“The committee of violation of rights,” says John Adams in his diary, “reported a set of articles which were drawn by John Sullivan, of New Hampshire; and these two declarations, the one of rights and the other of violations, which are printed in the journals of Congress for 1774, were two years afterwards recapitulated in the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1776.”
“New Hampshire has perhaps not remembered that the bold hand and the legal training of John Sullivan are in the immortal Declaration of Independence.”
On the adjournment of Congress, Sullivan returned to New Hampshire. During his absence the agitation had increased; nearly every town had its committee of safety, and many persons of note, suspected of a leaning towards the government, placed under arrest and kept in confinement, or sent out of the state, unless they took the test oath prescribed by the Assembly. Steps were also taken to prevent the sending of carpenters and other mechanics to Boston to build barracks for the royal troops, as men could not be secured there for that purpose. In one instance a man suspected of procuring workmen for General Gage, was waited on, and the charge being proven, he was obliged to go on his knees, as nothing less would be satisfactory, and make the following confession and promise:
“Before this company I confess I have been aiding and assisting in sending men to Boston to build barracks for the soldiers to live in, at which you have reason to be justly offended, which I am sorry for and humbly ask your forgiveness. And I do affirm that for the future I never will be aiding or assisting in any wise whatever, in act or deed contrary to the constitution of the country, as witness my hand.”
The military stores in Fort William and Mary at Newcastle were a constant source of anxiety to the governor, but he felt confident that no lawless act would be committed by the people without provocation, and as he was cautious in his course, no pretext could be found in that direction, but the inevitable was to happen. A report was circulated that General Gage was to send a body of troops to secure the ammunition.
The arrival of Paul Revere from Boston gave color to the rumor, and on the day following, armed men from the surrounding towns assembled in Portsmouth, and after effecting an organization and choosing their leaders, marched in broad daylight, to the number of four hundred, for Newcastle. On arriving at the fort the commander bade them to enter at their peril. No heed being paid to his words, one volley was fired from the three-pounders in position, but before the guns could be reloaded the walls were scaled and the fort captured at three o’clock P.M. on Dec. 14, 1774. The result was the possession of one hundred barrels of powder, sixty muskets, sixteen cannon, and other valuable stores.