And that is where the interesting bit about Lexington and Concord begins (at least for those people who are not US history buffs). Where was the "shot heard around the world" fired from? The two towns have differing opinions. (Incidentally it is somewhat grandiose to call it a shot fired around the world? Had as much impact as the length of Cleopatra's nose?) Yes, there was a skirmish at Lexington before the skirmish at Concord. And the minutemen and militia fought in both places (see the two minutemen statues below). But history seems to favour Concord - it was where, apparently, the order was given to stand and fight, and chase the British out of town.
Both Lexington and Concord have statues of Minutemen. Lexington's (left)
is not particularly impressive. But Concord's Minuteman was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, a Concord native. He went on to sculpt John Harvard (statue in Harvard Yard) and Abe Lincoln in the Lincoln memorial. So Concord seems to have won out all the way. Other photos of Lexington and Concord are here.The big hero of Lexington and Concord, of course, is Paul Revere. However we found out that the poem by Longfellow is not really factual. Apparently Revere made it to Lexington but not to Concord. Revere got caught on his way to Concord and the chap who made it through was one of his two companions, a doctor with a good horse. He alerted Concord to the impending arrival of the British, and the rest, as they say, is history. Except that the doctor's place in it seems to have been taken by Revere. I guess it would have spoiled the poem.
There is another interesting story about Paul Revere. Apparently, he was not the only one riding that night carrying news of the impending British march to Lexington. Another person, whose name not surprisingly escapes me, also rode through the Massachussetts countryside warning people in each town. But because he was not a social magnet like Revere, all the people he told did not know enough other people to spread the news effectively. Whereas Revere was a leader in many different (and the key word here is different) social groups that he was able to disseminate the news much more effectively. This story is now the favourite opening anecdote for any organisational behaviour class on social networks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the story. I vaguely recall reading something like that. Some "messenger" type of leadership?
ReplyDeleteCasey says: The story of Paul Revere's ride is in the book 'The Tipping Point. How little things make a big difference.' by Malcolm Gladwell. In the book Gladwell says that Paul Revere's ride started a word-of-mouth epidemic, while the other person, William Dawe's ride did not, because Paul Revere was a Connector. He was a member of several influential groups. He knew everybody. On his ride, when he came into a town, he would know exactly who the key persons in the town were to spread the message and trigger the alarm. On the other had, Dawes was probably a man with a normal social circle. He was not a Connector.
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