John Hancook desperated wanted to fight in the battle of Lexington

John Hancock and fellow revolutionary Samuel Adams were staying at Hancock's grandfather's old house in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 18, 1775. They had no idea that in a matter of hours, the shot that would be heard around the world would be fired. General Thomas Gage led 700 red-coated soldiers to seize a local colonial militia's arsenal on the British government's orders; others thought he also intended to arrest Adams and Hancock.

Paul Revere, a famous silversmith, famously rode out to Lexington that night and warned the locals as he went. Revere arrived at a late hour and was able to warn Hancock and Adams before moving on to Concord. However, the British briefly held him along the way, and after he was let go, he turned around to make sure that Hancock and Adams had actually escaped.

Revere was shocked to find that Hancock had stayed. Instead, he vehemently insisted on remaining in place and joining the militiamen in battle. He declared, "I would never turn my back on these troops if I had my musket." Revere and Adams eventually persuaded him to leave, claiming that the British would achieve a significant moral victory by imprisoning such a powerful patriot. Selling this wasn't simple. Hancock's fiancée, eyewitness Dorothy Quincy, noted that "Mr. H. could not be persuaded till break of day."