Alarm List Warriors Three Responses to the “Alarm” of April 19, 1775

In the spring of 1775 the British were beginning their seventh year of occupying Boston. By their presence they had become known to the patriots as ‘redcoats’ and as ‘devils’. Over the decades of establishing a new nation and needing to warn communities of danger, the colonist had perfected a system of alarms. These included church bells, fires, horseback riders, drums, alarm guns, and trumpets.