Sunday, December 28, 2014

Unum Necessarium. "Now was the time to squirrel away as much powder as possible." Ghostly echoes of history from 1774-1775 to 2014-2015, Part One.

"A rebellion must have arms." -- Jeffery Record, Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win.
Fort William and Mary in 1705.
On the 19th of October, in the year of our Lord Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Four, George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith (and so forth and so on) issued a confidential Order in Council forbidding the export of arms and powder to America. Like most royal secrets at the time, this one quickly leaked to operatives of Sam Adams and the Boston Sons of Liberty. (Funny how tyrants always think in similar terms and use identical actions. Indeed, it is their actions that make them as tyrants -- then and now. As I have written before, history rarely exactly repeats itself but it often echoes.)
The King was reacting to his understandable fright caused by the Powder Alarm, when in the immediate aftermath of the 1 September seizure by General Gage of the gunpowder at Charlestown, thousands of Massachusetts militiamen had marched on Boston and Cambridge, and mob action forced Loyalists and some government officials to flee to the protection of the British Army. The run-up to the Powder Alarm is described by Robert P. Richmond in his book Powder Alarm, 1774:
As the colonists' defiance grew, it became evident that it would be only a matter of time before the British Government prohibited the exportation of gunpowder and military stores to America. Now was the time to squirrel away as much powder as possible. The colonists were within their legal rights in withdrawing, town by town, the powder that had been allotted to each town according to population. The system of storing powder necessary for local self-defense in centrally located powderhouses throughout the province had been a safeguard against the French and Indians. Now, however, Gage realized that this powder intended for defense would quite likely be used against his troops. . .
For their part, the colonists knew that there was virtually no indigenous powder production, and the lack of gunpowder could cripple their resistance if the issue came to shots, as it did the following year at Lexington and Concord. The colonists turned to smuggling, of course, but their powder purchases in Europe and elsewhere could not make up the difference, especially in the short run. Indeed, when Washington arrived to take control of the militia army in front of Boston and learned how little powder was actually on hand, he was quite speechless for a considerable period of time.
What was terrifying (in 1775) was the picture of an America fighting with no weapons . . . the country was as naked and defenseless as a shucked oyster. The colonies were in the nightmare situation of trying to fight the strongest nation in Europe almost barehanded. . . The crying need was for gunpowder. There had been a few powder mills in the country, but they were long out of use. -- Helen Augur, The Secret War for Independence, 1955.
I am currently reading Kevin Phillips' book, 1775: A Good Year for Revolution. In his chapter on "The Global Munitions Struggle, 1774-1776," he writes:
Although both sides made many mistakes during 1774 and 1775, neither underestimated the central role of ammunition. Adapting a term from Christian theology, Samuel Adams candidly proclaimed gunpowder as the "unum necessarium" -- the one thing needful.
If powder importation was to be prohibited, then, the powder existing in the magazines of the two sides became the critical item of contention in the run-up to war. When the Boston Sons of Liberty learned of the Order in Council, they feared that the Regulars would make another attempt to seize colonial stores. Wikipedia reports:
Patriots in Rhode Island moved munitions from the fort at Newport inland for safe keeping without incident. In Massachusetts, rumors flew that troops from Boston were headed to reinforce Fort William and Mary and seize its powder and arms. On December 13, 1774, four months before his more famous ride in Massachusetts, Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth to sound the alarm.
So, 240 years ago this month, the colonists in New Hampshire seized the powder at Fort William and Mary.
On the morning of December 14, Patriots from the town of New Castle unsuccessfully attempted to take the gunpowder at Fort William and Mary by trickery. Meanwhile, John Langdon made his way through Portsmouth with a drummer, collecting a crowd to descend on the fort. Several hundred men responded to his call, setting out for the Castle by way of the Piscataqua River. Only one provincial officer, Captain John Cochran, and five provincial soldiers were stationed at Fort William and Mary. Despite the odds against them, they refused to capitulate to Patriot demands. When Langdon's men rushed the fort, the defenders opened fire with three cannon and a volley of musket shot. Patriots stormed the walls and Cochran's men engaged in hand-to-hand fighting before being subdued by an overwhelming number of raiders. Langdon's volunteers not only broke open the powder house and absconded with about 100 barrels of gunpowder but, to three cheers, hauled down the fort's huge British flag. Several injuries but no deaths occurred in the engagement, and Cochran and his men were released after about an hour and a half of confinement.
The next day, additional rebel forces arrived in Portsmouth from across the colony, as well as from Maine. Led by John Sullivan, the rebels returned to the fort late on the night of December 15, overran the post without gunfire and removed muskets, military supplies and 16 cannon marked as the property of the King. British authorities declared the raids - for which Sullivan later received a stipend from the Continental Congress - high treason.
Unfortunately, the colonists didn't have the foresight, or the means, to remove all the heavy artillery and military stores at the fort, and these were later recovered by the British navy. Too bad, they would have come in handy at the siege of Boston. Grandpa Vanderboegh's Rule No. 32 applies here: "If God gives you a cake, take the whole damn thing. You might get hungry later."
Note that this took place a full FOUR MONTHS before the General Gage's ill-considered gun raid of 19 April 1775. This was not merely armed civil disobedience, but high treason -- theft of Royal property and an attack on the King's lackeys. This is in part what I meant during my speech on the steps of Connecticut state capitol in April of last year when I said that the Founding Fathers "did what was required."
But this post started out with the promise in the header to find parallels between 1774-1775 and 2014-2015. Why, you might ask, do I begin with the one certain contradiction to what the Founders faced and the situation as we find it today? For it is an absolute given that we, today, live in the most highly armed society in history -- ever. We have no lack of arms, no lack of powder and shot, no lack of ammunition, nor do we have at the moment any impediment to obtaining more. (Although we should always remember Kipling's dictum that you can NEVER have TOO MUCH ammunition.)
I begin with the one major difference between then and now because I apparently need to remind those of us who are timid and fearful, those of us who exaggerate the power of the federal government and minimize our own innate power, those of us who immediately crouch in the submissive position of compromise, THAT WE HAVE THIS ONE HUGE ADVANTAGE OVER THE FOUNDERS. All other comparisons between the two periods must take this fact into account up front. Whatever the other parallels that I will discuss in further installments of this series, remember that THIS is our reality, not the poverty of means faced by the Founding generation. How, then, can we do less than they? Only by means of failures of our own will, failures of our own imagination, failures of our own courage. We have the means to secure our own liberty and property and lives. We have but to recognize it.
I also begin this series with the indisputable fact of the greatest armed society in history as a warning to the analysts of the federal three-letter paramilitary police organizations and to the so-called "fusion centers" and their state-paid but federal-directed lickspittles -- in the hope that they communicate it to the various tyrant-wannabes that they serve. Clausewitz, I would remind them them, offered this truth among many: "In military affairs, quantity has a quality all its own." Try to keep that in mind, you insignificant tax-fed carbuncles. Try not to piss off the largest, most heavily armed and accoutered, armed citizenry in the history of the planet. Take my advice in the loving admonition with which it is offered. You'll live longer.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bid for EPA to Regulate Ammunition Shot Down

If all you wanted for Christmas was a little good news for a change, here you go. A favorite tactic of Obama’s EPA is to conspire with radical activists outside the government to be sued into extending its tyranny ever further into our lives. Fortunately, despite the increasing glut of leftist judges, this doesn’t always work:

As noted in the ruling, there is no way the EPA could regulate spent lead with regulating ammunition, the obvious goal of this maneuver, which is yet another attempt to circumvent the Second Amendment. Again we see that there is no form of tyranny progressives will not attempt to inflict in the name of environmentalism.

Next they will claim that gun smoke causes global warming, imperiling the sacred man-eating polar bears.

http://moonbattery.com/?p=53721

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/epa-cant-regulate-lead-bullets-says-federal-court/article/2557789/comments

Anonymous said...

So called Leaders need to be made very aware of the "Ceausescu Clause" in their contract of employment ... as do their spouses.

III

KBA said...

THANK YOU

Looking forward to the rest of the series

Anonymous said...

In early August of 1775, about one month after Geo. Washington arrived in Cambridge and assumed command of the army there, General Washington was informed that there was a grand total of 36 barrels of powder available for his forces. Less than 10 pounds total. Enough powder to issue just nine shots per man and ZERO for his artillery. Washington estimated that his powder supply would last less than one hour if the British decided to attack. So yes, ammo is key.
But there is a vastly more important metric beyond the amount of ammo on hand. And that is marksmanship skills. Lots of ammo will be wasted by those with minimal to no marksmanship skills. Everyone must learn to fire effectively and that means putting marksmanship skills as high a priority as "squirreling away as much powder as possible".
I have fired hand guns and long guns my entire life but I have never had any formal marksmanship training and that concerns me greatly. I just signed up for six consecutive Johnny Appleseed events and I am going to all six. Then I am going to hire a marksmanship coach to train with regularly.
Although we live I the most highly armed civilian population in the history of the US, I fear a majority of those armed citizens have little to no marksmanship skills. Please encourage people to not just hoard ammo but to learn how to deliver it downrange effectively.

iwitness02 said...

To me, it seems like we are in full blown, full throttle echo chamber mode right now. It's uncanny. Thank you Mike for your untiring effort to bring reality to light.

WarriorClass III said...

Prepare first your heart for repentance and determine to obey all of God's law as His mercy is all that will save you. Our country has been taken over by our enemies to be turned over completely to them, but this is the judgement of a Righteous God on a sinful people.

This first prep is the most important, the unum necessarium - repent. Any failure here will result in all your other preps being turned over to your enemy, making your enemy rich with your goods and lives. You will be storing up goods that another will take and you will be defeated. You will hand over your wives and daughters to save your life. You will run at the sound of a leaf falling. The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.

Read Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Unless we repent now, these are the things we can expect to befall us.

The international kabuki theater now being played out is just to give our enemies the proper cover and provocation to execute their plans against us - with the full cooperation of those in our government, in both parties. But do not be deceived, no such plan of treachery and treason could be successful against a righteous people under the protection of a righteous God. This country has rejected the Law of God, and His protection, bringing only His wrath upon us.

Before you squirrel away powder, before you store up food and water for your enemy, before you make any plans, REPENT. And beg God for mercy; perhaps He will relent for the sake of His great mercy and look at our return to His law before He destroys us completely.

Humble yourselves before Him, NOW.

Anonymous said...

Great writing Mike. But in answer to the question "how can we do less than they" when thinking of modern Americans: Our fore fathers weren't lulled to sleep with endless entertainment and propaganda. WE know what the problems are, but the sleepy masses are in bondage of their own doing; and most love it. One day of total reality would be culture shock to most, I fear...But I guess that's why we are only the 3% and not the 50% or so..

THEBigFatPanda said...

"Only by means of failures of our own will, failures of our own imagination, failures of our own courage. We have the means to secure our own liberty and property and lives. We have but to recognize it."

Unfortunately, Mike, IMHO we don't have the capability to do what is needed anymore. We are a weak minded, spiritually depraved, materialistic, dumbed down populace.

Yes, the Founders were a determined minority and they succeeded. But what did they have that we lack? In addition to all the above listed, they had God's favor. They had that because they realized they were beholden to God for their very next breath.
How can we, even the 3% movement, righteously claim God's favor on our movement and our nation when we have stood by and ALLOWED the ongoing slaughter of upwards of 55 MILLION unborn babies?

How can we claim His favor when we ALLOWED homosexuals, communists/leftists of every stripe, anarchists, pedophiles, rapists, pornographers, and every other form of low life known to man since Genesis to infiltrate, take over, and run our institutions of politics, religion, government, and education? This, IMHO is the height of hubris.

America is done. God brought her into existence as he brings forth all nations; for His specific purpose and a specific time. Our purpose, I believe, was to bring His gospel to the world and we succeeded in that. What people do with the Word is of course, up to them individually. But now with us spitting in His face with our actions or lack thereof (and yes, I count myself among the guilty), I believe He has withdrawn His wall of protection from us. If you read Rabbi Jonathan Kahn's book "The Harbinger", he lays out the historical record of how God deals with an unrepentant nation.

I'm sure there will be those who scream, "WTF, Panda, you're just giving up on this country???? Go lick some tyrants boots, then you #<%>}|~*£+€!!!"

Yes, I am. (Shrug) While I believe mens hearts have grown too corrupt to save us through anything short of prayer and true repentance, I believe it's too late. Matthew 24:7-14 is upon us. Read the above mentioned book and you will see what I mean. Bluster all you want, stock all the ammo you want, smuggle all the magazines you want, engage in civil disobedience all you want, without the favor of The Lord at your back, listen carefully: IT WILL COME TO NOTHING.

My advice? Get YOURSELF right with God. NOW. I watched my next door neighbor step onto his porch one day with his coffee and cigarette. Took one puff, dropped like a rock. Dead before he hit the ground. That's how dependent you are on God, gentlemen.

Lord, let those who have ears to hear, hear you today. Amen.

Ghost Prime said...

Well said. Now we must again awaken the sleeping giant if we are to triumph in this second war for Independence. You Sir, are doing a great deed by posting this blog. I will do what I can to promote it.

Μολὼν λαβέ

Anonymous said...

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books or too much ammunition. - R. Kipling

WarriorClass III said...

Amen, Panda. Thank you for that word. Keep spreading the Truth, until all the elect hear it and that remnant repents.

SGT Dan's Cat said...

Very good read, Mike, as always.

@WarriorClassIII and @BigFatPanda, in a pinch I know several fine fellow Iraq and Afghanistan vets who follow older, more bloody-handed European ancestral faiths. If by one sign we do not conquer, we shall fight until we find one that leads us where we need to be.

Anonymous said...

Mike I have walked the blood soaked ground of Bunker Hill . I have stood in the same 2nd story window that a very young Thomas Jefferson stood when the British tried to take back to the ship all the arms and gunpowder at Williamsburg . A alert young man named Patrick Henry and others helped raise the alarm and stop it.
The parallels are all there Mike but expect this time they will be much more inclined to use examples of their power and brutality.

CowboyDan said...

WCIII, BFP, thank you.

I bbelieve in miracles. I have seen them, and I am one.

I know a priest whose healing ministry has been effective against a great many afflicitions. The one thing he asks of all those whose requests for healing prayer is confession and repentance, and that repentance sometimes goes back generations.

No matter what else you do, you have got to get right with God. I try, but I know my faith falls short and my prayers are like clanging brass.

My only hope is that the forgiveness promised us by Christ is available to me when I need it.

Lordchamp said...

The reality of things is that most of the comments here are correct in most ways.

Yes, we are weak but we have our strong points too. Yes we are mostly ungodly but we also have our godly parts too.

What this all means is that we are living typical human history caused by typical human nature.

Human society is never ALL good nor ALL evil, there is always some of each but at various points in human history one or the other will dominate.

For the past 200+ years, the good of America has dominated the earth as a whole. Human nature dictates that we cannot continue that indefinitely since we are inherently evil.

Given success we tend to move toward being more and more evil. Don't believe me? Read history. Every period of peace and success is always followed by a period of evil and misery and vice versa. It's merely human nature.

We are now moving into one of those dark periods of our history and based on how successful this "American" period has been, I would fully expect the coming "evil" period to be just as "successful" but in an evil way.

At this point, in truth, all we can do is prepare ourselves to be the survivors of the evil to carry on for the next phase of human history.

There is no avoiding this, there is no stopping it, there is only surviving it to pass on knowledge and wisdom to future generations.

This is not giving up. This is not fear mongering. This is not giving in.

This is human nature and human nature never has and never will change until we cease to exist. History shows this to be fact.

So prepare, fight, and survive. Whatever that means to you is what you should do.

In the end that is all that matters.

Some must survive to pass on the "Good" to the following generations and restart the cycle of history in our favor yet again.

Unknown said...

Thats what i told people when i decided to stand now. if the gun grabbers try to take an inch i was in return going to take a mile . every time . we will continue this until we retake our founders republic. A bosworth

THEBigFatPanda said...

"My only hope is that the forgiveness promised us by Christ is available to me when I need it."

Cowboy Dan, I would direct you to my favorite verse in Scripture; John 6:37.

Unknown said...

Wairriorclass III
Ephesians 2:8-9King James Version (KJV)

8 For by GRACE are ye saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God:

9 NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast. 


1 John 5 King James Version (KJV)

5 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

King James Version (KJV)

TdB said...

In 1840 the American Scots/Irish church again points out what parts of the Constitution provokes national judgments. having seen revolution ruin their Republics in the English Civil War they were very aware of the devil in the details. http://www.truecovenanter.com/reformedpresbyterian/rpcna_testimony_against_constitution_of_usa_corrected.html

Sam said...


I disagree with Panda on several levels. God spared Lot just prior to destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. He didn’t blame and kill Lot, merely because he didn’t take it upon himself to kill every evil person around him. Further, Abraham didn’t say, “Yes God, kill them all,” just because they all lived there in Sodom. No, he asked God to spare the good people there, one of which was Lot. Granted, there weren’t very many good people left, but it is the premise that makes the point. Here in the U.S., there are many, many God fearing people who follow Jesus… Don’t sell them short, nor blame them for the evilness around them. Those who follow Jesus are covered under Grace… which means that we are not perfect… but we are forgiven! Pray? Yes, pray often… as you probably already do. If you don’t… then start… enough said.
At this time in history, we don’t need finger pointers, we need positive leaders. We need those who build up, not those who tear down. It’s time to stand up and lead. There are so many who are already disheartened by what they see around them… it’s time to encourage… it’s time to bond together and focus on a goal. Conflict isn’t merely physical, it is, in a major way, heart and mind too. Stop peeing on our boots.
Those of you who see yourselves as leaders… and we do need leaders, lead those who listen to you with encouragement, vision and a goal. Don’t entice them to look back at any short comings they have, but encourage them to look forward, with their heads up, looking opponents in the eye.
There is a song by Emily West, in which, some of the words are, “The weatherman says it’s going to rain tonight, the kind of storm where the basement floods and you lose the lights.” Well, this country has a storm coming… and it’s already started to rain. Water is seeping into our basement, and yes, the lights are beginning to flicker. It’s time for some to follow… it’s time for some to lead. If you follow, make sure you are following a God fearing man, that actually leads. If you lead, make sure God is your leader, and that you are fully aware of your awesome responsibility. If or when this terrible storm fully hits, remember that as long as the thunderhead and its assets survive, it will continue to send its minions… the rain.


Anonymous said...

an insurgency is an ugly affair. Good, local INTEL or Intel gathered and shared will be a strategic force multiplier. Do what Santa does, make a list, and share it...all God's creatures go somewhere when the sun goes down to rest. Don't let them rest soundly.

Anonymous said...

Local stores have been selling 7.62X51 for .54/round. When they ask how much I want I reply "How much do you have?"