Everyone Remembers Paul Revere's Midnight Ride. His Forgotten Race to Secure a Trove of Documents

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/everyone-remembers-paul-reveres-midnight-ride-but-his-forgotten-race-to-secure-a-trove-of-documents-reveals-how-government-records-helped-win-the-war-180988648/

Everyone Remembers Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. But His Forgotten Race to Secure a Trove of Documents Reveals How Government Records Helped Win the War

During the American Revolution, both the British and the patriots fought to keep sensitive papers out of enemy hands

Karin Wulf | History Correspondent
May 6, 2026 8:30 a.m.

Many Americans are familiar with the story of Bostonian Paul Revere, whose midnight ride on April 18, 1775, alerted the Massachusetts countryside to the presence of British troops in the hours before the opening battle of the American Revolution. But far fewer know that Revere also heroically rescued a vital trunk of paperwork that night.

The race to save this patriot archive underscores the fact that the Revolution wasn’t won solely on the battlefield. The safeguarding of government paperwork contributed to the Americans’ victory, too. As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding on July 4, 1776, the fierce contest over access to these records, involving nighttime raids and daring wartime rescues, is worth revisiting.

Historical sources generally agree that Revere set out from Boston around 11 p.m., arriving in the town of Lexington an hour or so later. There, he warned patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were on the move (though he never shouted the famous phrase “The British are coming!”).

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