who said the british are coming

The phrase "The British are coming" is popularly attributed to Paul Revere, who warned colonial militias about the approaching British troops on the night of April 18, 1775, just before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. However, historical evidence shows that Paul Revere likely never shouted exactly those words during his famous midnight ride. Instead, he probably said something like "The Regulars are coming out," referring to British soldiers known as regulars. The phrase "The British are coming" seems to have appeared decades later, after the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, when the colonies had clearly separated from Britain and the term "British" gained a different connotation for Americans. Paul Revere's ride was conducted with secrecy, and shouting that phrase would have been confusing because many colonists still identified as British at the time. The famous phrase was popularized much later by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1861 poem "Paul Revere's Ride," which helped cement the myth in popular culture. In summary: The phrase "The British are coming" is attributed to Paul Revere, but he most likely did not say it during his ride. It became part of American lore well after the fact.