FOIAWEAR — THE MECHANICS / The Midnight Ride 1775 Tee

FOIAWEAR / ARCHIVE SERIES 060

THE MECHANICS — the first American intelligence network on record was a secret group in Boston called the Mechanics, or the Liberty Boys: skilled artisans and tradesmen who could fix anything while moonlighting as spies. They organised resistance, ran the occasional sabotage job, and reported on the movement of British troops. Paul Revere, a silversmith by trade, was one of them. His own account of the work: “We frequently took turns, two and two, to watch the (British) soldiers by patrolling the streets all night.”

On the night of 18 April 1775 a patriot leader gave Revere an urgent mission: ride to Lexington and Concord and warn that the British were marching to arrest patriot leaders and seize militia stores. First he had to tell the patriots in Charlestown to watch the steeple of Old North Church — one lantern if the redcoats came by land, two if they crossed the river. Revere rowed past a British warship in the dark, then rode, waking people along the road with the news: “The Regulars are coming!” William Dawes rode a separate route and Samuel Prescott joined them; British patrols caught Revere and took his horse. By dawn on 19 April, 700 Regulars reached Lexington to find the countryside warned and the militia waiting.

Their tradecraft was not, it should be said, immaculate: the Mechanics met at the same tavern every time, and one of their leaders turned out to be a British informant. Their strength was that they never relied on a single source.

The QR code on the front opens the source: https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/eve-of-revolution-the-boston-mechanics-and-the-legendary-midnight-ride/ — the CIA’s own account of the network and the ride.

Garment: Comfort Colors 1717, 6.1 oz garment-dyed cotton, S–4XL. Front print only; plain back. Artwork approximately 10 × 4 in, QR approximately 1.8 × 1.8 in.

Colours: the shirt is offered in both dark and light garment colours — the broadside cut in warm bone on Black, Graphite, Espresso, Navy and Pepper, and the same cut struck in black with an oxblood lantern on White, Ivory, Butter, Chalky Mint, Blossom, Light Green and Chambray.

Care: machine wash cold, inside out, tumble dry low. Do not iron the print directly.

FOIAWEAR is an independent brand and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Central Intelligence Agency or the United States government.