{"id":2111,"date":"2025-04-18T12:07:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T12:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2025-04-18T12:07:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T12:07:41","slug":"april-1775-unfound-fathers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/april-1775-unfound-fathers\/","title":{"rendered":"April 1775: Unfound Fathers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear<br>\u2018Bout the other guys not named Revere.<br>On Eighteenth April, Seventy-Five<br>These other two were yet alive<br>And rode too on that day and year.<br>And though today we hardly pause<br>To recreate forgotten fame<br>Their heroism was yet the same<br>With long-lost names of Prescott and Dawes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">While the Silversmith was talking lights<br>(One or two to hang in the night?)<br>The Tanner had already departed<br>And stole through town, courage-hearted.<br>The inner shore, more dangerous way<br>Through Boston Neck, past dock and quay<br>He passed the sentries left and right<br>Onwards, onwards, through the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Out he passed in quite a hurry<br>The narrow strip onto Roxbury.<br>Through Brookline, Brighton and Cambridge town<br>To hinterlands of Boston bound.<br>(Revere, meanwhile, was madly rowing<br>Across Mill Pond, the short route going.)<br>Unlike his partner, who rode all noisy<br>He kept quiet as a milking Joisey.<br>Without a sound, without a pause<br>Riding for a worthy cause<br>The Tanner\u2019s name was William Dawes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Half past midnight struck the chime<br>When Dawes arrived in Lexington<br>To find the other there in time<br>And resting, first achievement done.<br>First word given, first word spread<br>To arms, to arms, the townsfolk said<br>While Dawes and Revere broke their bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Their second leg was yet ahead<br>So, forgoing the featherbed<br>The Smith and Tanner mounted horse<br>And began the next, more wooded course.<br>They came upon a third man then<br>Roughly dressed, no tie or ascot<br>A Doctor, riding field and fen<br>The youngster\u2019s name was Samuel Prescott.<br>Safety in numbers? Aye! Join forces!!<br>Dug they heels into their horses.<br>Off to Concord, to raise alarms<br>Across the Puritan colony<br>Houses, churches, and family farms<br>To help create a country free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Rode they into danger then!<br>Alas, a group of British men!!<br>Redcoats!!! Who all drew near<br>And captured luckless Smith Revere.<br>Took his horse, yeah, held him tight<br>That was all for Paul that night.<br>But William Dawes he played it bolder<br>Threw his voice, fooled the soldiers.<br>He jumped from horse and got all gimpy<br>And walked from history sore and limpy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Which left alone young patriot Sam<br>Onward, Concord-way to scram.<br>The famous poem lacks the depiction<br>But Doctor Prescott had the prescription:<br>Raise the men within a minute<br>Grab your gun, put powder in it.<br>Parliament has tax-addiction!<br>Ready to create affliction!!<br>Fire at any red conscription!!!<br>Give King George a royal conniption!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">We all know what happened then:<br>The British, 700 men<br>April \u201975, Day 19<br>Arriving on the fateful Green<br>And saw a site \u2018til then unseen:<br>Americans! Armed for battle!<br>Not acting like frightened cattle<br>Peppered blasts from their Brown Bessies<br>Left some royal coats all messy.<br>Serious shite, this stuff, no fun<br>A Revolution had just begun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Hardly any now remembers<br>The courage of these other members.<br>No rhymes for them from old Longfellow<br>Though they never wore Judas\u2019 yellow.<br>No essays penned by thankful students<br>Neither diligent nor impudent.<br>No toasts to make o\u2019er ale by Adams<br>Forgotten from Stockbridge to Chatham.<br>No stones for them in Old Granary<br>Proofs of resting places vary<br>Names unknown, fame forgotten<br>Sometimes fate can be so rotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And so on 250 austere<br>Thank the two not named Revere.<br>One rode the most dangerous way<br>And did his part to save the day.<br>The other \u2018scaped upon his steed<br>And made it, to complete the deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Memory should serve their ration<br>Of national appreciation.<br>While Brits still may have indignation<br>Americans, please, some adulation!<br>For unfound fathers of our nation<br>All rise! All rise! With Boston blooming<br>Hear the guns and cannon booming!!<br>Add your voice to the ovation!!!<br>Join the Revolution looming!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">On this day, please give applause<br>For two heroes of Yankee cause:<br>Sneaky Tanner and Doctor Less-Caught<br>William Dawes and Samuel Prescott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear\u2018Bout the other guys not named Revere.On Eighteenth April, Seventy-FiveThese other two were yet aliveAnd rode too on that day and year.And though today we hardly pauseTo recreate forgotten fameTheir heroism was yet the sameWith long-lost names of Prescott and Dawes. While the Silversmith&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Unfound-Fathers-Cropped.png?fit=363%2C147&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions\/2113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}