Gunpowder From New Orleans

Fortress In Louisiana

A plan to secure gunpowder from New Orleans was conceived by Captain George Gibson of the Virginia line. Bearer of the letter from General Lee, Captain Gibson accompanied by Lieutenant William Linn and fifteen other men in the guise of traders set out from Fort Pitt July 19, 1776.

Arriving at New Orleans, their letter was entrusted to Oliver Pollock, who, acting as the agent of Virginia, succeeded in concealing their identity from the numerous British spies. To no other man could this mission have been entrusted with greater promise of success. As a trader in Havana for five years, he had become proficient in the use of Spanish and won the friendship of the leading officials, among them Don Alexander O'Reilly, governor general of Cuba. [Source]