William Dawes

My hero William Dawes was one of the three famous men who warned the Patriots that the British army was coming to steal their supply of weapons and ammunition before the battle of Lexington and Concord. He was born in Boston Massachusettts on April 5th, 1745 and died on February 25th, 1799 at the age of 54. His parents were Lydia and William Dawes. Later in his life, Dawes became a tanner.

William Dawes greatly helped the patriotic cause because he and Paul Revere were asked by Dr. Joseph Warner to ride seperatly from Boston to Lexington to warn the local militia, townspeople, and most importantly John Hancock and Samuel Adams. He reached Lexington around 12:30 a.m. on April 19th, 1775. Dawes warned everyone there, including his main targets John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Dawes caught up with Revere, and the men were soon joined by another messenger named Samuel Prescott.

A bit after they left Lexington, the messengers were caught by British guards. William and Prescott escaped, though Dawe's horse kicked him off and ran away. Can you believe he had to walk back to Lexington on foot? Samuel made it to Concord, but Revere was delayed and like Dawes had to walk back to Lexington. William Dawes was able to gather enough troops to fight and win the first battle of the revolution. His actions were heroic because he could have easily been too cowardly to ride all the way to a different town with the British on his tail. That's why he's my hero.