1. Introduction.
2. Bridge and Charles River Ferry / Revere, August 28, 2011, 9:30:53 pm, EDT.
3. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 28, 2011, 9:47:16 pm, EDT
4. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 28, 2011 10:07:49 PM EDT
5. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 29, 2011, 6:59 am.
1. Introduction.
On September 28, 2011, I posted a response by Jeff purporting to correct history put on this Blog by Archie Mazmanian, at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/correction-on-charles-river-bridges.html.
Archie has responded in detail.
2. Bridge and Charles River Ferry / Revere, August 28, 2011, 9:30:53 pm, EDT.
Here is a link to Wikipedia on the Harvard Bridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Bridge
that indicates it was built in 1891.
See also "List of crossings of the Charles River" at:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/List_of_crossings_of_the_Charles_River
at page 2 for details on the Harvard Bridge. Also note on the same page "Anderson Memorial Bridge (Great Bridge (Cambridge)>Great Bridge)". A review of this List fails to disclose a 1775 bridge crossing the Charles River. Perhaps Jeff can provide more details for his claim.
Regarding Paul Revere, it is possible that he did not use the ferry operated by Harvard. I shall follow up with more research. But perhaps Jeff can provide a cite for his claim.
3. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 28, 2011, 9:47:16 pm, EDT
Here's a link that provides the "true story" of Paul Revere's ride in Revere's words:
http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/revere/chapt3/
It is necessary to scroll down to get to Revere's words. It appears he crossed from Boston to Charlestown in his own boat, rowed by friends, but without his horse. Rather, he obtained a horse in Charlestown. So technically, while Revere's "trip" to Concord began in Boston, his "ride" began in Charlestown.
I trust this helps to clarify the matter.
4. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 28, 2011 10:07:49 PM EDT
Further on Revere, here's a link to "The Real Story of Revere's Ride" at:
http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/real.html
This link includes a map/sketch depicting the routes of Revere, Dawes and the British. It is not clear from this map/sketch whether the British crossed a bridge over the Charles. As noted in an earlier Email, it is not clear that a bridge then existed where the Harvard Bridge is now located.
In any event, it should be kept in mind that Part VII of my series was primarily focused on Harvard University and its profitable ferry and the much later Charles River Bridge case that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and raising the question of future crossings of the Charles River if the Commonwealth's chartering of the Warren Bridge were determined to have violated claimed exclusive rights of the Charles River Bridge (from which Harvard University was receiving annuities).
5. Bridge and Charles River Ferry/Revere, August 29, 2011, 6:59 am.
Further on the British, here is a link to the New World Encyclopedia "Battles of Lexington and Concord":
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord#British_Army_and_Marines_move_out
Scroll down to "1.3 British Army and Marines move out" for how they crossed the Charles by boat to Cambridge:
"The British began to awaken their troops at 9 p.m. on the night of April 18 and assembled them on the water's edge on the western end of Boston common by 10 p.m. The British march to and from Concord was a terribly disorganized experience from start to finish. The boats used were naval barges that were packed so tightly that there was no room to sit down. When they disembarked at Phipps Farm in present day Cambridge, it was into waist-deep water at midnight. After a lengthy halt to unload their gear, the approximately 700 regulars began their 17 mile (27 km) march to Concord at about 2 a.m. During the wait they were provided with extra ammunition, cold salt pork, and hard sea biscuits. They did not carry knapsacks, since they would not be encamped. They carried their haversacks (food bags), canteens, muskets, and accoutrements, and found themselves in wet, muddy shoes and soggy uniforms. As they marched through Menotomy (modern Arlington), sounds of the colonial alarms throughout the countryside caused the few officers who were aware of their mission to realize that they had lost the element of surprise."
Longfellow's "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" was significantly fictionalized. As to the "One if by land, Two if by sea," apparently the "sea" was the Charles River, which at the time was a tidal river, of course quite different in its contours from the present.
