So Israel Bessel rode to and throughout much of Connecticut warning the Connecticut residents of the situation outside of Boston. By Thursday, April 20th, the word was received in the eastern part of Connecticut Colony and reached the capital of Hartford before that night and New Haven on Friday the 21st and from there was sent through Fairfield and Stamford and into New York.
    The following description is quoted from Connecticut in the Revolution, published with a list of military records by the Connecticut Secretary of State:
    "Prepared to a certain extent for such an alarm, a large number of able-bodied men in Connecticut hurried off to Massachusetts. The wording used in the records of the day, 'marched for the relief of Boston,' expresses alike the extent of their sympathies and the nature of the service intended. The response to the alarm was not the official action of the Colony, nor, on the other hand, an impromptu movement of individuals without organization. An 'uprising,' of armed men might have partaken of a mob character, and the militia regiments as such could only be called out by the governor or legislature. It was rather a movement of the townsmen marching under their militia organizations. The gathering thus became orderly as well as spontaneous, and represented the town spirit shown previously in protests and resolutions. It appears from the records that in some cases the companies or train-bands collected and marched off under their officers without further orders; in other cases, the colonels taking the lead, called out a certain number of men and directed them to march forth-with to the point of danger; in a few cases volunteer companies were organized for the special service; in addition, many individuals, not belonging to the militia, joined in the march, either providing for themselves or going with the companies.....
    "The number of men who are reported in the records to have marched in the Lexington Alarm was about four thousand. The duty was necessarily temporary and brief. Some of the companies returned home before reaching Boston, as their presence was not needed. Upon the organization of regiments for service during the year, many of the same men enlisted and continued for different terms during the War. At the May session of the Legislature their