Editorial status
misattributed
The slogan is strongly associated with Paul Revere because of Longfellow's poem, but the evidence does not support treating it as a verbatim historical cry by Revere.
Source-backed author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The line is a poetic rendering in Longfellow's 1861 poem Paul Revere's Ride; Revere's historical warning was more specific and discreet.
Earliest traceable appearance in this record: 1861, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere's Ride.