Prescott, Samuel (1751-1777?), was an American physician and patriot who completed Paul Revere’s ride warning the colonists that the British were coming. At the start of the American Revolution (1775-1783), the British planned to destroy American military supplies stored in and near Concord, Massachusetts. Revere and William Dawes, another patriot, left Boston on April 18, 1775, at 10 p.m. to warn the colonists. Prescott joined Revere and Dawes as they left Lexington shortly after 1 a.m. The three men continued toward Concord until the British captured them. Prescott escaped and reached Concord. His warning enabled the patriots to hide some of the military supplies before the main British forces arrived.
Prescott was born on Aug. 19, 1751, in Concord. He became an army surgeon during the Revolutionary War. He was on a ship authorized to seize British merchant vessels when the British captured him at sea. Prescott died in a British prison in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
See also Dawes, William ; Revere, Paul .
