On this day 250 years ago in James City County, Virginia, Carter Braxton rode the short distance to Doncastle’s Ordinary to meet with Patrick Henry. Braxton delivered to Henry a promissory note to pay for the gunpowder seized by Governor Dunmore. With their mission accomplished, the Hanover militia returned to their homes and Henry journeyed to Philadelphia to join the Second Continental Congress.

https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/events/virginias-response-to-the-powder-incident/; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=184136

Today May 4, 2025, Patrick Henry’s receipt of the promissory note for the gunpowder and the end of the Encampment at Doncastle’s Ordinary will be reenacted at the nearby New Kent Ordinary to commemorate the 250th anniversary of this event — https://www.newkent-va.us/DocumentCenter/View/8663/250th-anniversary-celebration?bidId=

On this day 250 years ago, George Washington and Richard Henry Lee departed Mount Vernon to ride to Philadelphia to join the Continental Congress. Washington and Lee took a ferry across the Potomac from Alexandria and lodged that night at Marlborough (today’s Upper Marlboro), Maryland.

Today, May 4, 2025, Mount Vernon will commemorate Washington’s departure from Mount Vernon, which he would not see again for more than six years.

Sources: “[Diary entry: 4 May 1775],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-03-02-0005-0010-0004. [Original source: The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 3, 1 January 1771–5 November 1781, ed. Donald Jackson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978, p. 327.]; https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/revolutionary-war/five-days-philadelphia; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34330; https://www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/calendar/events/revolutionary-war-weekend

On this day 250 years ago in Bennington, Vermont, the Green Mountain Boys commanded by Ethan Allen who were preparing to assault Fort Ticonderoga were reinforced by additional men from Vermont and 39 Massachusetts Militia commanded by Colonel James Easton of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Source: Tonsetic at 27.

And on this day 250 years ago, news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord had reached New Bern, Edenton and Chowan, North Carolina.

Source: Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride at 325.