The arrival of Paul Revere from Boston gave color to the rumor, and on the day following, armed men from the surrounding towns assembled in Portsmouth, and after effecting an organization and choosing their leaders, marched in broad daylight, to the number of four hundred, for Newcastle. On arriving at the fort the commander bade them to enter at their peril. No heed being paid to his words, one volley was fired from the three-pounders in position, but before the guns could be reloaded the walls were scaled and the fort captured at three o’clock P.M. on Dec. 14, 1774. The result was the possession of one hundred barrels of powder, sixty muskets, sixteen cannon, and other valuable stores. In his letter to General Gage informing him of the event, Governor Wentworth said, “The principal persons in this enormity are well known.” He mentioned no names, but a little over two years later Peter Livius, who was at the time of the capture, one of the Provincial Councillors, wrote thus to John Sullivan in June, 1777: “You were the first man in active rebellion, and drew with you the province you live in. You will be one of the first sacrifices to the resentment and justice of government; your family will be ruined and you must die with ignominy.” Belknap wrote that “Maj. John Sullivan and John Langdon distinguished themselves as leaders in this affair.” Adams, in his annals of Portsmouth, said it occurred “under the direction of Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John Langdon.” Sullivan himself said: “When I returned from Congress in 1774, and saw the order of the British king and council prohibiting military stores being sent to this country, I took alarm, clearly perceiving the designs of the British ministry, and wrote several pieces upon the necessity of securing military stores, which pieces were published in several papers.” Quint said: “Sullivan, bold and daring, then an active member of the Continental Congress, and well known throughout the province by his leadership at the bar, had great influence. The seizure of the munitions at the fort, though sudden at last, was doubtless not without previous thought. The result of this act was momentous. It was the first act of armed rebellion. It preceded Concord and Lexington by four months of time. The captors of the fort entered it against the fire of fieldpieces and muskets openly, and in daylight they pulled down the royal flag, the first time in American history. They gave three cheers in honor of their success. They carried off a hundred barrels of gunpowder, some light guns and small arms which, under the care of Sullivan, were taken up the river, which was at that time covered with thick ice, through which a channel had to be cut.”