Palin vs. Revere

The web and news are all abuzz - Seems Sarah Palin had some history facts to share while visiting Boston. She was not totally correct in her facts but by mistake was actually correct. Well sort of. What I am finding really amazing is that most of the news services are also getting it wrong including Yahoo. It appears from what I can tell from the 100's of news posting, that this was what she said.... "warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms by ringing those bells." She continued to say after being told she got it wrong... :"I didn't mess up about Paul Revere... Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms".

Well even after trying to fix a pot hole with water she still is far from factual in her understanding of early American history. Truth be known, Revere never announced the British are Coming, after all, everyone including Paul Revere were British! In addition, this was not his first ride nor was it really his most important of rides. Revere was constantly on the road doing Whig business making several trips to Philadelphia to the First Congress, New York City delivering documents and through out New England exchanging letters and documents. What did make this ride stand out from his other more clandestine missions are several smaller events during the long ride. His actual mission that night was to warn Hamilton and Adams that "The Regulars are Coming Out!" Both gentlemen were staying in Lexington and the Regulars were on their way to take Hancock and Adams in for questioning and possible trial in England. William Dawes who also rode that night was responsible for going door to door in the country side to warn folks of the marching troops heading their way. There was no warning ride through the streets of Boston. In fact, Paul Revere was riding a borrowed horse who he lost to the British during his capture.