Battle of the Great Bridge

December 9, 1775

American victory

The Colonial Virginia militia victory over Royal Governor Lord Dunmore at the Battle of Great Bridge in Chesapeake, Virginia, on December 9, 1775 removed any semblance of British authority over Virginia very early in the war. Dunmore removed gunpower from warehouses in Williamsburg, the capital, which generated tension between the governor and local leaders. A British vessel ran aground in October and was captured by rebellious colonists near Hampton, Virginia. Dunmore lashed out and declared martial law on November 7, also offering to emancipate slaves willing to serve in the British Army. This outraged locals, causing many who might have been Loyalists to side with the rebels. Dunmore armed many formerly enslaved persons and formed a military unit, the Ethiopian Regiment. On the December 9, Virginia militia fortified one side of a critical river crossing south of Norfolk at Great Bridge while Dunmore secured the other side. Dunmore ordered an attack across the bridge to dislodge the Virginia militia which resulted in heavy casualties. Virginia militia only had one wounded while the British suffered 102 casualties. This engagement marked the spread of the rebellion from New England to the southern colonies.