250 years ago, on December 14th, the American Revolutionary War really began. Here in New Castle New Hampshire, locals and militias raided the English Fort William and Mary on the coast. Four months before Lexington and Concord, this act marks the first act of combat in the war, despite it never getting the recognition it deserves.
SOURCES:
I didn’t have time to put in footnotes in the video, so here are the main sources I used for this video!
For general New Hampshire History:
https://www.nhhistory.org/Timeline?id=1774.1
For the history of the fort itself:
https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/New_Hampshire/Fort_Constitution/index.html
https://www.nhstateparks.org/getmedia/b465a35d-f502-4abc-9e31-af7e74046b12/FortConstitutionMilitaryHistory.aspx
For the raids and first hand sources, this book, available in pdf for free from the US Library of Congress, is the best source:
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/captureoffortwil00pars/captureoffortwil00pars.pdf
These sources is also great – primary sources and otherwise:
The First Shots of the American Revolution That Were Not Heard Round the World
https://books.google.com/books?id=_Zg9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA145#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-midday-ride-of-paul-revere-3661066/
https://www.nytimes.com/1886/07/12/archives/powder-for-bunker-hill-how-fort-william-and-mary-was-captured-the.html
Chapters:
00:00-00:58 – Intro
00:58-05:32 – New Hampshire
05:32-12:43 – Spirit of Rebellion
12:43-20:20 – The Raids
20:20-27:14 – Revolution
27:14-21:41 – Bloopers
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#history #Americanhistory #newhampshire #nh #fortconstitution #fortwilliamandmarry #americanrevolution #fortconstitutionday
48 Comments
April 15th?
You lost all credibility!!!!
April 19th, Lexington and Concord.
April 19, 1775 was when Lexington and Concord took place, not April 15.
Very interesting, thanks!
Wrong the revolution stared in RI with the burning of the HMS Gaspee in 1772, 252 years ago
"The CANNON shots heard round the world"??? One would think Artillery fire has to be considered a major war-like act?
The old French musket (a fusil Boucanier) that John's father (James Cochran) captured during his escape from two Abanaki warriors on the upper Saco River after young Cochran was himself taken from outside a Garrison in Brunswick Maine during Dummer's War………..might be THE GUN that shot the first shot, as it ended up in John's Possession after he retired to nearby Derry New Hampshire. The musket is in the Maine Historical Society in Portland ME today.
Great job,very well produced and entertaining video!
Very well done! As a NH native son with roots back as far as 1637, born, (Exeter, Durham until 13 and then Newmarket), raised and living today at 65 years young…I’m ready for the next action by the patriots of the granite state.
New subscriber, and giving you two thumbs up….
Interesting. We need to rewrite history to update this important information!
I'm sure this video took a lot of effort to shoot.
That stated, you had a fact error 30 seconds into the video.
Your battle is not the first battle of the Revolution. Rhode Island had been fighting the king for years before Lexington and Concord, so your battle here in this video could not have been the first battle if you're going to try to claim it against Lexington Concord.
By the time of Lexington and Concord, Rhode Island had already fought multiple sea battles with the Royal Navy, capturing three ships, sinking three ships and burning three ships, including the Gaspee of the famed Gaspee Affair. That was in 1772.
I'm sick of my state always getting short shifted on US history. Rhode Island not only started fighting the crown years before the rest of the colonies, it also declared its independence months before any other colonies and led the other colonies to follow suit.
Additionally, the war was won by a general from Rhode Island, Nathanael l Greene, of his legendary Southern Campaign.
When the Constitution was drafted, it was Rhode Island that insisted on a Bill of Rights, dictating 9 of those amendments, lest Rhode Island refuse to ratify the Constitution and refuse to join the United States.
The stakes were so high that George Washington threatened to invade Rhode Island and dissolve it to be absorbed by other states.
Only the Second Amendment was required by a different state, South Carolina, and not for the purpose of arming The general population for the threat of overthrowing a future perceived tyrannical version of our government, – no – but instead, solely to put down slave rebellions and to capture runaway slaves, thus the militias that they were already using in colonial times for those two purposes would be guaranteed in the new Constitution.
History is poorly taught in American public schools and taught even more poorly in private religious schools. YouTube doesn't help. There's a lot of fraidulent/false/fictional/inauthentic/unsubstantiated material taken seriously. This video is an example.
No, there is no reason to believe the American Revolution started at your battle.
Boston massacre march 1770
Wonderful video
While scallop diving the waters around this fort, I found a cannonball buried about 75% I tried digging it up but was having difficulties as we were losing slack tide to a raging out going tide. I had to surface without my bounty. Just think, that cannonball could have been one of those vollies during this siege.
Yes! I taught this in my US history classes for years! Full disclosure…I live and taught for my entire career in New Hampshire. 😁And we had the Pine Tree Riot a year before the Boston Tea Party. Massachusetts just had better PR. (As an aside if anyone was surprised to learn that Paul Revere's first ride was to Portsmouth not Lexington, I highly recommend David Hackett Fisher's "Paul Revere's Ride." It's a very readable and detailed biography of Revere.)
Fantastic documentary!!!!
A common revolutionary mistake is flying the Betsy Ross flag too early in time, we did not have it until 1777. Before that we had the Grand Union Flag, which was the regular red and white stripes with a Union Jack in the upper left hand corner. Nike made the same mistake with some 1776 tribute sneakers.
Shocked that Massachusetts would take credit for being first. 😂
Great job man! Keep up the good work. Going to dive into more of your videos
Well done!
george washington WAS NOT THE FIRST PRESIDENT…. john hanson was look that up.
Great informational video thanks
Excellent!
When discussing what happened to the major player after the war it sounded like you said John Landon twice instead of John Landon and John Sullivan.
at 4:25 that pov is from the south looking at the 'fort' with the lighthouse in the distance. Also the stone embarkment and lighthouse (1771) are near replicas of "nelsons shipyard ' in Antigua.. which i immediately noticed my first visit there when i was a teen. it made sense.. british Navy was both places at this time.
12:45 the guys from portsmouth like rode the tide in gundalows.. only about a mile out to the fort. Any from rye were no more than 3 miles so rowed or sailed.
Not at all noted, but true..and seen in te background of scenes is the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard the first in the nation, still going strond but also actually located totally across from the fort in kittery maine! Maybe a seperate vid coming on this?? John Paul Jones! the RANGER!!
Not a single Steely Dan reference? C’mon man. 😂
THANK YOU! We don’t get the credit we deserve!
Absolutely excellent video, I just wish more people were aware of our own history instead of believing the people with their own agenda!!! Thx and keep it up 🇺🇲1770🇺🇲 ?
Wrong data, the battle point. Pleasant West Virginia was the first battle, October 10th 1770. Your facts and history straight and don't teach our children wrong history, please.
October 10th 1774 was the first battle of American Revolutionary War.
Everyone in NH should watch this. Happy that I did. Great job 👍🏻
Well done. Pinning an exact date of the beginning of the American Revolution is hard. However, it started well before 4/19/1775. Where did ask the weapons come from that were hidden in Concord? Clearly the Patriots were at work in places in addition to Ft William and Mary all before 4/19. Great job.
You have the right colony (NH) but the rebellion started with the Pine Tree Riot in 1772.
It's no wonder that the men (Molly Stark too) of New Hampshire were a formidable force to be reckoned with! Just look at the resilience of the "One-legged Drummer" marching in an impending snow storm @12:02! Wow that's one tough guy!
Excellent video…the only shame is that I never heard about this while learning state history. Thank you for correcting that egregious error!
The real start was a bunch of dudes talking shit about the king in philly bars.
Nicely done and accurate. Only one redress: Revere started his ride from Boston on the 12th according to a W. Torrey deposition, which meant a cold all-nighter and arguably his toughest. He didn't just ride on the 13th. [MG, author of, "Shots Not Heard Round the World."]
nice to know you yanks finally caught up with us brits 😆 Joking aside – "great job" – you have a new subscriber
The powder that went to Durham was moved to my farm and then carried by oxcart to Medford by Captain John DeMerritt prior to the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Very well done. This must have taken a lot of research and documentation. Thank you all for your efforts. "Live Free or Die"
Worcester Revolution of 1774, was a confrontation between American militiamen and the British colonial authorities in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 6, 1774, during the American Revolution.[1]
excellent presentation
I want to say that he's my 8th great grandfather , the Rev Robert Jordan , he's buried somewhere near Fort Constitution at Newcastle , there's a plaque there with his name on it
I have never heard of this. Thanks for the excellent presentation.
Great job on the research. As a Massachusetts native I have to disagree with your sentiments. Firstly the NH constitution of 1776 was never presented to the people for ratification and as such not the first state constitution. The NH state gov website even lists its first constitution as enacted in 1783. Massachusetts ratified its constitution in 1780 and has one of the oldest active constitutions in the world. Second there were many instances of raids for gunpowder throughout New England at this time the difference being the Lexington/ Concord raid led to actual long term engagement between the Colonials and the British. It was seen as important enough to send Washington north to command the thousands of gathered militia.
Why do you think NH doesn't get the credit it deserves when it comes to it's very early role in the revolution but also leading the way to declaring independence?
To have a good fire you have to have good KINDLING. Fort William & Mary was part of that kindling. Boston & Concord was the FIRE/flame.
Nice video! I knew that Paul Revere road to warn New Hampshire and that the men of New Hampshire took the fort and removed its contents.
But, I would not agree that the taking of Fort William and Mary was the start of The Revolutionary War. I would say that Lexington was the start of the war, mostly because nothing like a war took place in the time between the raid on this fort and Lexington.
"Live Free or Die. Death is not the worst of evils."
Nice history but not really the first battle of the revolution