The Virginia Gunpowder Plot of 1775

 

In May 1775, Royal Navy sailors, under the direction of the Governor, Lord Dunmore, arrived in Williamsburg with the intention of removing all of the gunpowder from the public magazine and transporting it to the British ship HMS Magdalen. Townspeople discovered what was happening and raised an alarm.  An incensed crowd gathered and faced the governor and his servants who were now armed with muskets.  Town officers demanded the return of the powder, claiming it was the property of the colony to which the royal governor had no right. Lord Dunmore said that he had learned of a planned slave uprising and was removing the powder for reasons of public safety. The Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Peyton Randolph calmed the situation, at least for the moment. 

Suspicions of the governor’s motives persisted.  On April 22, after a second angry crowd, fully capable of storming the Governor’s palace, was convinced to disperse by local leaders, Lord Dunmore angrily declared that if attacked he would, “…declare freedom to the slaves, and reduce the city of Williamsburg to ashes.” 

By April 29, militia men all over Virginia had learned about the battles in Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord on April 19.  Hundreds of men mustered at Fredericksburg and decided to send a messenger to Williamsburg before marching on the capital.  Once again, Peyton Randolph sought to prevent violence and urged restraint.  The militiamen at Fredericksburg voted not to march.  But there were others who were more hot-headed.  On May 2, the Hanover County militia, led by Patrick Henry, voted to march on Williamsburg.  On May 3, Patrick Henry and the militia were fifteen miles from Williamsburg.  Lord Dunmore and his family departed for the governor’s hunting lodge, Porto Bello, and from there to HMS Fowey at anchor in the York River.

Moderates were still looking for ways to ease tensions.  Carter Braxton, a moderate member of the House of Burgesses came up with a solution.  Braxton negotiated a settlement with royal officials such that the colony would receive payment for the gunpowder.  On May 4, Patrick Henry received a full bill of exchange, signed by an intermediary (a wealthy planter), as payment for the powder.  A triumphant Patrick Henry then set off for Philadelphia to take his place as a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, where he presented the payment to the other Virginia delegates at the Congress.

On May 6, Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation charging that the money had been extorted and that “a certain Patrick Henry...and a number of deluded followers who had organized an independent company and put themselves in a posture of war be arrested as traitors.” 

Murder in Colonial Virginia

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