obliged to submit, and at the appointed hour the garrisons at York and
Gloucester, the shipping in the harbor, and all the ammunition, stores,
&c., were surrendered, after a siege of thirteen days, to the land and
naval forces of America and France. The ceremony, on the occasion of the
surrender, was exceedingly imposing. The American army was drawn up on
the right side of the road leading from Yorktown to Hampton (see map),
and the French army on the left. Their lines extended more than a mile
in length. Washington, upon his white charger, was at the head of the
American column; and Rochambeau, upon a powerful bay horse, was at the
head of the French column. A vast concourse of people, equal in number,
according to eye-witnesses, to the military, was also assembled from the
surrounding country to participate in the joy of the event. Universal
silence prevailed as the vanquished troops slowly marched out of their
intrenchments, with their colors cased and their drums beating a British
tune, and passed between the columns of the combined armies. * All were
eager to look upon Cornwallis, the terror of the South, ** in the hour
of his adversity. They were disappointed; he had given himself up to
vexation and despair, and, feigning illness, he sent General O'Hara
with his sword, to lead the vanquished army to the field of humiliation.
Having arrived at the head of the line, General O'Hara advanced toward
Washington, and, taking off his hat, apologized for the absence of Earl
Cornwallis. The commander-in-chief pointed him to General Lincoln for
directions. It must have been a proud moment for Lincoln, for only the
year before he was obliged to make a humiliating surrender of his army
to British conquerors at Charleston. Lincoln conducted the royal troops
to the field selected for laying down their arms, and there General
O'Hara delivered to him the sword of Cornwallis; Lincoln received it,
and then politely handed it back to O'Hara, to be returned to the earl.
The delivery of the colors of the several regiments, twenty-eight in
number, was next performed. For this purpose, twenty-eight British
captains, each bearing a flag in a case, were drawn up in line. Opposite
to them, at a distance of six paces, twenty-eight American sergeants
were placed in line to receive the colors. Ensign Wilson of Clinton's
brigade, the youngest commissioned officer in the army (being then only
eighteen years of age), was appointed by Colonel Hamilton, the officer
of the day, to conduct this interesting ceremony. ***
* The Abbé Robin, chaplain to the French army, wrote an interesting
account of this siege and surrender. He says, "We were all surprised at
the good condition of the English troops, as well as their cleanliness
of dress. To account for their good appearance, Cornwallis had opened
all the stores (about to be surrendered) to the soldiers before the
capitulation took place. Each had on a complete new suit, but all
their finery seemed to humble them the more, when contrasted with the
miserable appearance of the Americans."--New Travels in North America in
the year 1781, and Campaigns of the Army of Count De Rochambeau.
** The conduct of Lord Cornwallis during his march of over fifteen
hundred miles through the Southern States was often disgraceful to the
British name. He suffered dwelling-houses to be plundered of every thing
that could be Carried off; and it was well known that his lordship's
table was furnished with plate thus obtained from private families. His
march was more frequently that of a marauder than an honorable general.
It is estimated that Virginia alone lost, during Cornwallis's attempt to
reduce it, thirty thousand slaves. It was also estimated, at the time,
from the best information that could be obtained, that, during the six
months previous to the surrender at Yorktown, the whole devastations of
his army amounted in value to about fifteen millions of dollars.
*** Robert Wilson, the honored ensign on this occasion, was a native
of New York. He had been early trained in the duties and hardships of
military life, by his maternal uncle, the famous Captain Gregg well
known in the history of the Mohawk Valley. One of his exploits I have
related on page 252, volume i. Young Wilson became attached to the army
at the age of twelve years. His commission as ensign (which I have seen)
is dated June ninth, 1781, four months previous to the surrender at
Yorktown. At the close of the war, he became a member of the Society of
the Cincinnati, and from his certificate I made the copy printed on
page 128. He settled in Central New York when it was a wilderness; was
magistrate many years; and for some time was postmaster at Manlius, in
Onondago county. He died in the year 1811, leaving a widow, who still
survives him, and four children, all of whom are now dead. The late
James Gregg Wilson, one of the proprietors of the Brother Jonathan
newspaper, was his last surviving child. The statement in the text
respecting his participation in the surrender of the colors at Yorktown
I received from his relatives, and have no reason to doubt its truth.
It is also corroborated by an eye-witness who lived to the age of
ninety-eight, and knew Wilson from his boyhood until his death.
* Considerable private property of the loyal citizens had been placed
on board the vessels for security during the siege. This was included in
the terms of the article. {525}
[Illustration: 0535]
[[[Laying down of Arras.--Loss of both Armies.--Washington's expressed
Approbation of Officers.--Disposition of Prisoners.]]]
{526}When Wilson gave the order for the British captains to advance two
paces, to deliver up their colors, and the American sergeants to advance
two paces to receive them, the former hesitated, and gave as a reason
that they were unwilling to surrender their flags to noncommissioned
officers. Hamilton, who was at a distance, observed this hesitation, and
rode up to inquire the cause. On being informed, he willingly spared the
feelings of the British captains, and ordered Ensign Wilson to receive
them himself, and hand them to the American sergeants. This scene is
depicted in the engraving.
When the colors were surrendered, the whole royal army laid down their
arms. It was an exceedingly humiliating task for the captives, for they
had been for months enjoying victories under their able commander, and
had learned to look upon the _rebels_ with profound contempt. * After
grounding their arms and laying off their accoutrements, they were
conducted back to their lines, and guarded by a sufficient force until
they commenced their march for permanent quarters in the interior of
Virginia and Maryland. **
The loss of the British on this occasion was one hundred and fifty-six
killed, three hundred and twenty-six wounded, and seventy missing. The
whole number surrendered by capitulation was a little more than seven
thousand, *** according to the most reliable authorities, making the
total loss between seventy-five and seventy-eight hundred. The combined
army employed in the siege consisted of about seven thousand regular
American troops, more than five thousand French, and four thousand
militia; a total of over sixteen thousand men. Their loss during
the siege, of killed and wounded, was only about three hundred. The
artillery, and military stores and provisions surrendered, were very
considerable. There were seventy-five brass, and one hundred and sixty
iron cannons; seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-four muskets;
twenty-eight regimental standards (ten of them English, and eighteen
German); a large quantity of cannon and musket-balls, bombs, carriages,
&c., &c. The military chest contained nearly eleven thousand dollars in
specie. ****
On the day succeeding the surrender,[[Oct 20, 1781]] Washington, in
general orders, expressed his great approbation of the conduct of both
armies. Among the generals whom the commander-in-chief particularly
named were Count De Rochambeau, Du Portail, and other distinguished
French officers; and Generals Lincoln, Knox, La Fayette, and Steuben,
of the American army. (v) He also spoke warmly of Governor Nelson, and
expressed his gratitude to him for his essential aid. Joy pervaded all
hearts, and that there might be none
* Dr. Thatcher, who was present, says that he saw many of the soldiers,
with sullen countenances, throw down their guns on the pile with
violence, as if determined to render them unfit for further service. By
order of General Lincoln, this conduct was checked, and they were made
to lay them down in an orderly manner.
** The British prisoners were marched, some to Winchester, in Virginia,
and some to Fort Frederick, and Fredericktown, in Maryland. The latter
portion were guarded by militia, commanded by General Philip Van
Cortlandt, and many serious quarrels between them and their custodians
occurred. They were finally removed to Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, and
guarded by Continental troops. Cornwallis and other British officers
went by sea to New York on parole. Arrangements were finally made for
the exchange of most of them.
*** An estimate made soon after the surrender, made the total loss of
the British eleven thousand eight hundred. In that estimate was included
two thousand sailors, one thousand eight hundred negroes, and one
thousand five hundred Tories.
**** Ramsay, Gordon, Marshall, Stedman, Robin, Thacher, Botta, Sparks.
* (v) Brigadiers Du Portail and Knox were each promoted to the rank of
major general; and Colonel Govion, and Captain Rochefontain, of the
corps of engineers, were each advanced a grade, by brevet.
[[[A Jubilee for Prisoners.--Intelligence of the Surrender at
Philadelphia.--Proceedings of Congress.--Rochambeau.]]]
{527}excluded from a participation in the general thanksgiving, the
commander-in-chief ordered that all those who were under arrest or
confinement should be immediately set at liberty and as the next day
was the Sabbath, he closed his orders by directing divine service to be
performed in the several brigades on the morrow.
The surrender of Cornwallis with so large a portion of the British army
in America secured the Independence of the United States.
[Illustration: 9537]
The strong arm of military oppression, moved by governmental power,
was paralyzed, and the king and his ministers, from the hour when
intelligence of the event reached them, abandoned all hopes of subduing
the rebellion and preserving the integrity of the realm. The blow of
disseverance had fallen; war could no longer subserve a useful purpose;
humanity and sound policy counseled peace. Great was the exultation and
joy of the Americans as the intelligence went from lip to lip throughout
the confederation. Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman, one of Washington's
aids-de-camp, rode express to Philadelphia to carry the dispatches of
the chief announcing the joyful tidings to Congress. It was midnight
when he entered the city.[[Oct. 23, 1781]] Thomas M'Kean was then
president of the Continental Congress, and resided in High Street, near
Second. Tilghman knocked at his door so vehemently, that a watchman was
disposed to arrest him as a disturber of the peace. M'Kean arose, and
presently the glad tidings were made known. The watchmen throughout
the city proclaimed the hour, adding "_and Cornwallis is taken!_" That
annunciation, ringing out upon the frosty night air, aroused thousands
from their beds. Lights were seen moving in almost every house; and
soon the streets were thronged with men and women all eager to hear the
details. It was a night of great joy in Philadelphia, for the people had
anxiously awaited intelligence from Yorktown. The old State House hell
rang out its notes of gladness, and the first blush of morning was
greeted with the booming of cannons.
Congress assembled at an early hour, and the grave orators of that
august body could hardly repress huzzas while Secretary Thompson read
the letter from Washington announcing the capitulation of Cornwallis. On
motion of Edmund Randolph, Congress resolved to go in procession at two
o'clock the same day[[Oct 24]] to the Dutch Lutheran Church, "and return
thanks to Almighty God for crowning the allied armies of the United
States and France with success." A committee was appointed, *** to whom
were referred the letters of Washington, and who were instructed to
report resolutions of thanks to the armies and their officers, and
to recommend appropriate honors.4 The committee reported on the
twenty-ninth, and Congress resolved that their thanks should be
presented to Washington, Rochambeau, and De Grasse, and the officers and
soldiers under their respective commands; that a marble column should be
erected at Yorktown in commemoration of the
* Thatcher, 281.
** Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, the Count De Rochambeau, was born
at Vendôme in 1725, and entered the army at the age of sixteen years. In
1746 he became aid-de-camp to Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, and was
afterward appointed to the command of the regiment of La Marche. He was
wounded at the battle of Lafeldt, where he distinguished himself. He
fought bravely at Creveldt, Minden, Corbach, and Clostercamp. He was
made lieutenant general in 1779, and in 1780 came to America with a
strong force. After assisting in the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown,
and remaining several months in America, he returned to France, and
was raised to the rank of field-marshal by Louis XVI. During the French
Revolution, he was appointed to the command of the army of the North. He
was superseded, and suffered the persecutions of calumny, but a decree
of approbation was passed in 1792. He then retired to his estate near
Vendôme. Under the tyranny of Robespierre, he was arrested, and narrowly
escaped death. In 1803 Bonaparte granted him a pension, and the cross
of grand officer of the Legion of Honor. He died in 1807, at the age of
sixty-one. His Memoirs were published in 1809.
*** The committee consisted of Edmund Randolph, Elias Boudinot, Joseph
Varnum, and Charles Carroll.
**** Journals of Congress, vii., 162. Awards of Congress to Officers.
General Rejoicings. Proceedings in Parliament. Lord North's Agitation.
{528}event; * that two stands of colors taken from Cornwallis should
be presented to Washington in the name of the United States; that two
pieces of the field ordnance captured at York should be presented to
each of the French commanders, Rochambeau and De Grasse; and that the
Board of War should present to Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman, in the
name of the United States, a horse properly caparisoned, and an elegant
sword.
{528}
[Illustration: 9538]
Congress also issued a proclamation appointing the thirteenth day
of December for a general thanksgiving and prayer throughout the
confederacy, on account of this signal mark of Divine favor. Legislative
bodies, executive councils, city corporations, and many private
societies, presented congratulatory addresses to the commanding generals
and their officers; and from almost every pulpit in the land arose
the voice of thanksgiving and praise, accompanied the alleluiahs of
thousands of worshipers at the altar of the Lord of Hosts.
The king and his ministers were sorely perplexed when the intelligence
reached them. *** Parliament assembled on the twenty-seventh of
November; its first business was a consideration of the news of the
disasters in America, which reached ministers officially on Sunday, the
twenty-fifth.[[ Nov. 1781]] Violent debates ensued, and Fox even went
so far as to intimate that Lord North was in the pay of the French. The
minister indignantly repelled the insinuation, and justified the war on
the ground of its justice, and the proper maintenance of British rights.
Upon this point he was violently assailed by Burke, who exclaimed, "Good
God! are we yet to be told of the rights for which we went to war! Oh,
excellent rights! Oh, valuable rights! Valuable you should be, for we
have paid dear at parting with you. Oh, valuable rights! that have cost
Britain thirteen provinces, four islands, **** one hundred thousand
men, and more than seventy millions [three hundred and fifty millions
of dollars] of money!" The younger Pitt distinguished himself in this
debate, and was a powerful aid to the opposition. On the thirtieth of
November, that party proposed the bold measure (last adopted during the
Revolution of 1688) of not granting supplies until the ministers should
give a pledge to the people that the war in America should cease.
This motion, however, was lost by a vote of nearly two to one. Several
conflicting propositions were made by both parties, but without any
definite result,
* The marble for this column, like many other monuments ordered by the
Continental Congress, is yet in the quarry. It was proposed to have it
"ornamented with emblems of the alliance between the United States and
his most Christian majesty, and inscribed with a succinct narrative of
the surrender of Earl Cornwallis," to Washington, Rochambeau, and De
Grasse.--Journals, vii., 166.
** This is a representation of one of the flags surrendered at Yorktown,
and presented to Washington. I made this sketch of the flag itself, then
in the Museum at Alexandria, in Virginia. It belonged to the seventh
regiment. The size of the flag is six feet long, and five feet four
inches wide. The ground is blue; the central stripe of the cross red;
the marginal ones white. In the center is a crown, and beneath it a
garter with its inscription, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," inclosing a
full-blown rose. These are neatly embroidered with silk. The fabric of
the flag is heavy twilled silk.
*** Sir N. W. Wraxall, in his Historical Memoirs of his Own Times (page
246), has left an interesting record of the effect of the news of the
surrender of Cornwallis upon the minds of Lord North and the king.
The intelligence reached the cabinet on Sunday, the twenty-fifth of
November, at noon. Wraxall asked Lord George Germain how North "took the
communication?" "As he would have taken a cannon-ball in his breast,"
replied Lord George; "for he opened his arms, exclaiming wildly, as he
paced up and down the apartment during a few minutes, 'Oh! God, it is
all over!' words which he repeated many times, under emotions of the
deepest consternation and distress." Lord George Germain sent off a
dispatch to the king, who was then at Kew. The king wrote a calm letter
in reply, but it was remarked, as evidence of unusual emotion, that he
had omitted to mark the hour and minute of his writing, which he was
always accustomed to do with scrupulous precision. Yet the handwriting
evinced composure of mind.
**** He referred to disasters in the West Indies, and the loss of
Minorca in the Mediterranean.
[[[Designs upon Southern British Ports.--St. Clair's
Success.--Washington's Journey to Philadelphia.--Localities at
Yorktown.]]]
{529}and on the twentieth of December, Parliament adjourned to the
twenty-first of January.[[1782]]
Although the British power in America was subdued, it still had
vitality. The enemy yet held important posts in the Southern States,
and Washington resolved to profit by the advantage he now possessed, by
capturing or dispersing the royal garrisons at Wilmington, Charleston,
and Savannah. For this purpose, he solicited the aid of Count De Grasse
in an expedition against Charleston. He repaired on board the _Ville de
Paris_, and held a personal conference with the admiral. To the urgent
solicitations of Washington, De Grasse replied that "the orders of
his court, ulterior projects, and his engagement with the Spaniards,
rendered it impossible for him to remain on the coast during the time
which would be required for the operation." He also declined conveying
troops to the South for re-enforcing General Greene, but he consented to
remain a few days in Chesapeake Bay, to cover the transportation of the
Eastern troops and of the ordnance, to the head of Elk. These, under the
command of General Lincoln, were embarked on the second of November,
and from the head of Elk proceeded by land to winter quarters in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and on the Hudson River. On the fourth, St.
Simon embarked his troops, and on that day the French fleet sailed out
of the Chesapeake for the West Indies. Before it sailed, Washington
presented Count De Grasse with two beautiful horses, as a token of his
personal esteem.
The French army remained in Virginia (Rochambeau having his
head-quarters at Williamsburg), ready to co-operate with the Americans
North or South. There they remained until the next summer,[[1782]] when
they joined the Continental army on the Hudson. * They proceeded to New
England in the autumn, and early in December embarked at Boston for
the West Indies. General St. Clair, with a body of troops, was sent to
reenforce General Greene at the South. He was directed to march by the
way of Wilmington, and dislodge the enemy there. This he effected,
and at the close of 1781 there was not a hostile foot except those of
resident Tories and prisoners of war, in all Virginia or North Carolina.
When Washington had completed all his arrangements, he left
Yorktown,[[Nov 5, 1781]] and hastened to Eltham, the seat of Colonel
Bassett, to the bedside of Mr. Custis, the only son of Mrs. Washington.
He arrived in time to see him die, and stayed there a few days to mingle
his grief with that of the afflicted widow. Mr. Custis was a member of
the Virginia Legislature, and was then only twenty-eight years of age.
** From Eltham, Washington proceeded to Philadelphia by way of Mount
Vernon, receiving and answering various public addresses on the way.
On the day after his arrival in Philadelphia,[[Nove 27]] he went to the
State House, and on being introduced into the hall of Congress by two
members, he was greeted by a congratulatory address by the president. He
remained some time in Philadelphia, and was regarded with reverence by
all classes.
We will here close the chronicle, visit the historical localities about
Yorktown, and then ride down to Hampton, near Old Point Comfort.
In company with Mr. Nelson, I rode to "Moore's House," where the
commissioners of the two armies met to agree upon terms of capitulation.
On our way we visited the site of the two redoubts (K and L, on the map)
captured respectively by the Americans and French. The visible lines of
the one assailed by the Freneh cross the road leading to Moore's house.
On each side of the way the embankments are quite prominent. The remains
of the other one, on the river bank, are noticed and delineated on
page 519. In the fields farther south, crossing the Hampton road, and
extending almost to the old Jamestown road along which the American
division of the allied armies approached Yorktown, might be seen a
ridge, the remains of the second parallel. In a southwesterly direction,
about a
* The order and discipline of the French army while on this march,
and the deputation of Quakers who met Rochambeau at Philadelphia, are
noticed on page 55.
** Mr. Custis left four infant children. Washington adopted the two
younger, a son and daughter. The son still survives; the respected
George Washington Parke Custis, Esq., of Arlington House, Virginia.
[[[Moore's House and its Associations.--Place of Surrender.--Governor
Nelson's House.--Departure for Hampton.]]]
{530}mile and a half distant, is the low ground where the armies rested
before making a disposition of their forces for attacking Cornwallis.
Moore's house is very pleasantly situated in the midst of a level lawn
within a quarter of a mile of the banks of the York.
[Illustration: 9540]
Although so late in the season,[[Dec 21. 1848]] it was surrounded with
green shrubbery, and from a bush near the piazza I plucked a full-blown
rose growing in the open air. I was shown the room in which it is
asserted the capitulation was signed by Cornwallis and his conquerors.
This, however, is a mistake. There is no evidence that the earl was
beyond his lines until he departed for New York on parole. He signed
the capitulation at his quarters in the town; and above the signature of
Washington and the French officers is written, "Done _in the trenches_
before Yorktown," &c. Moore's house is famous only as being the place
where the commissioners held their conference.
We next visited the places designated by tradition as the spot where
the British laid down their arms. In a field, not more than half a
mile southward of the British intrench-ments, three tulip poplars were
pointed out for many years as indices of the exact place of surrender.
The old trees are now gone, but three small ones supply their places.
This is on the east side of the Hampton road. In Trumbull's picture of
the _Surrender_, the house of Governor Nelson is seen. Trumbull visited
Yorktown for the purpose of sketching the ground, in 1791, and doubtless
had the true location pointed out to him. From the field where the tulip
poplars are, however, the house can not be seen, but from a large field
on the west side of the Hampton road, sloping in the direction of the
"Pigeon Quarter," and about a mile from the British lines (the distance
mentioned in history), the house may be plainly seen. It is the opinion
of Mr. Nelson and other intelligent gentlemen at Yorktown, that the
large field, noted as the spot on the map printed on page 518, is the
locality where the captive soldiers laid down their arms, and where the
_marble column_, ordered by Congress, should be erected.
From the field of humiliation we rode back to the village, and after
visiting the remains of the elegant dwelling of President Nelson, which
was situated near that of the governor, within the British lines, I
passed an hour in the venerated mansion of Governor Nelson, printed on
page 521. It was erected by the first emigrant Nelson ("Scotch Tom"),
and is of imported bricks. Among other relics of the past, I saw upon
the walls the mutilated portraits of President Nelson and his lady, the
parents of the governor. They were thus injured by the British when
they rifled his house at Hanover, whither he had taken his family and
furniture for security.
I left Yorktown at two o'clock for Hampton, twenty-four miles distant.
Charley was invigorated by rest and abundance of oats, and the road
being generally quite level, and in excellent condition, I was only
about four hours on the way. The country is an inclined plane sloping
toward the ocean, and quite thickly settled. The forests are chiefly of
pine,
* This is a view from the lawn, looking south. It is a frame building
with a brick foundation. At the time of the siege it belonged in fee to
Governor Nelson, but its occupant, a widow Moore, had a life interest in
it, and it was known as Moore's house. The narrow piazza in front is a
modern addition. This house is upon the Temple Farm, so called from the
fact that vestiges of a small temple or church, and the remains of an
ancient settlement, are there seen, about a mile and a half south
of Yorktown. Around the temple was a wall, and within are several
tomb-stones. One of these bear the name of Major William Gooch, and the
date of his death, 1655.
[[[Arrival at Hampton.--Old Point Comfort.--Early History.--Hampton
Roads.--Dunmore's Attack.]]]
{531}interspersed with oaks, chestnuts, tulip poplars, gums, sycamores,
and occasionally an elm. The green holly with its blazing berries, and
the equally verdant laurel, every where enliven the forest scenery. I
crossed two considerable swamps, and at twilight reached the margin of
a third, within a few miles of Hampton. The branches of the tall trees
interlaced above, and the amber light in the west, failed to penetrate
and mark the pathway. Suddenly the bland air was filled with chilling
vapors, which came rolling up from the sea on the wings of a southeast
wind, and I was enveloped in absolute darkness in the midst of the broad
morass. As at Occaquan, I gave Charley a loose rein, and relied upon his
instinct and better sight for safety. His faculties proved trustworthy,
and at six o'clock in the evening I was at comfortable lodgings close
by the beach, in the old town of Hampton, ninety-six miles southeast of
Richmond. *
Early the next morning I rode to old Point Comfort, ** two and a half
miles distant, notwithstanding heavy masses of clouds were yet rolling
in from the ocean, and a chilling mist enveloped every thing as with
a shroud. Old Point Comfort is a sandy promontory, which, with Point
Willoughby opposite, forms the mouth of the James River. It is a place
of public resort in summer as an agreeable watering-place. The fine
sandy beach affords delightful bathing grounds, and the cool breezes
from the ocean deprives summer of half of its fervor. The extremity of
the point, eighty acres in extent, is covered by Fort Monroe, *** one of
the most extensive fortifications in the United States. Within the
area of the fort are the officers' quarters, with neat flower-gardens
attached; and over the surface are scattered beautiful live-oaks,
isolated and in groves, which give the place a summer aspect, even in
mid-winter. Between Point Comfort and the opposite Cape the water is
shallow, except in a narrow channel through the bar. Here the ocean
tides and the river currents meet, and produce a continual ripple. From
this circumstance the name of _Rip Raps_ was given to the spot. In
the midst of these, nineteen hundred yards from Fort Monroe, is
the half-finished Fort Calhoun, or Castle of the Rip Raps. It was
ascertained, while building it, that the ground was unstable, and the
heavy masonry began to sink. Immense masses of loose stones have since
been piled upon it, to sink it as deep as it will go before completing
the walls. In this condition it now remains, and it is to be hoped that
not another hour will be employed upon it, except to carry away the
stones for the more useful and more noble purpose of erecting an
iron-foundery or a cotton-mill. Henceforth our fortresses, and other
paraphernalia of war, will have no other useful service to perform than
to illustrate the history of a less enlightened age.
Within the bar of the Rip Raps is the spacious harbor called the Hampton
Roads, wherein vast navies might ride with safety. Twice, hostile fleets
have cleft those waters. The first was in October, 1775, when Lord
Dunmore, driven by his fears, as we have seen, from Williamsburg,
gratified his desire for revenge by destroying the property of the
patriots. The people of Hampton anticipated an attack by the British
fleet, **** and applied to the Committee of Safety for assistance.
Colonel Woodford, with one hundred Culpepper men, was sent to protect
them; but before their arrival, Captain Squires, of the British navy,
sent by Dunmore with six tenders, appeared in Hampton Creek.[[Oct 24,
1775]] He commenced a furious cannonade, and under that cover sent
armed men in boats to burn the town. Virginia riflemen, concealed in
the houses, soon sent so many death-shots that the boats were obliged to
return. The tenders were compelled to recede beyond the reach of their
rifles,
* Hampton, in Elizabeth City county, is one of the oldest towns in
Virginia. Its site was visited by Captain John Smith in 1607, while
exploring the mouth of the James River. The natives called the place
Ke-cough-lan. The English commenced a settlement there in 1610, and in
1705 it was erected into a town bylaw.
** This point was Smith's first landing-place, and because he found good
anchorage, a hospitable reception, and various other comforts, he gave
it the name it now bears.
*** In 1630 a small fort was erected on Point Comfort; and it was there
that Count De Grasse caused some fortifications to be thrown up to
cover the landing of the troops under St. Simon previous to the siege of
Yorktown in 1781.
**** Dunmore's force consisted of the Fowey, Mercury, Kingfisher, and
Otter; two companies from a West India regiment, and a motley rabble of
negroes and Tories.
[[[Repulse of Dunmore.--St. John's Church.--Attack on Hampton in
1813.--Voyage to Norfolk.]]]
{532}and wait for re-enforcements. Woodford arrived at daybreak on the
twenty-fifth, and, momentarily expecting an attack from the enemy, he
immediately disposed his men for action. At sunrise the hostile fleet
bore in for the shore, and, laying with springs on her cables, commenced
a heavy cannonade upon the town, and greatly damaged many of the houses.
Woodford commanded his men to fire with caution and sure aim, the
vessels being within rifle shot. Men were picked off in every part of
the ships, and great terror soon prevailed in the fleet.
[Illustration: 9542]
The cannons were deserted, for every gunner became a target for the
sharpshooters. Unable to withstand such a destructive fire, the British
commander ordered the cables to be slipped and the vessels to retreat.
The latter movement was difficult, for men seen at the helm or aloft
adjusting the sails were singled out and shot down. Many of them
retreated to the holds of the vessels, and refused obedience to their
commanders when ordered out on the perilous duty. Two of the sloops
drifted ashore. Before the fleet could escape, the inhabitants of
the town, with Woodford's corps, sunk five vessels. The victory was
complete. *
Among the buildings yet remaining, which suffered from this cannonading,
is St. John's (Protestant Episcopal) Church, said to be the third
oldest house of worship in the state. The earliest inscription in its
grave-yard is 1701. Before the Revolution, the royal arms, handsomely
carved, were upon the steeple. It is related that soon after the
Declaration of Independence was promulgated, the steeple was shattered
by lightning, and the insignia of royalty hurled to the ground.
In 1813,[[June 25]] Hampton was attacked by Admiral Cookburn, with his
fleet, and by a force of two thousand men under General Beckwith, who
landed at Old Point Comfort. The garrison of the slight fortification at
Hampton consisted of four hundred and fifty militia. They were too weak
to defend themselves, and retired. The town was given up to pillage at
the hands of a renegade corps of French prisoners, who had been promised
such a gratification. For two days they desolated Hampton without
restraint. Private property was plundered or destroyed; the leading
citizens were grossly insulted and abused; females were violated; and in
one instance an aged sick man was murdered in the arms of his wife. ***
When filled to satiety, the vultures left Hampton Roads to seek for prey
elsewhere.
The easterly wind ceased at noon; the clouds dispersed, and the sun
shone out with all the brilliancy and fervor of early June, when I rode
back to Hampton from Old Point Comfort. At three o'clock a strong breeze
from the west brought back the masses of vapor which had been borne
toward the Blue Ridge all night. They came in heavy cumulous clouds, and
when, a little before five o'clock, I embarked upon a steam-packet for
Norfolk, eighteen miles distant, rain fell copiously. We entered the
Elizabeth River at dusk, and arrived at Norfolk a little past six
o'clock. ****
* Jones, p. 63-64. Howison, ii., 95.
** This view is from the church-yard looking southeast. The edifice is
cruciform, and built of imported brick. It is near the head of the town,
on the east side of the York road. In a field about a mile from Hampton
are four black marble tablets, with arms and inscriptions upon two of
them. One there, over the grave of Vice-admiral Neville, bears the date
of 1697; the other, over the remains of Thomas Carle, has the date of
1700 upon it.
*** Perkins's History of the Late War. These outrages, so dishonorable
to the British-character, are facts well attested by a committee of
Congress appointed to investigate the matter.
**** Norfolk is situated on the north bank of the Elizabeth River, at
the head of steam-boat navigation. It was established by law as a town
in 1705, formed into a borough in 1736, and incorporated a city by the
Virginia Legislature in 1845.
[[[St. Paul's Church and its Associations.--Ride to the Great
Bridge.--Description of the Locality.]]]
{533}The morning of the twenty-third[[Dec. 1848]]was cold and
blustering, like a late November day at the North. Before breakfast, I
called upon the sexton of old St. Paul's Church, procured the key of the
strong inclosure which surrounds it and the ancient burial-ground, and
in the keen frosty air made the annexed sketch.
[Illustration: 8543]
This venerable edifice is almost the only survivor of the conflagration
of the town on the first of January, 1776, an event which will be
noticed presently. The church is cruciform, and built of imported
bricks, the ends of which are glazed, and gives the edifice a checkered
appearance like that of Carpenters' Hall, and several other buildings
in Philadelphia. On the street front of the church, near the southwest
corner, is a large cavity made by a cannon-ball hurled from the British
shipping during the attack just alluded to. It is an honorable scar, and
has been allowed to remain for the gratification of the curious, and as
a mute relator of the malice of the foes to liberty.
[Illustration: 0543]
The short battlemented tower, built of wood, is a recent addition to the
church. Originally there was a small tower with a spire at each corner,
on the other end of the main building. With these exceptions, the
exterior is the same as when Norfolk was destroyed; its interior has
been entirely changed, and adorned with fresco painting. Over the
principal side entrance to the church, the date of its erection (1739)
is given in large figures formed by projecting bricks. I worshiped in
the old fane on the Sabbath, but confess to wandering thoughts, for the
associations of the place often closed the sensorium to the voice of
the preacher.
At eight o'clock I started for the Great Bridge, and the verge of the
Dismal Swamp. The country is level most of the way; and the road crosses
two considerable swamps between Norfolk and the Great Bridge, wherein
the dark-green gall-bush, loaded with fruit resembling whortleberries,
abounds. Great Bridge is the name for a comparatively insignificant
structure, unless the causeways connected with it may be included in the
term.
The Great Bridge proper is about forty yards in length, and spans
the south bank of the Elizabeth Diver, about nine miles from Norfolk.
Extensive marshes, filled and drained alternately with the flow of the
tide, spread out on each side of the river, making the whole breadth
of morass and stream, at this point, about half a mile wide. The Great
Bridge' extends across the main stream from two islands of firm earth,
which are covered with trees and shrubbery. Each of these islands
are connected with the main by a causeway and smaller bridges. On the
western side of the river is the small scattered village of Great
* This view is from the western bank of the stream, near the tide-mill,
looking north. On the left of the bridge are seen piles of wood
and lumber, the chief articles of trade there. The causeway is seen
extending on the right, to the island on the Norfolk side, whereon is
a wind-mill constructed several years ago by a man whose acumen was
certainly not remarkable. Placed in the midst of a morass and surrounded
by trees, its sails never revolved, and it remains a monument of
folly. It stands upon the site of the southern extremities of the
fortifications thrown up by Dnnmore, and serves the useful purpose of a
guide to the remains of those works.
[[[Dunmore at Norfolk.--Seizure of Holt's Printing-office.--Holt's
Career.--Preparations for Battle.]]]
{534}Bridge, not much larger now than it was at the period of the
Revolution. On the island at the western end of the bridge are two or
three houses and a tide-mill, and upon the one at the Norfolk side,
where Dunmore cast up intrenchments, is a wind-mill, seen on the extreme
left in the preceding picture. The marsh is covered with osiers, and
tall coarse grass; and the whole scene, though picturesque, is rather
dreary in aspect. Let us observe what history has chronicled respecting
the Great Bridge and vicinity.
We have already considered the flight of Dunmore from Williamsburg,
and his attempt to destroy Hampton, and have alluded to his raising the
royal standard at Norfolk, and proclaiming martial law throughout the
colony, and freedom to the slaves.
[Illustration: 8544]
He made Norfolk harbor the rendezvous for the British fleet, and
determined there to establish the headquarters of ministerial power in
the Old Dominion. Previous to making an effort to take possession of the
town, he sent a few soldiers and sailors ashore, under cover of the guns
of the ships, to carry off John Holt's printing establishment, which was
doing good service for the patriot cause. Holt, though a high churchman,
was an ardent and uncompromising Whig. This outrage was committed, and
two of Holt's workmen were taken away prisoners, without resistance from
the people. The Tories were numerous, and the Whigs were overawed. The
corporation of Norfolk sent a letter of remonstrance to Dunmore; it was
answered by insult. * This insult was followed by violence. Hampton
was attacked, and depredations were committed upon the shores of the
Elizabeth and James Rivers. Repelled with spirit, Dunmore resolved to
strike a blow of terror. With his motley force he penetrated Princess
Anne county, to plunder and lay waste. He was successful, and emboldened
thereby, declared open war. All Lower Virginia was aroused, and the
government directed its whole attention to the portion of the state thus
menaced. It was at this time that Dunmore's attempt to bring the
Indians upon the colonists was made known. The people burned with fierce
indignation. Colonel Woodford, who afterward became a brigadier general
in the Continental army, was sent with a detachment of minute-men into
Norfolk county, and the militia of that section were called to arms.
Adjutant Bullit accompanied him. Perceiving these preparations, Dunmore
became alarmed. He constructed batteries and intrenchments at Norfolk,
armed the blacks and Tories, and ordered the country people to send
their cattle to the city for his use, under penalties for disobedience.
* The municipal authorities informed Dunmore that they could easily have
prevented the removal of the type, but preferred a peaceable course,
and asked for the immediate return of the persons and property illegally
carried away. Dunmore replied that he had done the people of Norfolk
good service by depriving them of the means of having their minds
poisoned by rebellious doctrines, and intimated that cowardice alone
prevented their interfering when the types were carried to the fleet.
Holt went to Williamsburg, where he had formerly resided and held the
office of mayor, and published a severe article against Dunmore. He then
went to New York, where, ten years before, he had published the New York
Gazette and Post Boy, in company with James Parker, and established a
newspaper. When the British took possession of the city, he left it, and
published his journal at Esopus and Poughkeepsie. While at the former
place, he published Burgoyne's pompous proclamation, noticed on page
133, volume i.; and while at the latter, he sent forth to the world the
dreadful account of the Wyoming massacre, which he received from, the
flying fugitives. Holt died January thirtieth, 1784, aged sixty-four
years. His widow printed a memorial of him on cards, which she
distributed among their friends.*--See Thomas's History of Printing,
ii., 105.
* The folio win a is a copy of the memorial preserved in Alden's
Collection of American Epitaphs, i., 271: "A due tribute to the memory
of John Holt, printer to this state, a native of Virginia, who patiently
obeyed Death's awful summons, on the thirtieth of January, 1784, in
the sixty-fourth year of his age. To say that his family lament him,
is needless; that his friends bewail him, useless; that all regret him,
unnecessary; for that he merited every esteem, is certain. The tongue
of slander can not say less, though justice might say more. In token of
sincere affection, his disconsolate widow hath caused this memorial to
be erected."
[[[Fortifications at the Great Bridge.--Attack on the American
Redoubt.--Death of Capt. Fordyce.--Stratagem of Maj. Marshall.]]]
{535}Apprised of the movement of Woodford, and the point from whence he
might expect the approach of the Virginians, Dunmore resolved to fortify
the passage of the Elizabeth River at Great Bridge. His force consisting
of only about two hundred regulars, and a corps of Norfolk volunteer
Loyalists, he beat up for recruits among the negroes and the vilest
portion of society. He cast up breast-works upon the island, on the
Norfolk side of the Great Bridge, and furnished them amply with cannons.
This presented a serious obstacle to the Virginians, who could approach
the batteries only upon a narrow causeway. With a motley force of
regulars and volunteers, negroes and vagrants, in number about six
hundred, Dunmore garrisoned his fortress. The Virginians constructed a
small fortification, of semicircular form, near, the western end of the
causeway, the remains of which were yet quite visible when I visited
the spot.[[Dec. 1848]] From the breast-work a street ascended about four.
hundred yards to a church, where the main body of the patriots were
encamped.
On Saturday morning, the ninth of December,[[1775]] before daylight,
Dunmore, who remained at Norfolk, ordered Captains Leslie and Fordyce to
attack the redoubt of the patriots. He had been informed that they were
few in number, and weak in skill and experience; he, therefore, felt
certain of success. * When the Virginians had beaten the reveille,
Captain Fordyce, with about sixty grenadiers and a corps of regulars,
was ordered to the attack. After firing one or two cannons and some
musketry, he pressed forward, crossed the Great Bridge, burned the
houses and some shingles upon the island, on which the tide-mill now
stands, and made an attack upon the guards in the breast-work. The
fire of the enemy was returned, and the assailants were thrown into
confusion. Fordyce rallied them, and having brought two pieces of cannon
over the bridge, and placed them on the island in such a position as to
command the breast-work, led his men (about one hundred and twenty in
number) steadily across the causeway, keeping up a constant and heavy
fire as they approached Woodford's redoubt. Lieutenant Travis, who
commanded in the redoubt, ordered his men to reserve their fire until
the enemy came within fifty yards, and then, with sure aim, pour volley
after volley upon the assailants as rapidly as possible. Believing the
redoubt to be deserted, Fordyce waved his hat over his head, shouted
"The day is our own!" and rushed forward toward the breast-work. The
order of Lieutenant Travis was obeyed with terrible effect. His men,
about ninety in number, rose to their feet and discharged a full volley
upon the enemy. The gallant Captain Fordyce, who was marked by the
riflemen, fell, pierced by fourteen bullets, within fifteen steps of the
breast-works. His followers, greatly terrified, retreated in confusion
across the causeway, and were dreadfully galled in their rear.
Captain Leslie, ** who, with about two hundred and thirty negroes and
Tories, had remained upon the island at the west end of the bridge, now
rallied the regulars, and kept up the firing of the two field-pieces.
Colonel Woodford, with the main body of the Virginians, left the church
at the same time, and advanced to the relief of the garrison in the
intrench-ments. Upon his approaching line the field pieces played
incessantly, but the Virginians pressed steadily forward. Colonel
Stevens, *** of the Culpepper battalion, went round to the
* Thomas Marshall, father of the late chief justice, and also the
latter, then a lieutenant in the minute battalion, were among the
Virginians at the Great Bridge. Thomas Marshall was major at that time
He had a shrewd servant with him, whom he caused to desert to Dunmore,
after being instructed in his duty. He reported to his lordship that
there were not more than three hundred shirtmen (as the British called
the Virginian riflemen, who wore their hunting shirts) at the bridge.
This emboldened Dunmore, and he sent Captains Leslie and Fordyce at once
to attack the redoubt.
** This officer, the son of the Earl of Levin, was mortally wounded at
Princeton, on the second of January, 1777. See page 332, volume i.
*** Edward Stevens, who afterward became a brigadier, was a very
efficient officer. His epitaph upon a monument in his family
burial-ground, half a mile north of the Culpepper Court House, tells
briefly the events of his public life:
[Illustration: 9545]
*** "This gallant officer and upright man served his country with
reputation in the field and Senate of his native state. He took an
active part and had a principal share in the war of the Revolution, and
acquired great distinction at the battles of Great Bridge, Brandywine.
Germantown, Camden, Guilford, and the siege of York; and although
zealous in the cause of American freedom, his conduct was not marked
with the least degree of malevolence or party spirit. Those who honestly
differed with him in opinion he always treated with singular tenderness.
In strict integrity, honest patriotism, and immovable courage, he was
surpassed by none, and had few equals." He died on the seventeenth of
August, 1820, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
[[[Close of the Battle.--Terror of the Captives.--Norfolk entered by the
Americans.--Dunmore's Threat.]]]
{536}left, and flanked the enemy with so much vigor that a route ensued
and the battle ended. The enemy left their two field-pieees behind, but
took care to spike them with nails, and fled in confusion to their fort
on the Norfolk side. The battle lasted only about twenty-five minutes,
but was very severe. The number of the enemy slain is not precisely
known. Thirty-one killed and wounded fell into the hands of the
patriots, and many were carried away by their friends. Gordon says their
whole loss was sixty-two. They fought desperately, for they preferred
death to captivity, Dunmore having assured them that, if they were
caught alive, the savage Virginians would scalp them. * It is a
remarkable fact that not a single Virginian was killed during the
engagement, and only one man was slightly wounded in the hand,
notwithstanding the two field-pieces upon the island hurled
double-headed shot as far as the church, and cannonaded them with
grape-shot as they approached their redoubt. The wounded who fell into
the hands of the Virginians were treated with the greatest tenderness,
except the Tories, who were made to feel some of the rigors of war.
The repulse of the British at Great Bridge greatly exasperated Dunmore,
who had remained in safety at Norfolk; and in his rage he swore he would
hang the boy that brought the tidings. The motley forces of his lordship
were dispirited by the event, and the Loyalists refused further service
in arms unless they could act with regulars. The Virginians, on the
other hand, were in high spirits, and Colonel Woodford determined
to push forward and take possession of the city. He issued a pacific
proclamation to the people of Princess Anne and Norfolk counties, and
many of the inhabitants repaired to his camp. Those who had joined
Dunmore on compulsion, were treated kindly; those who volunteered their
services were each hand-cuffed to a negro fellow-soldier and placed in
confinement.
On the fourteenth,[[Dec. 1775]] five days after the battle at the
bridge, Woodford entered the city in triumph, and the next morning,
Colonel (afterward General) Robert Howe, with a North Carolina regiment,
joined them, and assumed the command of all the patriot forees. Dunmore,
in the mean while, had caused the intrenchments at Norfolk to be
abandoned, the twenty pieces of cannon to be spiked, and invited the
Loyalists and their families to take refuge with him in the ships of the
fleet. The poor negroes who had joined his standard were left without
care or protection, and many starved.
Distress soon prevailed in the ships; famine menaced them with its keen
fangs. Parties sent on shore to procure provisions from the neighboring
country were eut off', or greatly annoyed by the Virginians, and
supplies for the multitude of mouths became daily more precarious.
The ships were galled by a desultory fire from the houses, and their
position became intolerable. At this juncture the Liverpool frigate,
from Great Britain, came into the harbor, and gave boldness to Governor
Dunmore. By the captain of the Liverpool, he immediately sent a flag to
Colonel Howe, commanding him to cease firing upon the ships and supply
the fleet with provisions, otherwise he should bombard the town. The
patriots answered by a flat refusal, and the governor prepared to
execute his barbarous threat. On the morning of the thirty-first of
December,[[1775]] Dunmore gave notice of his design, in order that women
and children, and the Loyalists still remaining, might retire to a
place of safety. At four o'clock on the morning of the first of
January,[[1776]] the Liverpool, ** Dunmore, and two sloops of war,
opened a heavy cannonade upon the town,
* "The prisoners expected to be scalped," wrote a correspondent of the
Virginia Gazette, and cried out, "For God's sake, do not murder us /"
One of them, unable to walk, cried out in this manner to one of our men,
and was answered by him, "Put your arm around my neck, and I will show
what I intend to do." Then taking him, with his arm over his neck,
he walked slowly along, bearing him with great tenderness, to the
breast-work."--Virginia Gazette, December 14, 1775; Gordon, Ramsay,
Botta, Girardin, Howison.
** It was a shot from this vessel which struck the corner of St. Paul's
Church, referred to on a preceding page.
[[[Destruction of Norfolk.--Distress.--Disposition of the American
Troops.--Dunmore at Gwyn's Island.--General Lewis.]]]
{537}and parties of marines and sailors went on shore and set fire to
the warehouses. The wind was blowing' from the water, and the buildings
being chiefly of wood and filled with pitch and turpentine, the greater
part of the compact portion of the city was in flames before midnight.
The conflagration raged for fifty hours, and the wretched inhabitants,
Whigs and Tories, saw their property and homes licked up by the
consumer, and their heads made shelterless in the cold winter air,
without the power of staying the fury of the destroyer or saving the
necessaries of life. Not content with laying the town in ashes, the
petty Nero heightened the terror of the scene and the anguish of the
people by a cannonade from the ships during the conflagration. Parties
of musketeers, also, went to places where people were collected and
attacked them. Horror reigned supreme, and destitution in its worst
features there bore rule. Yet a kind Providence guarded the lives of the
smitten inhabitants; and during the three days of terror while the fire
raged, and cannon-balls were hurled into the town in abundance, not
one of the patriot troops were killed, and only three or four women and
children were slain in the streets. Seven persons were wounded. * The
invading parties were uniformly driven back to their ships with loss. In
these repulses the intrepid Stevens was conspicuous, and displayed all
the courage of a veteran soldier.
Colonel Stevens and his little band remained upon the site of Norfolk,
until February,[[1776]] when, having removed the families and appraised
the dwellings which remained, he caused them to be destroyed, that the
enemy might have no shelter. Thus the most flourishing town in Virginia
was made an utter desolation; ** but its eligible location insured its
phonix-like resurrection, and again, when peace returned, "beauty for
ashes" soon characterized the spot. Howe divided his troops; some were
stationed at Kemp's Landing, some at the Great Bridge, and others in
Suffolk, whither most of the fugitives from the city fled, and found
open-handed hospitality in the interior.
Dunmore's movements on the coast compelled the Virginians to exercise
the most active vigilance. After Howe abandoned the site of Norfolk,
the fugitive governor erected barracks there, but being prevented from
obtaining supplies from the neighboring country, he destroyed them,
sailed down the Elizabeth River, and after maneuvering for a while in
Hampton Roads,[[May, 1776]] he finally landed upon Gwyn's Island, in
Chesapeake Bay, on the east side of Matthew's county, near the mouth of
the Piankatank River. This island contains about two thousand acres, and
was remarkable for its fertility and beauty. Dunmore's force
consisted of about five hundred men, white and black. He cast up some
intrenchments, and built a stockade fort, with the evident intention of
making that his place of rendezvous while plundering and desolating the
plantations on the neighboring coast.
General Andrew Lewis, *** then in command of a brigade of Virginia
troops, was sent by the Committee of Safety to dislodge Dunmore. On
the eighth of July, he erected two batteries (one mounting two eighteen
pounders, and the other bearing lighter guns), nearly opposite the point
on the island where the enemy was encamped. The next morning,[[July 9,
1776]] at eight o'clock, Lewis gave the signal for attack, by applying a
match, himself, to
* Virginia Gazette, January, 1776. Burk, iii., 451. Howison, ii., 109.
** When Dunmore destroyed Norfolk, its population was six thousand, and
so rapidly was it increasing in business and wealth, that in the two
years from 1773 to 1775, the rents in the city increased from forty
thousand to fifty thousand dollars a year. The actual loss by the
cannonade and conflagration was estimated at fifteen hundred thousand
dollars; the personal suffering was inconceivable.
[Illustration: 9547]
*** Andrew Lewis was a native of Augusta county, in Virginia. With five
brothers, he was in the battle when Braddock was defeated, and continued
active during ihe war. He was a major in Washington's Virginia regiment,
and was highly esteemed by him for his courage and skill. He was the
commander, as already noticed on page 487, at the battle of Point
Pleasant, in 1774. When Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of
the Continental army, he recommended Lewis as one of the major generals,
but he was overlooked. He accepted the office of a brigadier general,
and commanded a detachment of the army stationed near Williamsburg. He
drove Dunmore from Gwyn's Island in 1776, and resigned his command on
account of illness in 1780. He died in Bedford county, forty miles from
his home, on the Roanoke, while on his way thither. General Lewis was
more than six feet in height, and possessed great personal dignity.
[[[Attack upon Dunmore.--His Flight.--Distress upon Gwyn's
Island.--Destruction of Properly by Collier and Matthews.]]]
an eighteen pounder. The ball passed through the hull of the Dunmore,
which was lying five hundred yards distant; a second shot cut her
boatswain in twain, and a third shivered one of her timbers, a splinter
from which struck Lord Dunmore, wounded his leg, and smashed his china.
Both batteries then opened upon the governor's fleet, camp, and works.
Terror now prevailed in the fleet, and confusion in the camp. Almost
every ship slipped its cables, and endeavored to escape. Dunmore's
batteries were silenced; the tents of his camp were knocked down, and
terrible breaches were made in his stockade. The assailants ceased
firing at nine o'clock, but no signal of surrender being given, it was
renewed at meridian.
Early on the following morning, having collected some small craft in the
neighborhood, Lewis ordered Colonel M'Clanahan, with two hundred men, to
cross to the island. The enemy evacuated before the Virginian's landed,
and fled to the ships, leaving their dead and many wounded behind them.
A horrible scene was there presented. Half-putrefied bodies lay in
almost uncovered shallow graves, and the dying, scattered in various
directions, were filling the air with their groans. The island was
dotted with graves, for the small-pox and fevers had raged with great
violence in the fleet and in the camp for some time. Some were burned
in the brush huts, which took fire; and others, abandoned to their fate,
had crawled to the sandy beach and were perishing. Only one man of the
assailants was killed; Captain Arundel, who was slain by the bursting
of a mortar of his own invention. The loss of the enemy could not be
ascertained, but it must have been considerable.
On leaving the island, Dunmore caused several of his vessels, which were
aground, to be burned, and with the remnants of his fleet he sailed
out of the Chesapeake, entered the Potomac, and, after plundering and
desolating several plantations on that river, above Aquia Creek, * he
returned to Lynn Haven Bay, where he dismissed some of the ships for
the Bermudas, some to the West Indies, and some to St. Augustine, with
booty, among which was almost a thousand slaves. He soon joined the
naval force in New York, and toward the close of the year sailed for
England. **
After the departure of Dunmore, the Virginia coast enjoyed comparative
quiet until 1779,[[May 9]]when a British fleet, under Admiral Sir George
Collier, entered Hampton Roads. He sailed up the Elizabeth River and
attacked Fort Nelson, which had been erected by the Virginians a little
below Portsmouth to secure that place, Norfolk, and the navy-yard at
Gosport from attack. The fort was garrisoned by about one hundred and
fifty men under Major Thomas Matthews, who, on the approach of Collier,
and General Matthews, who commanded the British land forces, abandoned
it, and retreated to the Dismal Swamp, leaving the American flag flying
from the ramparts. The British took possession of Portsmouth, Norfolk,
Gosport, and Suffolk, on the eleventh, all being abandoned by the
Virginians. Great quantities of stores, ammunition and cannons, fell
into the hands of the invaders. A large quantity of naval stores were
carried away; the residue, and a great quantity of tobacco, were burned
or otherwise destroyed. *** After pillaging Portsmouth and destroying
Suffolk, the fleet, with General Matthews and his land forces, went
to sea, returned to New York, and assisted Sir Henry Clinton in taking
possession of the fortresses on Stony and Verplanck's Points, on the
Hudson.
* Sec page 419.
** Dunmore never returned to the United States. He went to Europe,
and two years afterward was appointed governor of Bermuda. He was very
unpopular, and did not long remain there. He died in England in 1809.
His wife was Lady Charlotte Stewart, daughter of the Earl of Galloway.
*** The amount of property destroyed in this expedition up the Elizabeth
River was very great. Previous to the abandonment of Portsmouth and
Gosport, the Americans burned a ship-of-war of twenty-eight guns, then
on the stocks, and two heavily-laden French merchantmen. One of these
contained a thousand hogsheads of tobacco. Several vessels of war were
taken on the stocks, and also several merchantmen. The whole number
of vessels taken, burned, and destroyed amounted to one hundred and
thirty-seven. They were laden with tobacco, tar, and turpentine. Many
privateers were captured or destroyed. At Suffolk, nine thousand barrels
of salted pork, eight thousand barrels of tar, pitch, and turpentine,
and a vast quantity of stores and merchandise, were burned.
[[[Leslie's Expedition.--Deep Creek and Dismal Swamp.--Drummond's
Lake.--Moore's Poem.]]]
{539}Again, in 1780, hostile vessels were in the Elizabeth River.
Brigadier-general Leslie, with about three thousand troops from New
York, landed at Portsmouth,[[Oct.]] and took possession of every kind of
public property there and in the vicinity. Leslie was to co-operate with
Cornwallis, who proposed to enter Virginia from the south. He did not
remain long, for Cornwallis, hearing of the defeat of Ferguson at King's
Mountain, hastily retreated; and Leslie, on being advised of this, left
for Charleston,[[Nov. 22, 1780]] for the purpose (b) of joining the earl
in the Carolinas. Again, in 1781, hostile troops, under Arnold, were on
the shores of the Elizabeth. That expedition we will consider presently.
I left the Great Bridge at noon, and rode to Deep Creek, a small village
on the northern verge of the Dismal Swamp, nine miles distant. * There
the Dismal Swamp Canal terminates, and far into the gloomy recesses
this work opens an avenue for the vision. I ardently desired to go to
Drummond's Lake, lying in the center of the swamp, around which clusters
so much that is romantic and mysterious; but want of time obliged me to
be content to stand on the rough selvedge of the morass and contemplate
with wonder the magnificent cypresses, junipers, oaks, gums, and pines
which form the stately columns of the grand and solemn aisles in this
mysterious temple of nature. ** Below waved the tall reeds, and the
tangled shrubbery of the gall-bush and laurel; and up the massive trunks
and spreading branches of the forest-monarchs crept the woodbine, the
ivy, and the muscadine, covering with fretwork and gorgeous tracery the
broad arches from which hung the sombre moss, like trophy banners in
ancient halls. A deep silence prevailed, for it was winter-time, and
buzzing insects and warbling birds were absent or mute. No life appeared
in the vast solitude, except occasionally a gray squirrel, a partridge,
or a scarlet taniger, the red plumage of the latter flashing like a
fire-brand as it flitted by.=
```"'Tis a wild spot, and hath a gloomy look;
```The bird sings never merrily in the trees,
```And the young leaves seem blighted. A rank growth
```Spreads poisonously 'round, with power to taint
```With blustering dews the thoughtless hand that dares
```To penetrate the covert."
`````--W. Gillmore Simms.=
I returned to Norfolk toward evening. It was Saturday night, and as
Monday would be the opening of the Christmas holidays, I met great
numbers of negroes on the road, going to the country to spend their week
of leisure with their friends on the plantations of their masters. They
all appeared to be happy and musical as larks, and made the forest ring
with their joyous laugh and melodious songs. All carried a bundle, or
a basket filled with presents for their friends. Some had new hats,
and others garments; others were carrying various knickknacks and
fire-crackers, and a few of the men were "toting" a little too much
"fire-water." From the youngest, to the oldest who rode in mule-carts,
all faces beamed with the joy of the hour.
* The Dismal Swamp lies partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina.
Its extent from north to south is about thirty miles, and from east to
west about ten miles. No less than five navigable streams and several
creeks have their rise in it. It is made subservient to the wants of
commerce, by furnishing the raw material for an immense quantity of
shingles and other juniper lumber. The Dismal Swamp Canal runs through
it from north to south, and the Portsmouth and Roanoke railway passes
aeross five miles of its northern border. The canal has a stage-road
running parallel with it. extending from Deep Creek to Elizabeth.
** Drummond's Lake, so called after a hunter of that name who discovered
it, is near the center of the swamp. A hotel has been ereeted upon its
shore, and is a place of considerable resort. Being on the line
between Virginia and North Carolina, it is a sort of Gretna Green where
"runaway matches" are consummated. Tradition tells of a young man
who, on the death of the girl he loved, lost his reason. He suddenly
disappeared, and his friends never heard of him afterward. In his
ravings he often said she was not dead, but gone to the Dismal Swamp,
and it is supposed he wandered into its gloomy morasses and perished.
Moore, who visited Norfolk in 1804, on hearing this tradition, wrote his
touching ballad, commencing,
"They made her a grave too cold and damp
And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see,
For a soul so warm and true;
And her paddle I soon shall hear;
And she's gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,
Long and loving our life shall be,
Where all night long, by her fire-fly lamp,
And I'll hide lhe maid in a cypress.-tree
She paddles her white canoe.
When the footsteps of Death are near."
[[[Return to Norfolk.--Portsmouth and Gosport.--French and English
Fleets.--Attempt to capture Arnold.]]]
{540}I arrived at Norfolk in time to cross the river to Portsmouth * and
walk to the government navy-yard at Gosport, a short distance above. It
is reached by a causeway from Portsmouth, and is well worthy of a visit
from the traveler.
[Illustration: 9550]
There lay the Pennsylvania, the largest ship-of-war in the world--a
colossal monument of government folly and extravagance. She was full
rigged, and near her were the frigates Constitution and Constellation,
dismantled. Her timber and iron might make many comfortable dwellings,
but they are allowed to rot and rust in utter uselessness. I tarried
but a moment there, for the sun was going down, and I wished to sketch
Arnold's head-quarters, at Portsmouth, before returning to Norfolk,
for I expected to ascend the James River on Monday. Arnold's quarters,
represented in the engraving, is a building of stone, and stands on the
corner of High and Crawford Streets, a short distance from the ferry.
Let us note the events connected with Arnold's residence here.
We have mentioned on page 436 the retreat of Arnold down the James River
after his depredations at Richmond. He proceeded to Portsmouth, where
he took post, and began to fortify on the twentieth of January.[[1781]]
Generals Steuben, Nelson, Weedon, and Muhlenberg were actively engaged
in collecting the militia to defend the country and drive out the
invaders, and Washington devised a plan for capturing the traitor.
Having learned that four British ships, whieh had been lying in
Gardiner's Bay, off the east end of Long Island, had gone eastward, and
that two of them were disabled in a storm, he requested Rochambcau to
send the French fleet (then commanded by D'Estouches, the successor of
Admiral Ternay) and a detachment of his land forces to the Chesapeake.
At the same time, he sent La Fayette thither with a detachment of twelve
hundred infantry. The plan was to attack the traitor by sea and land
simultaneously, so that he could not escape from the Elizabeth River.
A part, only, of the French fleet was sent, under De Tilley,[[Feb 9,
1781]] with orders to attempt the destruction of the British fleet
there. They took or destroyed ten small vessels. They also captured
the Romulus, of one hundred and fourteen guns, at the entrance of
Narraganset Bay, and carried her into Newport harbor. This expedition
accomplished nothing respecting Arnold; and Washington, anxious to
have co-operation with La Fayette and the Virginia militia against the
recreant, went to Newport and held an interview with Rochambeau.
The result was that the French fleet left Newport on the eighth of
March. They were followed by the British fleet, then in Gardiner's Bay,
under Admiral Arbuthnot, who intercepted the French at the entrance of
the Chesapeake.[[Feb 16]]
They drew up in battle order, eight ships on a side, and a partial
engagement ensued. Neither party could justly claim a victory. The
French abandoned their design of co-operating with the marquis,
and returned to Newport. The plan, so well arranged and so nearly
accomplished, was defeated. La Fayette marched back to the head of Elk,
and Arnold was left to the skill and bravery of the Virginia troops
near him. ** These were inadequate to drive him from Portsmouth, and he
remained there until about the middle of April, when he was joined by
a detachment under Major-general Phillips. The two commanders now
determined to overrun all the fertile portion of Virginia lying near the
James River, and on the twenty-fourth of April they reached City Point
with twenty-five hundred troops Thither we will follow them presently.
* Portsmouth is a considerable town on the west side of the Elizabeth
River, opposite Norfolk. It lies upon lower ground than the latter. It
was established as a town in 1752, on lands owned by William Crawford,
in whose honor one of its finest streets was named. The Gosport
navy-yard is within half a mile of the center of Portsmouth, and around
it a little village has grown up.
** Governor Jefferson was eager to capture Arnold, and offered five
thousand guineas to any of the men of General Muhlenberg's Western corps
who would accomplish it.--See Jefferson's Letter to Muhlenberg, 1781.
[[[Departure from Norfolk.--Misfortunes of an Hostler.--Forts Nelson and
Norfolk.--Craney Island.]]]