'One if by land, Two if by sea!'

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a signal that Paul Revere used to alert the colonists to the British approach during the American Revolution. The signal was displayed in the steeple of Boston's Old North Church.

The words used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem “ Paul Revere's Ride ” to describe the signal used to guide the “midnight ride of Paul Revere” at the start of the Revolutionary War . Revere had ordered two lanterns to be placed in a Boston church tower to warn his confederates that the British were on the move. Longfellow embellished the story a little.

On April 18, 1775 Boston silversmith and patriot Paul Revere rode by horse to alert the colonial militia of the British forces about to attack in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts -- battles fought the following day that signified the start the American Revolutionary War. First, Revere placed two lanterns on the Old North Church steeple in Boston to warn citizens and patriots that troops had left Boston and were crossing the Charles River. Accompanied by William Dawes, a tanner by trade, Revere and his fellow militiaman, under direction of General Joseph Warren, set out late at night on slightly different routes to Lexington to meet up with Samuel Adams and John Hancock, American statesmen and Founding Fathers. Joining the horseback mission on a third route was Samuel Prescott, American physician, who was heading home to Concord from Lexington; Dr. Prescott was the only one to actually reach Concord where he gave word to the town sentry to ring the First Parish Church bell. While Revere was captured en route by the British, Dawes was thrown from his horse and walked back to Lexington.

Despite its historical inaccuracies, the vivid poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is well known in both U.S. history classes and American literature. The midnight ride of Paul Revere, and fellow revolutionaries, is still re-enacted in remembrance of their contributions to American history and the "Shot Heard Around the World."

TOMORROW!!!