and exertion of my influence will be made with the honorable Continental Congress, that your island may not only be supplied with provisions, but experience every other mark of affection and friendship, which the grateful citizens of a free country can bestow on its brethren and benefactors.  I am, Gentlemen,

    With much esteem,
    Your humble servant,

  [Illustration:  Signature G Washington]

Captain Whipple had scarcely sailed from Providence before an account appeared in the newspapers of one hundred barrels of powder having been taken from Bermuda by a vessel supposed to be from Philadelphia, and another from South Carolina.  This was the same powder that Captain Whipple had gone to procure.  General Washington and Governor Cooke were both of the opinion it was best to countermand his instructions.  The other armed vessel of Rhode Island was immediately dispatched in search of the Captain with orders to return.

But it was too late; he reached Bermuda and put in at the west end of the island.  The inhabitants were at first alarmed, supposing him to command a king’s armed vessel, and the women and children fled from that vicinity; but when he showed them his commission and instructions they treated him with much cordiality and friendship, and informed him that they had assisted in removing the powder, which was made known to General Gage, and he had sent a sloop of war to the island.  They professed themselves hearty friends to the American cause.  Captain Whipple being defeated in the object of his voyage returned to Providence.

Soon after the inhabitants of Bermuda petitioned Congress for relief, representing their great distress in consequence of being deprived of the supplies that usually came from the colonies.  In consideration of their being friendly to the cause of America, it was resolved by Congress that provisions in certain quantities might be exported to them.[A]

[Footnote A:  Journal of Congress, November 22, 1775.]

The powder procured from the Bermudians led to the first great victory gained by Washington in the Revolutionary war, the evacuation of Boston by the British army.  After the arrival of the powder Washington caused numerous batteries to be erected in the immediate vicinity of the town.  On the night of March 4, 1776, Dorchester Heights were taken possession of and works erected there, which commanded Boston, and the British Fleet lying at anchor in the harbor.  This caused the town to be evacuated, and General Howe with his army and about one thousand loyalists went aboard of the fleet and sailed for Halifax, March 17, 1776.

Nothing could exceed the indignation of Governor Bruere when he received intelligence of the plundering of the magazine; he promptly called upon the legislature to take active measures for bringing the delinquents to justice.  No evidence could ever be obtained, and the whole transaction is still enveloped in mystery.  The Governor let no opportunity escape him to accuse the Bermudians of disloyality, and no doubt severe punishment would have been inflicted on the delinquents could they have been discovered.