Paul Revere (/r??v??r/; December 21, 1734 O.S. – May 10, 1818[N 1]) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is best known for alerting the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride".