The Battle of Great Bridge
9 DECEMBER 1775
THE BATTLE OF GREAT BRIDGE
Modern sailors stationed in the Norfolk area may be familiar with Battlefield Boulevard and Great Bridge, whose story follows.
GEN George Washington worried that the British might become lodged in Norfolk, Virginia. Then the second largest city in the southern colonies, Norfolk was protected by water (and the Royal Navy) on three sides and by the quagmire of the Great Dismal Swamp to the south. Should the British encamp at Norfolk, Washington’s sole approach would be a narrow strip of high ground with a single road running north to the city through the Dismal Swamp. Nine miles south of Norfolk, where this road crossed the south branch of the Elizabeth River, sat the Great Bridge. Here, to the south of the bridge, a 160-yard ribbon of high ground formed a natural causeway wide enough only for about six men abreast.
In November 1775, Lord Dunmore (John Murray, Royal Governor of Virginia) and 25 British Regulars threw together a small stockade named Fort Murray at the Norfolk end of the bridge. To frustrate any Patriot advance, they took up the planking on the bridge. At the same time, Patriot COL William Woodford entrenched his 700 militia on high ground of the causeway to the south. His force included 100 Culpepper Minutemen armed with Pennsylvania long rifles–reportedly the best Yankee marksmen in the colonies. The two sides stood across from each other until Royal Army CAPT Samuel Leslie arrived from Norfolk on December 8th with 160 Regulars of the 14th Regiment of Foot, and 240 loyalists and armed Negro slaves. Fearing the rebels would be reinforced soon, the British opted to strike this following day. Supremely confident British Regulars spurned the numeric odds.
In the wee hours of this morning, British grenadiers advanced from Fort Murray, replacing the bridge deck and establishing a strongpoint at its southern end. Here, ten Royal Navy sailors from CAPT Matthew Squire’s squadron emplaced two 4-pounders. Ahead lay 160 yards of narrow causeway directly fronting the Patriot breastworks. When the grenadiers stepped-off, Patriot long rifles opened. These were accurate at four times the range of the British “Brown Bess’s.” Established British battle doctrine called for an ordered march weathering the opposing fire until the enemy could be brought under the bayonet–a tactic at which they would not succeed this day. Indeed, the Culpepper men were able to flank from beyond the range of British muskets, enfilading the enemy lines the entire morning. Fifty percent British casualties forced a retreat all the way to Norfolk, where rumors of an enroute 2000-man Patriot army panicked British forces and Tory loyalists. They fled the city to warships in Hampton Roads.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 14-15 Dec 23
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Site visit. Great Bridge Lock Park, National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, Chesapeake, Virginia, 19 May 2011.
Wilson, David K. The Southern Strategy: Britain’s Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780. Columbia, SC: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2005, pp. 5-17.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: American patriots did take Norfolk unopposed in the coming days, and traded pot-shots with the British ships until New Years Day. Then the British opened a bombardment of Norfolk, followed by the re-landing of troops with torches. The city was set ablaze and burned to the ground, after which the British retired up the Chesapeake Bay. The razed Norfolk nevertheless remained in Patriot hands, and Washington’s dire prediction never materialized.
Great Bridge today is a bedroom community for the Norfolk metropolitan area. It can be reached by retracing the old Virginia to North Carolina road, now approximated by Battlefield Boulevard (so named for this battle) leading south from the city.
USS NORFOLK, a brig from the Quasi-War with France, the heavy cruiser NORFOLK (CA-137) (whose construction was halted after WWII), and the Cold War anti-submarine cruiser (CLK-1), later (DL-1), all remember the city of Norfolk. Woodford County, Kentucky, is named for COL Woodford above, and our WWII transport WOODFORD (AKA-86) is named for Woodford Counties in Kentucky and Illinois.
