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His most famous exploit came on the night of 18-19 April 1775. He was one of two riders sent from Boston to rouse the militia between Boston and Concord with a warning that the British were coming. He successfully reached Lexington, raising the countryside as he passed, but was briefly captured by the British halfway to Concord. The message eventually reached Concord in the hands of Dr. Samuel Prescott, another Son of Liberty.
Although appointed a lieutenant colonel, and made commander of Castle William, commanding the defences of Boston Harbour (1776), his military career was undistinguished. His main role was as a manufacturer of gunpowder. After the war he founded the first copper rolling mill in the newly independent America. Rolled copper was an important element in the manufacture of warships, being used to sheath the bottom of the ship to increase its' speed.
Black, Jeremy, War For America: The Fight for Independence 1775-1783.
Provides a clear narrative of the war, taken year by year, with good chapters on some of the later years that are often skipped over. Also contains a good selection of quotes from participents in the conflict.
Middlekauff, Robert, The Glorious Cause, The American Revolution 1763-1789. A very well researched book that is especially strong on the events that led up to the Revolution, which take up the first third of the book. Unlike many similar books it also covers the years immediately after the war and up to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
