Published in 1863 as _The Landlord's Tale_ in the first series of _Tales
of a Wayside Inn_.
General Gage, commander of the British forces in Boston and vicinity,
despatched, on the night of April 18, 1775, a body of troops to seize
stores said to be concealed at Concord. According to the story, Paul
Revere spread the warning throughout the surrounding country, and when
the British arrived at Lexington they found a small body of militia
lined up to oppose them. A skirmish ensued in which the first blood of
the war was spilled, several being killed and others wounded.
[308] 2. =Paul Revere= (1735-1818) was a goldsmith and engraver who
became one of the most active of the colonial patriots.
[309] 9. =North Church.= There is some dispute as to what church is
referred to here. A tablet on the front of Christ Church, Salem Street,
Boston, points that out as the church from which the lanterns were hung.
Other good authorities, however, support the claims of the North Church,
formerly standing in North Square, but now torn down.
[310] 88. =Medford= is on the Mystic River about five miles northwest of
Boston.
[311] 102. =Concord= is about nineteen miles northwest of Boston.