79. CHAPTER LXXIX.
THE MARCH OF THE HANOVERIANS ON WILLIAMSBURG.
The removal of the gunpowder from the magazine in
Williamsburg sent a thrill of indignation throughout Virginia.
It was the last and crowning outrage—the keystone finishing
the arch of oppression—the final blow at those
liberties which so long had been insidiously attacked by
Dunmore.
In every county the inhabitants hastened to pass resolutions
upon the outrage. Many of these have been preserved
—others lost, or not recorded; but what we have are
enough to show the spirit of the period.
Amelia county, William Archer, chairman, resolved,
first, on a general muster of the militia; next, that each
member of the committee should provide “half a pound of
gunpowder and one pound of lead, a stand of arms and ammunition;”
and John Tabb and Everard Meade were appointed
to purchase “eight hundred pounds of gunpowder
and three thousand two hundred pounds of lead.” Thus
Amelia alone furnished to the cause more powder than the
magazine had contained when it was robbed.
New Kent county resolved that the removal of the powder
was “arbitrary,” the governor's answer “evasive,” that
the rest of his lordship's conduct proved him “an enemy
of liberty and a zealous supporter of tyranny and despotism
over the people who had the unhappiness to live under his
government.” To this was added a resolution to raise instantly
a company.
Gloucester county declared the reply of the governor
“unsatisfactory, disrespectful, and evasive,” and offered
twenty-five pounds sterling for three hundred pounds of
gunpowder manufactured in Virginia; fifty pounds sterling
for manufactures of woolen.
King William county contributed one hundred and
seventy-five pounds to the suffering citizens of Massachusetts.
Sussex county declared the removal of the powder “an
act conceived in secrecy and brought forth in darkness,”
and that the governor, by his action, had “forfeited all title
to the confidence of the good people of Virginia.” The
members of the meeting promised to use every endeavor to
enlist volunteers.
Bedford county offered ten pounds sterling for twenty-five
pounds of sulphur.
Prince George county organized a committee of intelligence,
whose duty it was to communicate with other counties.
Henrico county declared the removal of the powder “an
insult to every freeman in this county”—an action which
they viewed with “detestation and abhorrence.”
Albemarle county spoke, in a letter, of the independent
company, to Colonel Washington:
“The company of Independents,” they said, “will attend
in Williamsburg properly equipped and prepared to enforce
an immediate delivery of the powder, if not to be obtained
otherwise, or die in the attempt.” The captain of the company
signed his name Charles Lewis.
These old leaves of the past have been preserved for us;
the action of the other counties is lost. What it was we
know perfectly, for the whole land was in arms, and the
Valley especially, on fire. Old Frederick, ever the foremost
where the issue was one of blood, became the rallying
point for the companies of the West. For half a
century, nearly, the town of Winchester had been the
heart of the West—the sentinel of liberty—and Washington
had lived there, sending from this center his voice of
good cheer to the whole border. It was now to be the
rendezvous of men bent on attacking another enemy than
the savages—to send forth its blood as before.
Fredericksburg lastly took that action which has made
her so famous—surrounding her brows with a halo of
glory. The men of Fredericksburg declared that they
were prepared to defend the liberties of Virginia, and of
her sister colonies, “at the utmost hazard of ourselves and
our fortunes.” And at the bottom of this declaration was
written in large letters, “GOD SAVE THE LIBERTIES OF
AMERICA!”
A week after the removal of the powder, seven hundred
men, completely equipped, were assembled at Fredericksburg,
ready to march upon the capital. Among these
were the “Culpepper Minute Men,” in their green hunting
shirts, hats crowned with buck-tails, and belts stuck round
with tomahawks and knives. On their breasts were inscribed,
in white letters, Henry's words, “LIBERTY OR
DEATH;” and their banner had for device, a coiled up
rattlesnake, with the words “Do n't tread on me!” beneath.
Thus the whole State was fully aroused, and the East
and West ready to march; when a dispatch from Mr.
Randolph of the council reached Fredericksburg.
This letter declared that his Excellency had solemnly
promised that the affair of the powder should be fully
accommodated.
The deliberation of the volunteers, upon the reception of
this letter, was long and excited; and when the vote was
taken, opinions were found to be nearly equally divided.
At first, the men were fixed in their original purpose; and
the fourteen companies of light horse, then encamped near
at hand, were ardently expecting the order to march.
Peace counsels prevailed finally, however, by a single vote,
and expresses were sent off to Caroline, Frederick, Berkeley,
Shenandoah, and other counties, to inform them of the
arrangement.
The volunteers then dispersed, entering into a mutual
pledge to be ready at a moment's warning, whenever the
standard was raised.
That moment was not delayed.
The troops separated on the 29th of April. On the 2d
of May, Patrick Henry summoned the Independent Company
of Hanover, to meet him at New Castle, on the
Pamunkey, in the same county.
Henry had seen, with bitter regret, the action of the
troops on the reception of the letter conveying the false
promises of Dunmore—he had estimated those promises at
their just value—he saw with anguish that the moment
when the whole land was aroused, was likely to pass by
unimproved.
He, too, had hailed the affair of the powder as an invaluable
blessing to the cause in which his whole soul was
wrapped. For ten years he had been endeavoring to
arouse Virginia to armed resistance, and thus, Dunmore in
committing this robbery, had coöperated with him, and
aided him. But now this same man was about to disarm,
with a promise, those men whom he had armed by an outrage.
A smile and a promise which he never intended to
keep, would delay the attack until an overwhelming force
was marched into Virginia.
Henry had thus no sooner heard of the action at Fredericksburg,
as we have said, than he hastened to assemble
the men of Hanover. To give more solemnity to his act,
he also convened the county committee which had just
separated.
They assembled in mass at his summons, and the orator
addressed them with all the powers of his wonderful eloquence.
In his burning words, the fields of Concord and
Lexington rose vividly before the auditors, floating in the
blood of Americans; with passionate vehemence he stripped
from the ministerial designs their garb of concealment, of
specious promises and protestations, and showed them in all
their deformity. He declared that now or never—when
this last outrage of Dunmore was still hot in the minds of
all—that now or never the blow must be struck. He ended
by asking who would accompany him to Williamsburg, to
demand the restoration of the powder.
“The meeting was in a flame,” says the historian; “and
Captain Samuel Meredith resigning the command of the
Independents, Henry was unanimously chosen their leader,
Captain Meredith taking the post of lieutenant.”
The company consisted of one hundred and fifty men,
and at once commenced its march for Williamsburg.
Forty-eight hours afterward the news spread like wild-fire,
and five thousand men were on their way to join Henry.
Let us not anticipate, however.
A body of sixteen men, under command of Colonel Parke
Goodall, ensign of the “Independents,” was detached across
the river into the county of King and Queen, to demand
from the king's receiver-general, there residing, the value
of the powder, about three hundred pounds sterling.
There is no reason to believe that Colonel Richard Corbin,
the receiver-general, was opposed to the cause of
liberty. Doubtless, like many others, it so happened that
he held an office under the vice-regal government at this
crisis, and hoped for a peaceful redress of grievances.
The orders to Colonel Goodall were to demand the value
of the powder, and, if this were refused, to take Colonel
Corbin prisoner, and bring him “with all possible respect
and tenderness,” to Doncastle's Ordinary, about sixteen
miles above Williamsburg.
The detachment crossed the river on the same afternoon,
about twilight, and proceeded toward “Laneville” on the
Matapony, the residence of the receiver, which they reached
nearly at midnight.
Colonel Goodall, with that courtesy which characterized
the men of his period, determined not to arouse the family
until daybreak, reflecting that this nocturnal assault upon
ladies in their beds would be exceedingly terrifying. He
therefore stationed guards around the dwelling, and calmly
waited for the daylight.
At daybreak, the ladies of the family appeared, not without
terror at the sight of the patrol, and to the courteous
demand of the colonel, replied, that the receiver was in
Williamsburg. If this declaration was doubted, however,
the house, they said, was open to a search.
Colonel Goodall replied courteously that such a proceeding
was wholly unnecessary; that Mrs. Corbin's assurance was
enough. And then, without taking the proffered refreshments,
ordered his men to continue their way to the Ordinary,
where they were to join Henry.
The main body had proceeded through Hanover, and a
portion of New Kent, passing by the church of St. Peter
and the old Custis mansion, called the “White House,”
where Washington was married, and ever increasing as
they rolled on like a flood, had reached finally Doncastle's
Ordinary.
Here at this tavern, which was also in New Kent, near
the boundaries of James City, Colonel Goodall joined his
chief; and here the company halted to refresh themselves.
