The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. As part of this, I’m writing monthly columns about the politics of the era, written the same way I’d write them today. The events described here took place in February 1776. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter here:
Not quite a year ago, upwards of 40 men rode through the night to warn the townspeople of Massachusetts that the British were on the march. The most famous of those was the silversmith Paul Revere. Contrary to popular belief, he did not shout, “The British are coming!” Instead, what Revere called out was, “The Regulars are coming out.”
Even in this so-called age of reason, we still often prefer fantasy to fact. However, if Revere were riding today, he might well be shouting, “The British are going!”
The latest word from the north brings this wonderful news: General George Washington has forced the British to evacuate Boston.
From the south comes other news: The British have lost control of Georgia.
With such spectacular news, is it possible that the end of this war is now in sight? Perhaps not. General Washington fears that the British, who have departed from Boston, will now turn their attention to New York in an attempt to sever the Colonies. Still, for now, our ragtag forces have put the mighty British on the back foot.
These events have overshadowed news of more immediate interest to those of us in Virginia. Furthermore, American forces have raided the Bahamas to seize back the gunpowder that Virginia’s royal governor had spirited out of Williamsburg a year ago. What has become known as the Gunpowder Incident is now avenged.
Let us take these matters in turn for readers who have been absent from the tavern gossip.
We all remember how, in April 1775, Lord Dunmore surreptitiously removed the gunpowder from the magazine in Williamsburg and spirited it onto British vessels. His ostensible excuse was that he feared the gunpowder might fall into the wrong hands during a slave uprising. That quieted townspeople for a while, until they realized that, without the gunpowder, a slave uprising was more likely, not less so — and that the governor’s true intent was to keep the powder away from Colonists who might challenge royal authority. The Hanover County lawyer (and noted firebrand) Patrick Henry led a march on Williamsburg, and armed conflict seemed to be near — when cooler heads prevailed, and Dunmore agreed to pay for the powder.
That solved the immediate problem, but it still meant Virginians were without the powder, which we now are much in need of. That powder was sent to New Providence, the most populous island in the Bahamas.
Much has transpired since then — open war has broken out, Lord Dunmore has been chased out of Virginia — but the powder has not been forgotten, particularly as our stocks have run low.
In December 1775, the Continental Congress turned to Esek Hopkins, a Rhode Island privateer and slave-ship operator, to lead the newly formed Continental Navy. Hopkins was given instructions to sail to Virginia to scout the British vessels in the Chesapeake Bay and “if … you find that they are not greatly superior to your own you are immediately to enter the said bay, search out and attack, take or destroy all the naval force of our enemies that you may find there. If you should be so fortunate as to execute this business successfully in Virginia you are then to proceed immediately to the southward and make yourself master of such forces as the enemy may have both in North and South Carolina.”
For this mission, Hopkins was given eight merchant ships anchored in Philadelphia that had been outfitted for war and given 280 men — 50 sailors and 230 fighting men known as marines.
Hopkins found the British fleet in those waters far superior to his own, so he held back on what likely would have been a suicidal attack. Instead, he took advantage of a loophole in his orders: “if bad Winds, or Stormy Weather, or any other unforeseen accident or disaster disable you so to do You are then to follow such Courses as your best Judgment shall Suggest to you as most useful to the American Cause and to distress the Enemy by all means in your power.”
Hopkins concluded that this meant he was free to do as he wished as long as he was “useful to the American Cause” and brought “distress” to the British. Rather than carry out his orders to clear the British from the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas, which he felt himself unable to do, he set sail instead for the Bahamas, where it was well-known that the British had been stockpiling war supplies.
No one ordered him to do so. Hopkins acted entirely on his own. This might later cause him some political problems, but it also contributed to his great victory — the British in the Bahamas were not expecting a small American fleet to show up. The British governor, Montfort Browne, was still in his nightshirt when he rushed to Government House to order the cannon be fired — an alert to the militia to muster. It was too late.
Hopkins sent a message to the townspeople that “The Reasons of my landing an armed force on the Island is in Order to take possession of the Powder and Warlike Stores belonging to the Crown” and if they didn’t resist his landing, no one would be hurt.
The people of New Providence decided maybe it was best not to fight. That seemed a victory for Hopkins, but he’d made a critical mistake: He had only blocked one way in and out of the harbor. There was another he didn’t block, for whatever reason. That night, the governor managed to load most of the gunpowder onto two ships that slipped out for the safety of St. Augustine, Florida.
When Hopkins’ force finally swarmed into town and took over, they seized 24 casks of powder, 46 cannon, and 15 mortars and cannon — not realizing yet they’d missed most of it.
Hopkins held sway in New Providence for two weeks; it took that long to load up all the weapons they claimed. When he and his force finally left, they took the British governor and 12 other officials with them as prisoners.
By the time he set sail, the spectacular (and completely unauthorized) assault on the Bahamas was overshadowed by the news that the British had abandoned Boston. Virginians, though, can feel some measure of redemption for the Gunpowder Incident. Dunmore may have “purchased” Virginia’s gunpowder, but now we have taken it back.
Modern editor’s note: The seizure of the gunpowder was the high-water mark of Hopkins’ career. On his way back home, his small fleet was attacked by the British off the coast of Rhode Island. Eleven Americans were killed. Hopkins was initially praised for his bold attack on the Bahamas. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, wrote to him that “I beg leave to congratulate you on the success of your Expedition. Your account of the spirit and bravery shown by the men affords them [Congress] the greatest satisfaction.” Hancock wanted to name a ship after Hopkins. However, not everyone was so excited. Some Southern members of the Congress were unhappy that Hopkins had ignored his orders to protect them. There was criticism of how he handled the attack by the British ship, which some felt he should have been able to capture. On August 12, 1776, the Congress formally censured Hopkins for his actions. Later, Hopkins was accused of torturing prisoners. By 1778, he was relieved of his duties altogether.
Modern historians are more forgiving of Hopkins’ freelancing, although not his treatment of prisoners. Historian John Gresham writes for the Defense Media Network: “The 103 pieces of artillery taken from the forts on New Providence Island were the largest such capture to date of the Revolutionary War; bigger even than Benedict Arnold’s seizure at Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. The Nassau guns would be a critical factor in operations of the Continental Army for some time, and also helped fortify American positions in New England. The raid had another important effect, in that the British became preoccupied with further Continental raids on the West Indies, which were important both economically and strategically. After the raid, ships and resources that might have been used in America were frequently sent there.”
Hopkins played another role in history, as well: He was so reviled for his poor treatment of slaves on the slave ships he operated that he turned the early American industrialist Moses Brown against slavery. Today, we know Brown through the university he helped found: Brown University.
