LIGHTING THE FUSE TO REBELLION (Lord Dunmore’s Raid on the Williamsburg Magazine)
In the early morning hours of April 21, 1775, fifteen half barrels of gunpowder were taken from the magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia by a party of British seamen and marines.[i] The theft of the powder outraged the populace not only of Williamsburg but of the entire colony of Virginia, galvanized Patriot fervor and set in motion a train of events that resulted in the end of any organized British presence in Virginia for the next five years. The author of this action, John M