the Sons of Liberty saw that the British troops in Boston were preparing for something. Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the key leaders of the Sons of Liberty, had a confidential informer, who was well-connected to the British high command. The secret informant provided "intelligence of their whole design...to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were known to be at Lexington, and burn the colonists' military stores at Concord." Thomas Gage had wanted to prevent a war. He had planned a secret night march, hoping to move Adams and Hancock elsewhere, as well as the colonial powder and cannon, while the colonists slept. Instead, Warren, after learning of the plan, dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes, who set off a chain reaction of alarm riders across Massachusetts and to adjoining colonies. Instead of a quiet night mission, the British troops opposed by thousands of wide-awake, angry, armed colonists. By the end of the day, the British troops were under heavy fire by irate patriots. Gage later sent an additional 1,000 units, with cannons, which allowed the British force to make it back to Boston. The informant for Warren is still unknown as it was only two months later that he was killed during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The evidence is slim and circumstantial, but some historians feel that the leading suspect is Margaret Kemble Gage. She was an American, and came from a highly prestigious and wealthy family. Her social standing was equal to that of her husband. General Gage's officers were even known to call her "Duchess". She did not make a secret of her divided loyalties and said that "she hoped her husband would never be the instrument of sacrificing the lives of her countrymen". General Gage stated that he had only told two people of the plan, which was to be kept a "profound secret": his second-in-command, and one other person. Some of the other top British officers suspected that that other person was General Gage's wife. Prior to this, General Gage was a devouted husband, but after the unexpected engagements at Lexington and Concord, she was put on a ship back to England. See also Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War References Sources Women in the American Revolution People of colonial New Jersey People from East Brunswick, New Jersey People from New Brunswick, New Jersey People of