67 pages 2 hours read

Midnight Rider

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2005

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Background

Historical Context: Dispatch Riders and Revolutionary Communication Networks

Hannah Andrews’s fictional role as the so-called “Midnight Rider” reflects the crucial importance of communication networks in pre-revolutionary America. Historical dispatch riders like Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Israel Bissell formed the backbone of colonial resistance, carrying warnings and intelligence across great distances to prepare for the inevitable confrontation with Britain. The novel accurately depicts the fact that these riders operated through established networks such as the Committees of Correspondence and Safety, which coordinated information between towns and colonies. In reality, Revere’s famous April 18, 1775, ride to Lexington was just one mission among hundreds undertaken by similar riders who risked capture, imprisonment, or death with every mission in order to maintain vital communications between Patriot communities.


The text demonstrates how successful these networks were at gathering intelligence from within British ranks. Historical records confirm that American Patriots had informants close to General Thomas Gage, just as Hannah overhears his plans in the novel. When Hannah brings warnings about the British expedition to Salem, she participates in the actual historical event known as Leslie’s Retreat, which took place on February 26, 1775. This failed British mission to seize colonial weapons occurred exactly as Harlow describes it; Colonel Alexander Leslie’s troops were thwarted by raised drawbridges and hidden munitions.

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