who said the british are coming the british are coming
Paul Revere
Riding through present - day Somerville , Medford , and Arlington , Revere warned patriots along his route , many of whom set out on horseback to deliver warnings of their own . By the end of the night there were probably as many as 40 riders throughout Middlesex County carrying the news of the army 's advance . Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ( `` The British are coming ! '' ) : his mission depended on secrecy , the countryside was filled with British army patrols , and most of the Massachusetts colonists ( who were predominantly English in ethnic origin ) still considered themselves British . Revere 's warning , according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere 's own descriptions , was `` The Regulars are coming out . '' Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight , with Dawes arriving about a half - hour later . They met with Samuel Adams and John Hancock , who were spending the night with Hancock 's relatives ( in what is now called the Hancock -- Clarke House ) , and they spent a great deal of time discussing plans of action upon receiving the news . They believed that the forces leaving the city were too large for the sole task of arresting two men and that Concord was the main target . The Lexington men dispatched riders to the surrounding towns , and Revere and Dawes continued along the road to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott , a doctor who happened to be in Lexington `` returning from a lady friend 's house at the awkward hour of 1 a.m. '' 
Riding through present - day Somerville , Medford , and Arlington , Revere warned patriots along his route , many of whom set out on horseback to deliver warnings of their own . By the end of the night there were probably as many as 40 riders throughout Middlesex County carrying the news of the army 's advance . Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ( `` The British are coming ! '' ) : his mission depended on secrecy , the countryside was filled with British army patrols , and most of the Massachusetts colonists ( who were predominantly English in ethnic origin ) still considered themselves British . Revere 's warning , according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere 's own descriptions , was `` The Regulars are coming out . '' Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight , with Dawes arriving about a half - hour later . They met with Samuel Adams and John Hancock , who were spending the night with Hancock 's relatives ( in what is now called the Hancock -- Clarke House ) , and they spent a great deal of time discussing plans of action upon receiving the news . They believed that the forces leaving the city were too large for the sole task of arresting two men and that Concord was the main target . The Lexington men dispatched riders to the surrounding towns , and Revere and Dawes continued along the road to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott , a doctor who happened to be in Lexington `` returning from a lady friend 's house at the awkward hour of 1 a.m. ''
Paul Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him `` The British are coming! ''.  Revere's warning was ``The Regulars are coming out.''
Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ( `` The British are coming ! '' ) Revere 's warning , according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere 's own descriptions , was `` The Regulars are coming out . ''
The phrase "The British are coming!" was attributed to Paul Revere, although he didn't shout it. According to eyewitness accounts  of the ride and Revere's own descriptions , his warning was "The Regulars are coming out ."
Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ( `` The British are coming ! '' ) Revere 's warning , according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere 's own descriptions , was `` The Regulars are coming out . ''