Historic Williamsburg

10. Colonial Magazine

Williamsburg, VA

Book Now

During colonial times, slave revolts, Indian and pirate attacks, and riots were all threats to the stability of the settlement. Built in 1715 on the order of Governor Spotswood, the magazine was used to store weapons, ammunition, and other equipment necessary to defend the Williamsburg colonists. It was so fully stocked during the French and Indian War that a high wall and guardhouse were added to protect the valuable and potentially dangerous reserves. While this magazine was a necessary and important part of Colonial life, it also has a particularly distinguished place in American history. The American Revolutionary war officially began when open-armed conflict between colonists and English forces broke out in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775. The following night, Governor Dunmore of Virginia ordered a squad of British Royal marines to secretly empty the store of munitions and disable all the muskets in the Williamsburg Magazine. However, the marines were spotted, drums sounded to alert the colonists, and the marines fled back to their ship with only 15 half-barrels of powder. An angry crowd gathered the next morning, demanding an explanation from Governor Dunmore. He attempted to placate the colonists by saying that he had heard of plans for a slave rebellion, and had merely wanted to prevent them from getting to the powder and weapons. This thinly veiled attempt to keep weapons from the increasingly volatile colonists sparked Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, in which he passionately called for the various colonial counties to gather their own volunteer troops. Dunmore later expressed his real reason for seizing the powder, citing a fear that the colonists would soon raise armies and revolt against the British government's representatives within Virginia. When the colonists received news of the rebellions in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 27th, 1775 Patrick Henry and 150 militiamen gathered to demand compensation from the Capitol for the stolen powder. Dunmore granted them restitution, and a tenuous, month-long peace followed. But on June 3rd, two men were shot by a spring-gun trap while trying to break into the magazine. An angry mob formed amid rumors that the British marines had returned, and the colonist's militia sprang into action. On June 8th, Governor Dunmore fled to the H.M.S. Fowey, a ship that belonged to the British marines. England would never have a ruling representative in Virginia again. The next governor was an American patriot, Patrick Henry.