When the cheering died down, Captain Morgan continued, “On Thursday, April 20th, the night after the murders in Massachusetts, Lord Dunmore, the governor we willingly fought for, sent British Marines to break into the Williamsburg magazine to steal our gunpowder—the property of our Virginia militia—and transport these supplies, kept for our defense, to a British warship, HMS Magdalen, now at anchor in the James River.

“Mr. Patrick Henry is also Colonel-­Commander of the Hanover County Militia. Yesterday he sent us a message, warning us to take necessary action to guard our powder supply so what happened in Williamsburg won’t happen here should Lord Dunmore send Redcoats to seize our powder, our supply of lead, and the weapons for our defense.

“Our Committee of Safety has directed us—Isaac Zane, Major McDonald, Captain Wood, and me—to come up with a plan to protect our county and send reinforcements to Williamsburg if Colonel Henry needs help recovering the powder and shot seized by Lord Dunmore in the dark of night.

“Our first task is to secure our own gunpowder and shot, presently stored in the stone powder magazine at Lewis Stephens’s place on Cedar Creek. We need nine men to re-build the palisade around the magazine and post three sentinels, day and night, inside and on watch. Captain Stephens has volunteered to supervise the construction and the watchmen.

“Second, we must re-establish the ‘Alarm and Muster Network’ we had in place during the war against the French and the savages. As before, we will need men and boys who have swift, sure mounts and who know the county well to serve as Reliable Messengers. Because the county now has many more families than in the past, we will need at least fifteen ‘Reliables.’ Captain Wood will command the messenger unit.

“Third, we are forming a company of 100 Rifleman who have proven themselves to be excellent marksmen, fit for marching great distances, and ready at a moment’s notice to fight. Volunteers for this unit must sign-on for not less than six months of duty. Mr. Patrick Henry has told us the Virginia Convention will pay privates six Milled Spanish dollars per year; sergeants will receive eight dollars; Ensigns will be paid ten dollars; Lieutenants will get fifteen and Captains, twenty.4

“Every volunteer must provide his own rifle, tomahawk, hunting knife, bullet-mold, canteen, and maintain his own ‘ready kit’ of two hunting shirts, two pair of leggin’s, four pairs of shoes or moccasins, a hunting hat, and a cloak or blanket. Major McDonald will take your names today. We will select members of this unit Friday on the green at the Battletown Tavern. If it rains we will hold the selection on the first fair day after Friday.