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Laying down of Arras.—Loss of both Armies.—Washington's expressed Approbation of Officers.—Disposition of Prisoners.
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 therebelswith 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, 1781Washington, 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.
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.
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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, 1781Thomas 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 dayOct 24to 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.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.
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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. 1781Violent 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.
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 theVille 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,1782when 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, 1781and 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 27he 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.
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.
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Although so late in the season,Dec 21. 1848it 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, "Donein the trenchesbefore 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 theSurrender, 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 themarble 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.
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 ofRip Rapswas 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, 1775He 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.
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.
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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 25Hampton 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.
The morning of the twenty-thirdDec. 1848was 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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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. 1848From 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,1775before 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: