Inside one of the biggest conspiracy theories of the American Revolution: That a woman may have kick-started the whole thing

It’s one of the biggest conspiracy theories surrounding the American Revolutionary War.The most famous midnight ride in American history occurred 250 years ago Friday when Sons of Liberty members Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to Lexington to warn fellow “patriots” that the British Army was on the march.(Fun fact: Revere and Dawes did not say “The British are coming, the British are coming!” They said, “The regulars are coming, the regulars are coming!” because almost everyone back then considered themselves British.)A Founding Father and fellow patriot named Dr.Joseph Warren tipped Revere and Dawes off to the British Army’s plans — which included arresting Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington.

In addition, patriots feared the British would destroy the rebels’ munitions supply depot in Concord.The most sensational rumor going back more than century, however, is that Margaret Kemble Gage, the beautiful American wife of the British general who planned the strategic march on Lexington and Concord, was the revolution’s Deep Throat.But no one knows for sure who leaked that crucial intel to Warren — intel that ultimately led to the “shot heard round the world” on April 19, 1775.It opened the battles of Lexington and Concord, which, in turn, ignited the American Revolutionary War and resulted in the creation of United States.Gen.

Thomas Gage led the British Army in Massachusetts during the war and wrote his famous order launching what was known as the Concord Expedition on April 18, 1775.It shall be done “with the utmost Expedition and secrecy,” Gage wrote of his army’s plans to stymie the patriot militia by taking over their munitions and supplies in Concord.But his letter didn’t stay secret.Margaret Kemble Gage was the well-connected American-born daughter of a Brit named Peter Kemble, who emigrated to America and became a wealthy merchant and landowner in what is now Morris County, NJ.Her mother, Gertrude Bayard, was an A...