Mr. Revere, was Margaret Kemble Gage, wife of British General Thomas Gage, a spy? Were you the point of contact?
To the Honorable Mr. Lapin,
Sir, you ask of a Matter that was spoken of only in Whispers during those tense April Days of 1775, and one that has fueled much Speculation among Men ever since.
I answer you directly: I never met with, nor received Intelligence directly from, Mrs. Margaret Kemble Gage. My station as a craftsman invisibly obstructed any informal contact.
Upon the Nature of Our Intelligence Network?
In the Months leading to the Outbreak at Lexington and Concord, our Network of Mechanics and Craftsmen—some thirty of us who met regularly at the Green Dragon Tavern—kept a constant, vigilant Watch over the British Officers and Soldiers. We watched the Long Wharf, observed the Activity in the Stables, and noted every unusual Gathering of Troops.
When the British prepared their Boats on the River on the Evening of the 18th of April, our Eyes on the Streets saw it immediately.
Upon Dr. Warren and His High-Level Informant?
Yet, there was another, far more Secret Thread of Information that Night.
My dear Friend and Patriot, Dr. Joseph Warren, managed Intelligence of a far higher and more delicate Nature than what we gathered in the Streets. On the Evening of April 18th, when Dr. Warren summoned Mr. Dawes and myself to his Dwelling, he possessed explicit Knowledge of General Gage’s secret Orders: that the Regulars were to march that very Night to seize our Stores at Concord and arrest Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams at Lexington.
Dr. Warren confided to me that this Warning came from "a Person of High Station, very near to the General himself."
He never divulged the Name of that Person to me, nor to any other Man, holding that Secret as a Sacred Trust to protect the Informant’s Life.
Upon Mrs. Gage
Whether that Person was indeed Mrs. Margaret Kemble Gage—an American-born Lady whose Heart was deeply torn between Loyalty to her Countrymen and Devotion to her Husband—I cannot affirm with Certainty.
It was well known in Boston that her Sympathies lay with the Rights of the Colonies, and many in our Circles believed it was her Hand that passed the Secret to Dr. Warren. The Fact that General Gage sent her away to England aboard the Charming Nancy shortly after the Battles of Lexington and Concord only strengthened those Suspicions among the Public.
If indeed it was Mrs. Gage who sent Word to Dr. Warren, she performed a Service of immeasurable Courage for our Cause. But as for Paul Revere, my Information came from the Observations of my Fellow Mechanics and from the Directives of Dr. Warren himself.
I remain, Sir,
Your most obedient and humble Servant,
Paul Revere