William Dawes

William Dawes

William Dawes, Jr. (born April 6, 1745 in Boston , Massachusetts Bay Colony , † February 25, 1799 in Marlborough , Massachusetts , United States ) was a tanner and one of the horsemen who led the colonial minutemen shortly before the start of the American Revolutionary War warned of the advancing British troops, which led to the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord . He was married to Mehitable May (1768-1793) and had two sons and a daughter with her.

Early life

William Dawes, Jr.'s parents were William Dawes, Sr., and Lydia Dawes (née Boone). He was baptized in the Old South Church and took up the profession of tanner . He was also a member of the Boston militia . He married Mehitable May on May 3, 1768. The Boston Gazette reported on the wedding and praised the fact that he was wearing a suit for the occasion that was made exclusively in North America. At the time, the Whigs were attempting a boycott of British products in order to put pressure on the UK Parliament and thus force the repeal of the Townshend Acts .

Role in the Boston militia

Dawes played a central role in protecting the four cannons of the Boston militia from the attack of British troops in September 1774 - although this has not been proven beyond doubt - Dawes has received a corresponding message from the Massachusetts Provincial Congress , which was written in February 1775, and Dawes ordered two of these guns to be brought out of Boston.

The midnight ride

On the night of April 18, 1775, Dawes was ordered by Joseph Warren to ride from Boston to Lexington, when it had become clear that British troops were on their way inland. His job was to inform John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the imminent danger of their capture. Dawes took the overland route over the Boston Neck to get out of the city and reached the city limits just in time for the British military to cordon off the city.

Paul Revere was also stationed in Charlestown on behalf of Warren . He used lanterns on the steeple of the Old North Church to signal from where the British were approaching. To make sure the news reached the more distant places, Revere rowed across the river and rode west. This ride was later recorded by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem Paul Revere's Ride . However, this is historically incorrect because it focuses exclusively on Revere and thus makes him a composition of a large number of riders who were on the road that night.

Dawes and Revere arrived in Lexington just after midnight at about the same time. Although Revere had stopped en route to exchange information with militias, he reached town sooner than Dawes because his horse was faster and the distance was shorter. After completing their assignment and warning Adams and Hancock, they decided to ride on to Concord , which they suspected was the ultimate goal of the British. There is no doubt that Revere knew that the Provincial Congress had weapons and ammunition stored at Concord, including the cannons that Dawes had helped secure. On the way there they met the doctor Samuel Prescott , who joined them.

On the road between Lexington and Concord they met mounted British officers. These had already successfully intercepted some riders heading west and ordered Dawes, Revere and Prescott to stop. They rode off in three different directions, hoping that at least one of them would make the breakthrough. On the way toward Concord, Dawes heard the church bells ring, so he knew Prescott had reached town before him. Since his horse threw him off, he had to return to Lexington on foot.

The warnings brought by Dawes and the many other horsemen enabled the city militias to stand firm in the battles of Lexington and Concord , which eventually led to the first colonial victory. The British found few of the weapons they intended to destroy and suffered heavy losses from continued attacks by the colonists on their way back to Boston.

Quartermaster

During the war, Dawes worked as a quartermaster in central Massachusetts. British prisoners of war from the Battle of Saratoga reported to the British Parliament that they had been given too little food. His family replied that Dawes was convinced that they would steal from the peasants on their march to Boston, which they believe is what most armies in a campaign tend to do.

Late life

The grave of William Dawes on King's Chapel Burying Ground

From the time after the Revolutionary War all that is known is that Dawes refused to join a punitive expedition against the Indians , which the governor ordered in December 1790.

His wife died in 1793. Dawes himself died on February 25, 1799 in Marlborough. It is believed that he was buried on King's Chapel Burying Ground . However, his remains could also have been reburied in his wife's family grave in Forest Hills Cemetery on Jamaica Plain .

heritage

Historians criticize the poem Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for greatly exaggerating the role of Revere during the events. The story may be more useful as a narrative, but both Dawes and Prescott were more successful in achieving their goals. In 1896, Helen F. Moore, dismayed that William Dawes had already been forgotten, published her poem The Midnight Ride of William Dawes .

The differences between the successes of both men were explored by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point .

On an as Dawes Iceland known traffic island in Cambridge - at the intersection of Garden Street and Massachusetts Avenue on the Harvard Square - the memory of William Dawes is preserved. The path he chose for his ride is marked by bronze horseshoes set into the ground . The installation includes a plaque with his name and the date of the ride as well as some panels with historical backgrounds.

progeny

Rufus Dawes was a great-grandson of William, an officer in the Civil War and a member of Congress. Charles G. Dawes served as Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge . Other relatives are businessmen Rufus C. Dawes , Beman Gates Dawes, and Henry M. Dawes . The journalist Bill Schulz (actually William Dawes Schulz) is also a descendant of William Dawes and the grandson of Mary Dawes, the daughter of Henry M. Dawes.

literature

• David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere's Ride , Oxford University Press, 1995.

Web links

• William Dawes in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Ride. The Descendants of William Dawes Who Rode Association, accessed January 6, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Ron Fletcher: Who's buried in Dawes's tomb? William Dawes, Paul Revere's (mostly forgotten) fellow rider, is said to lie at King's Chapel Burying Ground. But an amateur historian says he's actually on the other side of town. In: The Boston Globe . February 25, 2007, accessed January 6, 2013 . 
3. ^ Heather Wilkinson Rojo: The Midnight Ride of William Dawes. In: Nutfield Genealogy. April 18, 2011, accessed January 6, 2013 . 
4. ↑ Malcolm Gladwell: The tipping point . how little things can make a big difference. Back Bay Books, Boston 2002, ISBN 978-0-316-34662-7 .
5. ^ Dawes Island. The Descendants of William Dawes Who Rode Association, accessed January 6, 2013 . 
6. ^ Judith Cass: Mary Dawes is Wed in Ceremony at Parents' Home. (PDF; 4.7 MB) In: Chicago Sunday Tribune. September 24, 1933, p. 3 , accessed January 6, 2013 (English).