Now that I've decided to write a bit about myths of Lexington
and Concord, I must start with the most famous and influential
of them all: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Midnight
Ride of Paul Revere." Unexpectedly rolling in Eli Lilly money,
the Poetry Foundation has set up a very nice poetry website with
a page on Longfellow and the complete text of "Paul Revere." The
foundation also invited Clements Library map historian Brian
Leigh Dunnigan to discuss the historical background of the poem.
Lots of people have tackled this topic, and Dunnigan starts out
well by not pouncing on Longfellow's misstatements but
recognizing what the poet set out to do. He didn't try to write
history; he tried to create an inspiring national myth. Dunnigan
says: Although much has been made of inaccuracies of detail in
“Paul Revere’s Ride,” Longfellow’s success in expressing the
tension and excitement of impending events probably accounts for
much of the popularity of his poem. His nod to the way in which
historical inciden