Gunpowder Incident

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Southern theater (1775–83)
Gunpowder Incident – Great Bridge – Moore's Creek Bridge – Rice Boats – Alligator Bridge – Beaufort – Kettle Creek – Briar Creek – Stono Ferry – Savannah – Waxhaw - Charleston – Camden – Kings Mountain – Cowpens – Guilford Court House – Hobkirk's Hill – Eutaw Springs – Yorktown

Drawing of the octagonal Williamsburg Magazine

The Gunpowder Incident (also known as the Gunpowder Affair) was a conflict early in the American Revolutionary War between Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of colonial Virginia, and militia led by Patrick Henry.

The incident began on April 20, 1775, a day after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, an event with some parallels. Lord Dunmore attempted to remove the gunpowder from the magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia to an armed British ship in the James River. Dunmore saw rising unrest in the colony and sought to deprive Virginia militia of supplies needed for insurrection. The Second Virginia Convention had elected delegates to the Continental Congress. Dunmore issued a proclamation against electing delegates to the Congress, but did not take serious action. Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at the Second Convention and the accompanying resolution calling for forming an armed resistance made Dunmore "think it prudent to remove some Gunpowder which was in a Magazine in this place.”[1]. Dunmore gave a key to Lieutenant Henry Colins, commander of H.M.S. Magdalen, and ordered him to remove the powder.

On the night of April 20, royal marines loaded fifteen half barrels of powder into the governor's wagon before they were discovered. Local militia rallied to the scene, and riders spread word of the incident across the colony. Dunmore, who had only recently gained some popularity from victory in Dunmore's War against Shawnee Indians in the Ohio Country, feared for his personal safety. He warned the colony that if he were attacked he would “declare Freedom to the Slaves, and reduce the City of Williamsburg to Ashes.” He also told an alderman that he had “once fought for the Virginians” but “By God, I would let them see that I could fight against them.”

As word of the incident spread, militia from Hanover, Albemarle, Orange, and, under the advice of George Washington, Fredericksburg, began to move on Williamsburg. These militias learned of the events in Lexington and Concord at about the same time they began to march. The Hanover militia, led by Patrick Henry, reached Williamsburg first, arrving outside of the city on May 3. That day Dunmore's family escaped to the H.M.S. Fowey and the governor sent a request for reinforcements to Boston.

For several days, a standoff ensued. Henry waited outside Williamsburg with between 150 and 500 militia while Dunmore threatened to destroy Williamsburg and have the Navy fire on Yorktown if there was an attack. Carter Braxton negotiated a resolution to the Gunpowder Incident by agreeing to have £330 in royal funds transferred from the accounts managed by his father-in-law, Richard Corbin, Deputy Collector of the Royal Revenue in Virginia, as payment for the powder. The militia left, and Henry joined the rest of Virginia's delegation at the Continental Congress. Dunmore issued a proclamation condemning Henry as a criminal on May 6.

The incident exacerbated Dunmore's declining popularity. He fled the Governor's Palace to the British ship Fowey at Yorktown on June 8. On November 7, Dunmore issued a proclamation declaring Virginia in a state of rebellion.