

Early life

Samuel Prescott grew up in colonial Concord in what is now the state of Massachusetts in the United States , where many of his relatives lived. One of the oldest ancestors of the Concord branch of the Prescott family was John Prescott , who lived from 1604 to 1681 and founded the city of Lancaster . Members of the Prescott family have played important roles in colonial history, including fighting in the wars of the colonies and negotiating the ransom for Mary Rowlandson .

Samuel followed in the footsteps of his eldest brother Benjamin (1745-1830) and apprenticed to his father Abel Prescott for about seven years to learn the medical profession . Few facts are known about him from before the revolution. After completing his training, he opened his own practice in Concord and began a relationship with Lydia Mulliken (1753–1789), a daughter of a watchmaker who was highly respected in Lexington and who had died in 1767.

He became an active member of the patriot movement during the final stages of his professional training or shortly after he started working as a medical doctor . There is strong evidence that he served as an express courier for the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of correspondence . He was also an important link between the Concord Defense Committee , John Hancock and other leaders of the Patriots.

The midnight ride

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent by Joseph Warren to warn the rural population of the approaching British troops. Prescott was in Lexington at the time to meet with his fiancée, Lydia Mulliken . He was also in town to report on the preparations in Concord . The city hid supplies and ammunition from the British and had successfully moved cannons to Groton in case it fell into British hands. The British, on the other hand, were very interested in the military supplies and had hoped to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock in the course of the search .

Prescott left Lexington around 1am on April 19, 1775. On his way back to Concord, he met Paul Revere and William Dawes , who had left Lexington shortly before him and were also on their way to Concord, in front of which they were already to warn redcoats approaching . At Hartwell's Tavern on the Lincoln city ​​limits , their path was cut off by four British horsemen who were part of a larger reconnaissance party dispatched the previous evening. Revere was captured while Prescott and Dawes escaped through a daring escape.

They were separated and so initially both rode towards Concord. When Dawes heard the town hall bell, however, he knew Prescott had already made it to town and continued his special assignment, which was the only reason he should have accompanied Revere to Concord. Prescott meanwhile rode on to Acton while his brother Abel Prescott, Jr. rode south to warn Sudbury and Framingham . Other cities also sent horsemen, rang bells or fired cannons to warn neighboring cities.

Because of this commitment by Revere , Dawes , Prescott and many other riders, which went down in history as the "midnight ride," the minutemen and militias were on standby throughout the colony . Many of them marched to Concord to attack the British army there. The fighting there became known as the Battles of Lexington and Concord , in which Samuel Prescott was also involved. He was a volunteer surgeon in Lexington for about two weeks, but from there he is lost.

Late life

There is evidence that Prescott served as a surgeon in the Continental Army . It is also recorded that he joined the crew of a privateer and that he was imprisoned in Halifax , Nova Scotia , where he may have died between November 23, 1776 and December 26, 1777. Further evidence suggests that Prescott worked in the medical service of Fort Ticonderoga during the attempted invasion of Canada until about the time Benedict Arnold's attacks against Guy Carleton on Lake Champlain failed.

heritage

The Prescott ride is symbolically repeated every Patriots' Day in the city of Acton . The reenactment of the ride begins in the eastern part of town, runs through the city center and ends at Liberty Tree Farm , where the home of a minutemen named Simon Hunt once stood. The distance covered is approx. 5  mi (8  km ). The rides of Dawes and Revere are also re-enacted that day.

See also

• Patriots (american independence)

literature

• Charles J. Caes: Legend of the third horseman . life and times of Dr. Samuel Prescott, the man who finished the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Xlibris Corp., 2009, ISBN 978-1-4415-0127-1 .
• Abijah P. Marvin: History of the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts . from the first settlement to the present time, 1643-1879 (=  Library of American civilization ). Town of Lancaster, Massachusetts, Lancaster 1879, OCLC 12416902 .
• William Prescott: The Prescott memorial, or, A genealogical memoir of the Prescott families in America . Ward Pub. Co., Asheville, NC 1983, OCLC 10948568 (reprint of the original of the same name from 1870).
• William W. Wheildon: New chapter in the history of the Concord fight . Groton minute-men at the North Bridge, April 19, 1775. Lee & Shepard, Boston 1885, OCLC 2130492 .
• C. Burr Dawes: A Bicentennial history of the midnight ride, April 18-19, 1775, of William Dawes, first rider for revolution . chronological narrative. Historic Gardens Press, Newark, Ohio 1975, OCLC 2119988 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Caes , pp. 49-50
2. ↑ cf. Marvin , pp. 38-47
3. ↑ cf. Caes , p. 34
4. ↑ D. Michael Ryan: The Tale of Two Families Joined by Love, Shattered by War. (No longer available online.) In: Concord Magazine. Archived from the original on July 24, 2009 ; accessed on January 5, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ cf. Caes , p. 206
6. ↑ cf. Prescott , p. 66
7. ↑ cf. Wheildon , p. 7
8. ↑ cf. Dawes , p. 89
9. ↑ cf. Dawes , p. 119
10. ↑ cf. Caes , pp. 248-253
11. ↑ cf. Caes

Remarks

1. ↑ Caes provides a number of alternatives to the theory of buccaneering, including reference to the Battle of Bunker Hill , in which many of Samuel Prescott's relatives took part.