Expedition to Concord: The British Patrol
This British patrol is alluded to in Gage’s Instructions to Lieutenant Colonel Smith, Apr 18, in Gage MSS, republished in French, Informers, 31–32. He says that six of the patrolmen were Maj. Edward Mitchell (5th), commanding; Capt. Charles Cochrane (4th); Capt. Charles Lumm (38th); Lt. Peregrine Francis Thorne (4th); Lt. Thomas Baker (4th); and Lieutenant Hamilton (64th). (Paul Revere’s Ride, 385–86n28, perhaps drawing from Informers, 59n1, and 61n1.) Perhaps Lieutenant Hamilton is Ens. Harry Hamilton of the 64th, listed in British Officers…Revolution, 88.
Fischer, 89, supposes there were twenty riders total, half officers, half rank and file, but gives no citation. In contrast, Mr. Waters reported to Jeremy Belknap in Belknap’s journal, Oct 25, 1775, in Proc. of MHS (1860), 4:77ff. that “a party of nine rode out of town with their blue surtouts”. Similarly, the Brown, Sanderson, Loring deposition, Apr 25, in Force, 4:2:489, reported seeing nine officers. (Brown’s statement was repeated in Rev. Jonas Clarke’s Opening of the War and Munroe’s deposition, 1825.) However, the most reliable information comes from Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap [circa 1798].
Revere’s 1798 letter and his earlier depositions say that two mounted British were on the road ahead of where he was captured; four others popped out near him on the road and surrounded him; and as he galloped for the woods to escape, another six sprung out there, a total of twelve. (Unlike Fischer, 135, I do not believe the four that first surrounded Revere included the two he saw ahead on the road. Instead, I suspect those two galloped past to unsuccessfully pursue William Dawes.) I also suppose the two that had chased Revere earlier outside Charlestown were not among these twelve. Otherwise Revere would have probably said so in his report. Thus, Revere himself encountered at least fourteen different patrolmen that night. Revere’s 1798 letter also states of the patrol: “I supposed that after Night, they divided them selves”, which need not mean they divided themselves evenly. From this, we might guess that Revere encountered only a portion of the total patrol, giving strong support that at least twenty patrolmen were indeed roving about. Thus, while Fischer’s statement of twenty riders is uncited, it seems entirely likely and reliable.