Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-07-29
THE PIONEER BLOW.
The First Rebel Against tho Brit
ish Government.

It is curious fact that the most inn
portant as well as the most dramatic
incident preceding the American rev.
olution-an incident, indeed, which di-
rectly precipitated hostilities has but
sighting mention in any of the histo-
ries.
This was the attack upon Fort Will
lam and Mary in Portsmouth Harbor
by band of young patriots led by
John Sullivan, aftcrward Major-Gen-
cral in the Continental army. The as
sault was made in December, IVA,
four months after the battle of Lexing-
ton, and six months before Bunker
Hill. 1t was unquest;onably the first
act of overt treason.
On the afternoon of December Is,
Paul Revere (the same who escaped
the vigilance of Howe's guards four
months later, and spread the news
along the road from Boston to Lexing-
ton of Pitcairn's intended march) rode
up to Sullivan's house in Durham. One
of the survivors of Sullivan's company
died only some thirty years ago, and
from his lips, shortly before his death,
was obtained the story of what hap
pened that day. Revere's horse, he
said, was ''nearly done when pulled
up at Sullivan's door. The rider had
been dispatched with all speed from
Boston the day before with messages
from the Massachusetts Committee Of
Safety that ''the King in council had
prohibited the importation of arms or
military stores into the colonies" and
that two regiments were forthwith to
march from Boston to occupy Ports
mouth and the fort in its harbor. After
''baiting" his wearied beast, Revere
rode on to Portsmouth.
In Sull vans mind the hour had evil
IDENTITY come for decisive action. The
story of what followed is briefly told bv
Eieazer Bennett, the survivor before
mentioned: Il was working for Major
Sullivan, he said, "when Micah Davis
came up and told me Major Sullivan
wanted me to 60 to Portsmouth, and
to get all the men l could to 90 with
him. The men who went, as far as /
can remember, were Major John Sui
ivan, Captain Winborn Adams, Eben-
ezer Thompson, John Demeritt, AL
pheus and Jonathan Chesley, John
Spencer. Micah Davis. Isaac and Ben
Jamin Small, of Durham; Ebenezer Sui
Ivan, Captain Langdon and Thomas
Pickering, of Portsmouth; John Griffin,
James Underwood and Alexander
Scammell. We took gondola be-
longing to Benjamin Mathes, who was
too old to go. and went down the river
to Portsmouth. 1t was a clear, cold,
moonlight night. We sailed down to
the fort at the mouth of Piscataoua
Harbor. The water was so shallow
that We could not bring the boat to
within rod of shore. We waded
through the water in perfect silence.
and bound the Captain. In the fort we
found one hundred casks of powder
and one hundred small-arms, which we
brought down to the boat In walinc
through the water it froze upon u.s.
What simple story of heroism! The
men took off their boots that thew
might not make a noise in mounting
the ramparts, and after getting back
to the boat it is of record that they
again took them off, ''lest spark from
the iron-nailed soles might ignite the
powder" And this was in December,
IN the severe winter of Northern New
England.
The '.gondola"-pronounced by the
natives gundolo, with accent on the
first syllable-is an unwieldy sloop-
rugged vessel still in use in the shallow
waters of the New England coast. The
'.gundolo" sailed quietly down with
the tide to dock in Portsmouth town,
0iae miles below. There perhaps half
dozen men were taken on board, in
GLIDING Captain Langdon. afterward
FIRST President of the United States Sem
ate and Governor of New Hampshire.
From Governor Wentworth's corre-
spondence with the Earl Of Dartmouth
1t would appear that he warned Cap
tain Cochran, in command at the fort.
of the intended attack; but it is q ira
dition in Durham that the garrison was
awakened from sleep as the party
mounted the ramparts. No blood was
shed on either side In his letter to
Lord Dartmouth, Sir John (Governor)
Wentworth gives some further details.
'.News was brought to me-" he says.
'that drum was beating about the
town to collect the populacc together in
order to take away the gunpowder and
dismantle the fort. sent the Chief
Justice to them to warn them from en-
Eaging in such n attempt He went