Thursday, December 31, 2015

It's 1774 all over again. How are your logistics?

Stoodley's Tavern, Portsmouth NH, as it appears today. Here, on 13 December 1774, after a miserable day's ride of 65 miles through a snowstorm, is where Paul Revere delivered the news of British troop movements which led to the seizure by local patriots of the powder and arms at Fort William and Mary.
Politico promises us that: "Obama set to unveil curbs on gun sellers: Executive actions expected next week will be part of the president's new year push to make progress on long-stalled problems before the 2016 presidential election heats up."
In addition, we are told -- "Coming Soon: Legislation To Heavily Regulate Ammunition In New York."
Charles C.W. Cooke writes: "Of all the ill-considered tropes that are trotted out in anger during our ongoing debate over gun control, perhaps the most irritating is the claim that the Constitution may indeed protect firearms, but it says “nothing at all about bullets.”
". . . To propose that a government could restrict access to ammunition without gutting the Second Amendment is akin to proposing that a government could ban churches without hollowing out the First. If a free people are to enjoy their liberties without encumbrance, the prerequisite tools must be let well alone."
All of these maneuvers are a reminder that we have been here before. In "Encroachments of the Crown on the Liberty of the Subject: Pre-Revolutionary Origins of the Second Amendment" by Stephen Halbrook in 1989, is this transcript of King George the Third's diktat that sparked our fight for independence:
As reprinted in the Conn. Courant, Dec. 19, 1774, at 3, cols. 2-3:
At the Court at St. James's the 19th Day of October, 1774.
PRESENT,
The KING'S most excellent MAJESTY in Council,
Earl of Rockford, Lord Viscount Townshend,
Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Mansfield,
Earl of Suffolk, Lord North.
WHEREAS an Act of Parliament has passed in the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, intitled, "An Act to empower his Majesty to prohibit the Exportation of Saltpetre, and to enforce the Law for impowering his Majesty to prohibit the Exportation of Gunpowder, or any sort of Arms or Ammunition, and also to empower his Majesty to restrain the carrying coastways of Saltpetre, Gunpowder, or any sort of Ammunition."
And His Majesty judging it necessary to prohibit the Exportation of Gunpowder, or any sort of Arms or Ammunition, out of this Kingdom, doth therefore, with the advice of his Privy Council, hereby order, require, prohibit and command that no Person or Persons Whatsoever (except the Master General of the Ordnance for his Majesty's Service) do, at any time during the space of Six Months from the date of this Order in Council, presume to transport into any parts out of this Kingdom, or carry coastways any Gunpowder, or any sort of Arms or Ammunition, on board any Ship or Vessel, in order to transporting the same to any part beyond the Seas or carrying the same coastways, without Leave and Permission in that behalf, first obtained from his Majesty or his Privy Council, upon Pain of incurring and suffering the respective Forfeitures and Penalties inflicted by the afore mentioned Act....
Signed, G. Chetwynd.
The decree was published in 5 Acts Privy Council, 401, and was renewed from time to time until 1783.
This action, reinforcing an earlier British raid to seize colonial gunpowder from the Powder House in Somerville, MA, on 1 September 1774, led to the colonists' response in what became known as The Powder Alarm. The Crown had surprised the colonists by beating them to the powder. It would not happen again.
In the current issue (January/February 2016) of Muzzleloader magazine, is a description of the next moves in a cold war that would end at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775.
On October 19, an Order in Council confidentially issued by King George prohibited the export of 'powder, arms, and warlike stores' into North America. The secret order also called for the immediate securing of all arms and munitions that were stored in the colonies. Within this one order, the British Crown would not only stop arming the colonists, but it would also begin to secure the arms and ammunition that were already in the colonies.
It did not take long for news of the order to reach the ears of the many patriot spies that prowled the gutters, back alleys and countryside of New England. Central in this interception of this order was the prolific patriot and insurrectionist Paul Revere. This intelligence came into his hands in early December, about the same time that British Admiral Graves was seen in Boston preparing four warships . . . to depart, loaded with troops, for a yet unknown destination and mission. While none of the ships were heading directly to Portsmouth (NH) to secure the powder (at Fort William and Mary), the news of their movement created nervousness and anxiety. Quickly, Revere and his agents went into action . . . With the stores of powder and arms at Fort William and Mary being so sizable, the people of Massachusetts and New Hampshire naturally assumed that this would be one of the first targets of the departing vessels.
Paul Revere took it upon himself to warn his brethren in Portsmouth, NH. The winter in New England was already off to s miserable start since before Thanksgiving, the roads and trails were thick with snow and ice. On the morning of December 13, despite a snowstorm blowing, Paul Revere saddled his horse and began the 65 mile ride to Portsmouth . . . On a day when most stayed indoors, warm with drink in hand by the fire, Revere slogged north to deliver the news of the assumed impending seizure . . .
Late in the day of December 13, Revere arrived in Portsmouth. . . Before he took time to care for himself and his horse he set out to find Samuel Cutts, a high-ranking leader n the Portsmouth resistance to the Crown . . . Following a 15 minute meeting in Stoodley's Tavern, Revere then departed, anxious to begin his trip home. -- "A Most Unhappy Affair: The Portsmouth Powder Alarm of1774, Part One" by Vincent C. Spiotti, Muzzleloader, January/February 2016, pp. 37 - 44.
The next day, 14 December, after failing to trick the small garrison into surrendering the powder, the patriots in New Hampshire under arms marched to the Fort and seized 100 barrels of the precious "Unum Necessarium" as Sam Adams called it -- "the one thing needful." And the day after that, says Wikipedia:
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.
Of course that was then, and this is now. Exactly who today should be charged with high treason for their actions in attempting to disarm the American citizenry is open to debate at the muzzles of our loaded rifles. And we, today, are far better armed and supplied with ammunition than the Founding Fathers ever dreamed. The only question is, do we have the guts and determination to use those instruments to defend our liberty, our property and our lives as they did?
Paul Revere

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! NY to regulate ammo sales? Hmm...Well, the closest Gander Mountain to me in NY is a 40minute drive and the closest over the PA. border is about 70 minutes. Considering a nice ride through rural areas on a Saturday afternoon is always pleasant...LOL

Anonymous said...

ARMS
Anything that a man wears for his defense or takes In his hands or uses in his anger to cast at or strike at another Co Litt 1616 162o State v Buzzard 4 Ark 18 This term as It is used in the constitution relative to the right of citizens to bear arms refers to the arms of a militiaman or soldier and the word is used in its military sense The arms of the infantry soldier are the musket and bayonet of cavalry and dragoons the sabre holster pistols and carbine of the artillery the field piece siege guii and mortar with side arms The term in this connection cannot be made to cover such weapons as dirks daggers slung shots sword canes brass knuckles and bowie knives These are not military arms English v State 35 Tex 476 14 Am Rep 374 Hill v State 53 Ga 472 Fife v State 31 Ark 455 25 Am Rep 556 Andrews v State 3 Helsk Tenn 179 8 Am Rep 8 Aymette v State 2 Humph Tenn 154

Rivenshield said...

Well, 56% of us ostensibly are OK with Big Brother performing warrantless wiretaps on everything we do online:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AP_POLL_CIVIL_LIBERTIES_THINGS_TO_KNOW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-31-03-37-50

In other new, Huntingdon Beach, CA just had its first trannie homecoming queen. If any of the parents or students were upset at the thought of a castrated boy cosplaying a girl, the mass media did not report on it. In other other news, they've also outlawed lead ammunition for hunting and instituted mandatory sex ed for all, which will include 'gender theory.' If there is outcry from outraged soccer moms, we have not heard of it. Yes, tens of millions of schoolchildren will now be taught how to be *more* sexually confused. And remember that California has always led the nation by ten or fifteen years. You can bet Hillary will implement a lot of these measures at the national level, if elected. And if not her, then the progressive leadership in other states will do so, creating blue ink blots that will grow until they crowd out the competition.

Maybe the far Left and the centrist Good Germans they have cudgeled into obedience are correct. Maybe we are old, white, and dying out. Maybe all they really do need to do is hang on another thirty years before they preside over an impoverished metrosexual sh*thole of a surveillance state that used to be the American republic. The new fascists are superb at prepping the battlefield, and they understand the value of moving in small cunning increments. I honestly don't know where we're going any more.

Meanwhile, I work and I pray. Ora et labora, as it was commanded of old. It is all that is left to me.

Anonymous said...

"......here's two-legged deer for your powder and ball......"

TimeHasCome said...

Great, great post and I love the title because it will be all about logistics . Don't forget 67% of our entire nation's groceries comes through Walmart and Walmart has turned far left . Just last week the Sam Club CEO of Walmart made some bigoted anti-white statements and how she was going crush a predominately white supplier. One of Sam Walton's daughters just gave bundle to Hillary.
It will be all about logistics so please stock up. Even canned food will last a decade after the expiration date . On Hormel Chili the company used to boast that it had a undetermined life of 40 years or more. So it will be far more about logistics than anything else.

Anonymous said...

There'll be a little respite now and then seven years of troubles.

Chiu ChunLing said...

The sophistry of claiming that arms are protected but not an essential element without which they cannot function as armaments should be self-evident.

That said, we should be skilled in the employment of means of killing tyrants which are not easily identifiable as arms. Indeed, I will go so far as to say that at this stage of the conflict they should be our primary means of actually killing any determined tyrants we must eliminate.

They have murdered thousands of us under the cloak of 'plausible deniability'. It is past time for them to receive a fuller measure of the same in retribution.

Oldfart said...

Does anybody have any experience with broadhead arrows penetrating body armor?

Anonymous said...

I hope you don't mind me plagiarizing your story here Dutchman, as I found it an important enough story to copy and paste into e-mail form and send to my e-mail recipients. Hey, whatever works to wake people up I will try to do. Hope you feel the same..