Historical Episodes
July 4, 2026 will be celebrated in Virginia Beach and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia as the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence for the United States of America.
As a way of counting down the 25 weeks leading to this monumental anniversary, the Virginia Beach VA250 Committee is presenting a brief historical episode each week to get you in the “Spirit of 76.”
Episodes
Week 1: Meeting of the Three Commanders
In August of 1781, General George Washington and French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, began moving Franco-American land forces from the Hudson River Valley south to engage British forces in Virginia.
Week 2: The Role of Princess Anne County in the Siege of Yorktown
There was a bustle of activity in Lynnhaven Bay and the southern Chesapeake Bay related to war preparations in September of 1781. This included strategic meetings, movement of troops and equipment, and repairs to battle-damaged ships.
Week 3: The Battle of the Virginia Capes
In late August of 1781, the French fleet under Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, Compte de Grasse, arrived at the Chesapeake Bay with some 3,200 reinforcements.
Week 4: The Battle of Cape Henry
In March of 1781, the Patriot militia and Continental Army were slowly massing and surrounding General Benedict Arnold and the British post at Portsmouth, Virginia. Inflicting the decisive blow was dependent on the arrival of American forces under the Marquis de Lafayette, traveling overland from New Jersey, and French forces traveling aboard the French fleet from Rhode Island.
Week 5: Skirmish at James’s Plantation
In early 1781, the British military forces under the command of Benedict Arnold occupied Portsmouth and established a base of operations there. He intended to restore British Crown authority in Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties.
Week 6: Benedict Arnold and Amos Weeks
On Dec. 30, 1780, British ships with a force of over 1,600 soldiers arrived off Cape Henry under the command of newly appointed British Brigadier General Benedict Arnold.
Week 7: The Collier Raids
In 1779, the British offensive military strategy in America shifted from the mid-Atlantic states to the southern states. During this southern campaign, Virginia provided significant supply and manpower support to the Continental Army.
Week 8: Bill of Attainder Targeting Josiah Phillips
After the Declaration of Independence and departure of Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s last royal colonial governor, the situation in Princess Anne County normalized. Orders to evacuate Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties proved unnecessary and citizens remained in place in those areas.
Week 9: The Rattlesnake and the Swift in Chesapeake Bay
In November of 1778, the American privateer Rattlesnake was returning from Charleston to Philadelphia, deeply laden with salt and rice, under pursuit by the British vessel HMS Swift. The Rattlesnake sought safety in the Chesapeake Bay, and an ensuing battle lasted for several hours.
Week 10: The USS Virginia Becomes the HMS Virginia
By early 1778, the British found the Chesapeake Bay very lucrative for capturing American vessels. They established a blockade, typically utilizing at least five vessels.
Week 11: Cape Henry during the American Revolution
By the end of 1775, any attempts to build a lighthouse at Cape Henry had ceased. With Lord Dunmore isolated aboard his flotilla and Patriot militia units forming throughout Virginia, all the British could do was blockade the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.
Week 12: The Lighthouse at Cape Henry
As early as the mid-1600s, a lighthouse at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay at Cape Henry was recommended as an aid for navigation.
Week 13: Cesar Tarrant, Skilled River Pilot for the Patriots
Cesar Tarrant was born around 1740, probably in Hampton. In 1765, Cesar was sold to Carter Tarrant, who owned 50 acres near the head of Hampton Creek.
Week 14: Tracking British Naval Activity on the Chesapeake Bay
As the Virginia Colony mobilized for the American Revolution and set upon the path to independence, the Virginia Committee of Safety stationed militia patrols along the coast.
Week 15: Lord Dunmore moves his flotilla
After Virginia Governor Lord Dunmore’s naval bombardment on New Year’s Day 1776, and the subsequent burning of the town by the Patriots, Norfolk was completely destroyed and uninhabitable.
Week 16: The Burning of Norfolk
Shortly after the Battle of Great Bridge, in December of 1775, Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore, his soldiers, and perhaps one thousand Loyalist civilians evacuated Norfolk and took refuge on an assortment of ships in Norfolk Harbor.
Week 17: The Battle of Great Bridge
In June of 1775, Virginia’s royal colonial governor, Lord Dunmore, then based in Norfolk, began raising an army. Dunmore organized two Loyalist regiments, one for whites and one for escaped enslaved men to whom he promised freedom in exchange for military service.
Week 18: The Skirmish at Kemp’s Landing
In late 1775, a Loyalist intelligence network was actively feeding information to the British governor, Lord Dunmore, including reports about Patriots forming at the Great Bridge in Norfolk County.
Week 19: Dunmore’s Proclamation - Martial Law and Freedom for Enslaved
On November 7, 1775, Virginia’s royal colonial governor, Lord Dunmore, aboard his flagship the Dunmore, printed and signed a Proclamation imposing a state of martial law in Virginia.
Week 20 - Joseph Harris, Skilled River Pilot for the British
Joseph Harris was a skilled river pilot who knew the regional rivers and how to read tides and winds. As the political situation between Virginia’s royal governor and the Patriot government worsened, Harris began spying for the British.
Week 21 - British Forces Attack Hampton
This battle helped shift public opinion in Virginia towards independence and contributed to Virginia's leadership role in promoting independence in the Continental Congress.
Week 22 - Patrick Henry’s Military Role in the Area
American politician and orator Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond. In May of 1775, while Henry was in Philadelphia attending the Second Continental Congress, the Virginia convention created two provincial regiments and elected him colonel of the 1st Virginia Regiment.
Week 23 - Tensions Build in October 1775
On October 12, 1775, John Murray, Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s royal colonial governor, and Captain Samuel Leslie, the senior British Army officer in Virginia, led a force of 40 soldiers to seize nineteen cannons hidden in the woods about three miles from the shoreline near Norfolk.
Week 24 – Lord Dunmore’s Floating City
For Princess Anne County residents, the events in Virginia that helped propel the eventual downfall of Royal Governor John Murray, Lord Dunmore, seemed to happen far away in the colonial capital of Williamsburg.
Week 25 - Princess Anne Resolves
The famous Boston Tea Party political protest took place on Dec. 16, 1773, when American colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
Episodes Archives
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Week 2: The Role of Princess Anne County in the Siege of Yorktown
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Week 2: The Role of Princess Anne County in the Siege of Yorktown
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Week 13: Cesar Tarrant, Skilled River Pilot for the Patriots
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Week 14: Tracking British Naval Activity on the Chesapeake Bay
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Week 15: Lord Dunmore moves his flotilla into the Chesapeake Bay
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Week 19: Dunmore’s Proclamation - Martial Law and Freedom for Enslaved