New Hampshire andThe Revolutionary War

1774 – 1781

EuropeanColonization

During much of the 1600s and 1700s, European countries struggled to control North America.

The thirteen original colonies were part of the British Empire.

England and France at Odds

After fighting costly wars with the French in both Europe and America, the British finally emerged victorious.

In this engraving, an Englishman offers a Bible and a bolt of cloth; a Frenchman offers a tomahawk and a purse of money—both competing to win the friendship of a Native American.

England and America at Odds

Once they were secure from French and Indian raids, Americans no longer felt as dependent on their mother country…

…and they resented the new taxes that England imposed on them to help pay for the costs of the wars.

Patriotic Homespun

English laws also restricted American manufacturing and required colonists to buy goods from Britain or other British colonies.

Some resentful patriots refused to buy imported goods, wearing only homespun, like the family shown here.

American Grievances: An Example

The American colonies were not allowed to make their own paper—

even though cotton and flax, the raw materials from which paper was made, were available in America.

Instead…

American cotton was first shipped to England to be made into paper.

Paper could then be shipped back for sale in America.

Adding Insult to Injury…

This process

made paper

very expensive

for the colonists.

…Parliament made matters even worse.

It imposed a TAX on Americans for anything that used paper.

Loyalists

Not everyone was unhappy with England.

Wealthy merchants, like John Moffatt of Portsmouth, prospered.

A friend of the royal governor, Moffatt owned stores for outfitting ships and making sails. He also owned trading sloops.

Patriots

Increasingly, however, patriots called for action in their meetings…

…And took action in the streets.

Here, a mob of patriots punishes a tax official by forcing him to drink a large pot of tea to the “health of the King of England and his children.”

By the 1770s, New Hampshire people were divided…

…1/3 were loyalists, who were content to remain part of Britain…

…1/3 were firm patriots, who wanted independence from Britain…

…and 1/3 were non-committal.

Paul Revere’s WarningTensions mounted as both sides prepared for a likely war.

In December, 1774, Paul Revere rode to warn New Hampshire people that the British were coming to protect military stores at Fort William and Mary in New Castle.

This occurred five months before the more famous ride of Paul Revere that signaled the beginning of the war.

The Fort William and Mary Raid

“Sons of Liberty” raided Fort William and Mary and captured fifteen cannon and more than five tons of gunpowder.

They hid the arms and stores in the nearby countryside.

A day later, British warships appeared in Portsmouth Harbor—just as Paul Revere had warned.

A New Hampshire Patriot

John Sullivan of Durham led the “Sons of Liberty” in the raid on Fort William and Mary.

Later, he served in the War for Independence as a major general.

The Last Royal Governor

John Wentworth, a native of New Hampshire, was the last of the province’s royal governors.

Wentworth remained a loyalist and was forced to flee the province.

He would never return.

Portsmouth in Danger

Portsmouth, the provincial capital, was New Hampshire’s major seaport and center of trade.

But because of its location and importance, the port was under threat from British warships once the Revolution began.

Portsmouth in Danger

To protect its revolutionary government, colonists moved the capital a few miles inland to Exeter.

A One-time Hero

Robert Rogers achieved fame as an Indian fighter during the French and Indian War. He created a unit known as Rogers’ Rangers…

— but Major Rogers sided with the British during the Revolution.

A Hero for the Time

One of the Rangers had been a young John Stark, who learned from Robert Rogers as a young man.

Fortunately for America, this former Ranger was a patriot…

And his experiences prepared him for important roles at the Battles of Bunker Hill and Bennington.

The Battle of Bunker HillThe British ultimately won this early battle (actually fought on Breed’s Hill), but only because the colonists ran out of ammunition.

To patriots, the outcome wasa victory because the British paid dearly.

They lost over 1,000 men to death and injury while Americans lost fewer than 400.

The Battle of Bennington

General Stark’s decisive victory over Hessians—Germans fighting for the British—is considered a turning point in the war.

Not only did the victory improve American morale, but also it saved important American supplies at Bennington.

Souvenirs of Battle

Recognizing that his victory at Bennington was important, John Stark retrieved these Hessian items from the field after the battle and brought them back to New Hampshire.

They are now part of the museum’s New Hampshire through Many Eyes exhibit.

The Woman Behind John Stark

John Stark’s wife Elizabeth—better known as Molly—acted as both doctor and nurse to her husband’s soldiers throughout the Revolutionary War.

General Stark immortalized Molly when he urged his troops at Bennington:

“Boys, yonder are the Red Coats. Before night they are ours or Molly Stark sleeps a widow.”

The Molly Stark Trail

John Stark called his path to Bennington the “Molly Stark Trail.” Today, that path is Vermont’s State Route 9.

And the main part, from Brattleboro to Bennington, is still called the “Molly Stark Trail.”

Cornwallis Surrenders

Officially, hostilities ended between England and America when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia.

It was October, 1781, almost seven years after New Hampshire patriots had raided Fort William and Mary.

New Hampshire’s ContributionNo battles were fought onNew Hampshire soil during the Revolutionary War…

…but New Hampshire men and women contributed greatly in the struggle for independence.

This marker for Jonathan Wheelock stands in Concord’s Old North Cemetery. It reveals that at Bunker Hill, the soldier could have been no more than 16 years old!

© 2008–2010 Christopher MacLeod for the New Hampshire Historical Society