Virginia Gazette. No. 480. Williamsburg, Virginia: John Pinkney, 20 July 1775. 4 pages, folio, disbound, 10 1/2 x 17 in. 

A fine early-Revolution newspaper featuring a satirical report on the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms.

The front page features a satirical account of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Written in verse and attributed to the British commander-in-chief General Thomas Gage (1718/9 - 1787). Gage was reviled by the Patriots due to his having implemented the Intolerable Acts, punished the colonists for the Boston Tea Party, and initiated the Battles of Lexington and Concord through his attempt to seize military stores of Patriot militias. 

The poem begins: "Whereas the rebels hereabout / are stubborn still, and still hold out; / Refusing yet to drink their tea, / In spite of parliament and me." The issue also included Gage's report on the Battle of Bunker Hill, which the editor describes as a "false and audacious account of the late battle near Boston."

While the British technically won the Battle of Bunker Hill, the victory was ultimately a pyrrhic one due to their huge casualty toll. As a result, Gage was replaced by General William Howe in October 1775. 

Also of note is an article titled, "A Declaration by the Representatives of the united colonies of North America, now met in General Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of their Taking Up Arms". The Declaration, penned by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 6 July 1775 and explains why the thirteen colonies had taken up arms in what would become the Revolutionary War. 

The last page includes several advertisements for runaways, including apprentices, indentured convict servants (two specified as Irish), and enslaved individuals. Josiah Hall offered a reward of forty shillings for "a negro wench, named ROAD, about 28 years of age." And Thomas Carr offered five pounds for "a negro man, named Emmanuel, formerly the property of Colonel Philip Rootes." 

Remarkably, in the years 1775 and 1776, three competing newspapers were printed in Williamsburg all under the title The Virginia Gazette. This Gazette was first published by William Rind in 1766, then by his widow, Clementina Rind (1773-1774), before passing to their employee John Pinkney (1774-1776) after her death. A breakdown of the three papers, their proprietors, and digital copies of the issues is available through the Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library. 

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