Extract from a Deposition [statement made by order of the Governor] by John Cochran concerning the attack on Fort William and Mary in New Castle, New Hampshire, 29 December 1774. Catalogue ref: CO 5/939 f.64
Captain John Cochran was assigned to the fort in 1771 and was originally from Londonderry. He was a Loyalist and defended the fort when attacked.
In 1774, the British Parliament passed four acts, which became known as the ‘Intolerable’ or ‘Coercive’ Acts. These closed Boston’s Port, dissolved the Massachusetts Assembly, moved trials in Massachusetts to Britain, and made provisions for British soldiers stationed on the continent. In response to these acts, colonists across America came together in a series of Continental Congresses to discuss how best to act next.
Transcript
Farley great Numbers assembled Every Side the fort and in an Instant the signal was given for storming. Whereupon I ordered the Men to fire. They instantly discharged the cannon & small Arms, but the Soldiers being in too much Haste, they had no Effect, there were upwards of five hundred Men to my best judgement scaled the Walls instantly & Others still coming forward, it became impossible to withstand such a Multitude. I placed myself against the wall and was preyed upon, but kept them off for a considerable Time with my firelock [musket] and bayonet while some more of them overpowered the soldiers and disarmed them; At last Thomas Pickering of Portsmouth, Mariner jumped from the wall on my shoulders and seized me by the throat calling me his prisoner, upon which disengaging Myself I knocked him down, but falling with him Myself. The Multitude seized upon Me, disarmed and made Me Prisoner, whereupon they gave three Huzzar or cheers and hauled down the King’s colours- then one man whom I did not know demanded the Keys of the Prisoner house, I replied they might well as ask for my Life for I would as soon part with the One as the other. I was then hurried into the House and a Guard was kept upon Me for about an hour and a half, the men that guarded me were – John Langdon, George Turner, Pierse Long, Benjamin Mackay, Robert Parker, Daniel Jackson, Richard Champney, John Dennet, all of Portsmouth, and some More I did not know. During my confinement this Guard, the Powder Magazine was broke open and about one hundred Barrels of Powder were carried away leaving only the barrel behind After which they released Me from my confinement, telling me I was at Liberty. I designed to go & take care of the Powder they had left, And they all immediately dispersed, the Deponent also testifies that besides the names already mentioned, he also knew among the multitude at the Castle at that time of taking away the Powder, Nathaniel Dennet, Stephen Mead, Andrew Clark, Mariner, WiIliam Furnell, George Dame, John Palmer, Thomas Pillon & Joseph Ayres, Shoemaker, John Turnald Coppersmith, Benjamin Chadbourn, blacksmith, John Billingham Senior, all of Portsmouth and Stephen Chase of Newcastle, And further saith not.
29th December 1774
John Cochran
- Why did Captain John Cochran make this statement do you think?
- Why do you think Fort William in New Hampshire was attacked?
- Why was its capture significant?
- What does the source infer about colonial attitudes towards British rule?
- How does this source contribute to our understanding of the American Revolution?