William Dawes Jr. was a Boston revolutionary, and one of the riders sent out to warn Lexington and Concord that the British Regulars were on their way the night of April 18, 1775. The other rider was, of course, Paul Revere. While Revere took the route across the water to Charlestown, Dawes took the longer road across Boston neck. He arrived in Lexington shortly after Revere did.