Cricket Hill and Gwynn’s Island: Captain Arundel’s Only Fight

In researching the little-known Battle of Cricket Hill/Gwynn’s Island that took place on July 9-10, 1776, in what was then Gloucester County and today Matthews County, Virginia, available surviving records document only one Patriot casualty. While this is not unusual for many of the smaller, lesser known and infrequently studied engagements, the details of this casualty are worth highlighting.[1]

The Battle of Cricket Hill/Gwynn’s Island is interesting and important, both politically and militarily, because it is often referred to as Governor Dunmore’s last stand in Virginia.[2] Virginia’s last royal governor, Lord Dunmore, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, threatened by Patriot militia, departed Williamsburg on June 8, 1775 after the gunpowder incident in April. Dunmore sought refuge on British warships in an effort to continue to exercise royal authority in the largest and most important of the thirteen rebelling colonies. Dunmore would not leave the colony without a fight; ultimately, the Patriot government would need to drive him away. Dunmore’s eventual departure from the colony allowed Virginia to send forces to support the Continental Army and sustain the war effort with her important resources.[3]

Throughout the summer of 1775 Dunmore assembled a small army and navy, and employed an amphibious based raiding strategy to keep the newly forming Patriot military forces off balance. His goal was to prevent residents in the Tidewater region from fully aligning with the extra-legal Patriot government. Dunmore experienced some success in suppressing Patriot enthusiasm after the skirmish at Kemp’s Landing on November 15, 1775, but just three weeks later lost 100 men at the Battle of Great Bridge, sixty of them regulars. This defeat for the governor led to the evacuation, Patriot occupation, and eventually the destruction of Virginia’s largest city, Norfolk, during January and February 1776.[4]

Under constant pressure by the growing number of Patriot forces, Dunmore evacuated his base of operations in Portsmouth, Virginia, under the protection of HMS Roebuck, Fowey and the sloop-of-war Otter, supported by several armed tenders, and repositioned to Gwynn’s Island on May 27, 1776. Dunmore’s flotilla contained nearly 100 assorted sailing vessels occupied and crewed by Loyalists and their families. The cramped conditions on these small ships, with many already suffering from disease, necessitated occupation of a land-based location with fresh water and sufficient room to encamp and subsist ashore.[5]

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Patriot forces, lacking a capable navy, moved land-based forces to counter Dunmore’s landing on Gwynn’s Island but could not prevent its occupation. A six-week stand-off followed between Patriot forces on Virginia’s mainland and Dunmore’s forces on Gwynn’s Island and in the surrounding waters. Gwynn’s Island was defensible with sufficient forces, but at one location is separated from the Virginia mainland by only 200 yards, making it susceptible to storming by an amphibious assault. Dunmore also lacked a sufficient number of ground forces to properly defend the island. Dunmore’s senior naval commander was Capt. Andrew Snape Hamond, commanding HMS Roebuck (forty-four guns).[6] He professionally deployed his fleet, consisting primarily of small Loyalist vessels, some armed by Dunmore, to protect the narrow crossing while keeping his larger warships in deeper water. One of the larger armed warships needed to be in close proximity, approximately 500 yards, to the potential crossing site to provide suppressive cannon fire should the Patriots attempt to cross the channel and occupy the island.[7]

Exploiting this weakness, the Patriot commander, Brig. Gen. Andrew Lewis, assembled a brigade and began construction of an artillery battery positioned to counter Dunmore’s naval and land defenses.[8] Virginia forces were primarily light infantry, but to drive Dunmore’s forces from Gwynn’s Island, they needed capable artillery. Virginia’s leaders, using available manpower and expertise, began forming an artillery unit under command of James Innes. When Maj. Gen. Charles Lee arrived in Virginia on March 29, 1776, he quickly realized the unit required an experienced artillery officer to lead the formation and train the battery.[9]

Lee was aware of Virginia’s artillery deficiencies before arriving there and arranged for Louis d’O’hickey Arundel to follow or accompany him to Virginia and lead the artillery unit. Arundel, as his name suggests, was a French volunteer officer. In official English language period records, he is referred to as Dohickey Arundel. He signed his name D’ohicky Arundel and the French language publication that lists French volunteer officers who served during the American Revolution identifies him as “O’ HICKY d’ARUNDEL (Louis).”[10]

Arundel was one of many French volunteers who sought commissions from the Continental Congress. During this early portion of the revolution the skills of many trained, educated and professional European military officers were needed but not always appreciated because of the many challenges associated with integration of international officers into the evolving structure of the Patriot force.[11]

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Arundel was from the Province of Alsace, of Irish or Welsh descent, and serving as a lieutenant of artillery on the Island of St. Domingue before arriving on the American continent. He was apparently multilingual, but his English skills were rudimentary. On February 5, 1776 he was recommended to the Continental Congress, and sent to Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler for an interview, and obviously was found acceptable for service. His commission as a captain of artillery was dated February 8, probably the date of his interview with Schuyler.[12]

The Continental Congress ordered Arundel to report to Maj. Gen. Charles Lee on March 18 and if found capable, assign him as an artillery officer. He received pay and allowances from February 8 but did not receive his commission until March 19, apparently after receiving the approval of Lee. He received a pay advance of sixty dollars but was responsible for his travel costs to Virginia.[13] All this suggests that Arundel was highly motivated to serve and advance his military career.

Upon his arrival in Virginia, Major General Lee focused on many important military issues including organizing and providing proper leadership for the forming Patriot artillery unit. Lee quickly reassigned James Innes, an ardent Tidewater Patriot, from captain of the state artillery battery to major of the then-forming 9th Virginia Regiment. Innes had no previous artillery experience and the transfer was as an incentive and reward for his previous service in defense of Virginia.[14] This allowed Captain Arundel to assume command of the colony’s artillery. Arundel had a month to organize, lead and train the battery before Dunmore occupied Gwynn’s Island. At least three other Virginians served as officers in the state artillery during this time. Lt. Edward Carrington, acting as a captain, commanding the guns at Jamestown Island. Lieutenants Charles Harrison and Samuel Denny served directly under Arundel’s command at the battery opposite Gwynn’s Island.[15]

The men who manned the battery and crewed the weapons were recruited directly into the battery and other personnel selected and transferred from existing infantry units.[16] Fortunately, several of the soldiers who served in the artillery battery reported this experience in their pension applications, allowing insight into the manning of the unit.[17]

Construction of the Patriot battery on the Virginia mainland, on what would become known as Cricket Hill, commenced in early June 1776 but progressed slowly. The battery actually consisted of two different physical locations, in close proximity, and both surrounded by protective earthworks.[18] Virginia’s infantry formations that manned selected positions included elements of multiple Virginia Continental regiments, minute companies organized into battalions, and supporting militia. These units came under fire from Dunmore’s cannon on multiple occasions during battery construction. Other infantry units guarded key terrain and coastal infrastructure throughout Tidewater Virginia to prevent raids and foraging by Dunmore’s more mobile naval forces.[19]

The two Patriot battery positions opposite Gwynn’s Island are often referred to as the upper and lower batteries. The upper battery contained two eighteen-pound cannon and the lower battery two nine- and three six-pound cannon. The upper battery was located on what is now the United States Coast Guard Station Milford Haven, with the lower battery on the property of Morningstar Marinas. The exact location of the upper battery has disappeared but several earthworks, partially reconstructed, mark the location of the lower battery, situated near the shoreline.[20] Upper battery construction must have been partially obscured from direct observation of Dunmore’s forces by vegetation. This partly helps explain why a large warship was anchored near the shoreline, well withing range of the guns of both the upper and lower batteries.

Apparently Arundel reported the batteries ready for action on the evening of July 8, 1776.[21] On the morning of July 9, Brig. Gen. Andrew Lewis arrived for an inspection of the completed batteries, accompanied by four of his regimental commanders. He could not believe what he saw directly in the gun line of the two eighteen-pound cannon: the Dunmore, Lord Dunmore’s flagship. The Dunmore was not a royal navy warship; it was a converted merchant vessel, serving in Dunmore’s colonial Virginia navy, authorized and funded under his authority as royal governor. The Dunmore was not a heavily armed warship, mounting about ten guns including cannons of up to six pounds and smaller swivel or wall guns, primarily for self-defense. About thirty-five men, primarily Loyalist volunteers, manned the ship and crewed the guns, trained career sailors being in short supply. The crew likely included at least one trained or seasoned sailor, a boatswain holding the rank of petty officer, who provided leadership and direction to the volunteer crew.[22]

A day or two before, the Dunmore had taken station near the shore replacing the sloop-of-war Otter. This allowed Otter to move off station to heel over and clean her hull of accumulating sea life. Brigadier General Lewis could not resist the temptation to target the Dunmore, only 500 yards away, and immediately ordered all seven guns into action. Although the tide was flowing out, the infantry had not collected the craft needed to cross over to the island and the Patriots had a limited supply of gunpowder and shot, but the attack began.[23]

The eighteen-pound guns in the upper battery concentrated on the Dunmore and landed about half a dozen rounds in the hull. One of these rounds, possibly fired by a nine-pound gun, entered the stern, peppering Dunmore’s legs with splinters and crashing through his china. Other rounds killed a sailor and removed the arm of a second.[24] Additional rounds struck the rigging, damaging the mainmast that collapsed several days later. The Dunmore’s poorly trained crew fired a couple rounds as they cut her anchors and the ship was towed out of range. The Otter also took at least one round at the waterline before moving out of the line of fire.[25]

As this was underway, the lower battery drove the armed tenders in Milford Haven ashore on Gwynn’s Island. These tenders guarded the shallower bay and channel to the south of the main shipping channel at the mouth of the Piankatank River. The crews of these beached vessels fled, but not before torching them. Guns in the lower battery then focused on the batteries Dunmore had constructed on Gwynn’s Island. After silencing Dunmore’s land-based guns, the Patriot gunners knocked down the enemy’s tents and encampments that were within range.

After two hours of firing the Patriot batteries fell silent to save precious powder, resupply the battery and cool the guns. After a break, firing resumed, but at that point the damage was done. On the day of the initial landing, Captain Hamond augmented Dunmore’s weak land force, that numbered under 200 effectives, with marines and sailors from the British warships. Understanding an assault across the Milford Haven by Patriot land forces would follow the artillery attack, everyone ashore was ordered back aboard ship. Hamond could not absorb losses of his crews to defend the island from a direct infantry attack.[26]

During the Patriot artillery assault, Captain Arundel attempted to fire an experimental mortar made from a pine log banded with iron. As several senior officers had warned, the improvised mortar exploded, partially decapitating the captain and making him the only reported Patriot casualty. Men who witnessed his death still had a clear memory of what happened fifty years later. Col Adam Stephen wrote, “Poor Arundel has knock’d himself in the head by trying Experiments.” Without further investigation, Arundel’s failed experiment seems like a case of bad judgement on his part, but that is not necessarily the case. The Virginia Gazette reported, “His zeal for the service cost him his life.” John Page, a future Virginia governor and U.S. congressman, reported, “his loss is irreparable.”[27]

Captain Arundel was the first known volunteer French officer to die serving the United States. Delegates of the Continental Congress declared Independence on July 4, 1776 and Captain Arundel died just five days later. Virginia’s Convention government approved a constitution for the colony in late June and implemented the new government on July 5 as the First Virginia Commonwealth. Virginia’s new government initially struggled to function effectively and Arundel did not live to see Virginia’s first Independence Day Celebration on July 24, 1776 in Williamsburg. Although Arundel’s death was tragic, with the passage of time, we can now place his service in the larger context of events and appreciate the part he played in liberating Virginia from colonial rule.[28]

One looks back on Arundel’s seemingly crazy idea to build and fire a wooden mortar with a degree of cynicism. Arundel, however, through his education and experience as an artillery officer, probably knew about the use of and history of wooden mortars.[29] These high angle of fire weapons date from the early fifteenth century. Using bronze casting processes, master gunmakers largely standardized mortar design before the American Revolution, but wooden mortars were relatively common and used as a field expedient when metal was unavailable or in short supply. Union forces employed wooden mortars during the American Civil War and German forces used them during World War I.[30]

While the Virginia Patriots lost their battery commander on July 9, they assembled about thirty canoes and conducted an assault crossing of Milford Haven on the morning of July 10. About 200 men of the 7th Virginia Regiment, likely augmented by elements of the 2nd Minute Battalion and led by Lt. Col. Alexander McClanahan, crossed under the protection of fire from the six-pound Patriot cannon, destroying a Loyalist tender in the process. What they found on Gwynn’s Island was beyond description. The hasty retreat by Dunmore’s forces left behind a significant amount of equipment.[31]

More shocking was the vast number of graves and the dying bodies, barely living souls. “We were struck by the horror at the number of dead bodies … with a shovel full of earth on them . . . others gasping for life.” The dead and dying were scattered across the island. This included prominent Loyalist Andrew Sprowle, who operated the shipyard in Portsmouth, sarcastically referred to as “the late lord of Gosport.” Many of the dead and dying were former enslaved who liberated themselves from Tidewater plantations and joined Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment in search of freedom from slavery. Mortality in their ranks was extreme.[32]

What killed these individuals was not the rounds fired by Patriots, but disease. Smallpox and other unreported diseases decimated Dunmore’s Loyalists. Several hundred died—estimates run as high as 500—with no official accounting ever made. One individual reported counting 130 graves, some holding multiple bodies. Those who crossed onto the island never witnessed anything like it.[33]

Back on board ship, and in desperate need of water after they depleted the wells on Gwynn’s Island, Dunmore’s flotilla attempted a landing on St. George Island, Maryland, in the Potomac River. Repulsed by the Maryland Militia, Captain Hamond and HMS Roebuck led a landing party north up the Potomac to Aquia Creek south of Dumfries where they skirmished with the Stafford County militia, burned portions of William Brent’s plantation and obtained fresh water for the fleet.[34] On August 5, after destroying unseaworthy vessels, the Otter escorted portions of the flotilla to St. Augustine, West Florida. HMS Fowey escorted seven vessels bound for England about thirty-five miles into the Atlantic, then took station patrolling off the Virginia Capes. Hammond and Dunmore remained near Cape Henry for several days before the Robuck escorted Dunmore and several of his flotilla to New York where they joined the British army there.[35]

Lord Dunmore never returned to Virginia. Arundel’s artillery, seven guns, provided the firepower that finally broke both Dunmore’s will and capacity to maintain his foothold in Tidewater Virginia. The Royal Navy simply did not have the resources to continue to support and protect his flotilla and his land forces lacked combat power. The Chesapeake Bay was unsafe and patrolled by an increasing number of Patriot vessels.[36] Virginia’s political leaders were now free to send troops and supplies to support military operations in other theaters and on their western border. Virginia was subject to raiding by British landing forces and constantly at war with Native American tribes in the west, but not subject to British occupation until 1781. And once again, in 1781, more well-known French military officers answered the call to liberate Virginia from British colonial rule. In 1776, Capt. D’ohicky Arundel could not have envisioned the victory at Yorktown, still five years in the future. Yet his sacrifices helped make that victory possible. His accomplishments in liberating Virginia in 1776 are as important to the revolutionary cause as those of the more famous French officers we recognize each year on Yorktown Day.

[1] Howard W. Peckham, ed., The Toll of Independence, Engagements & Battle Casualties of the American Revolution (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974), 19.

[2] Michael Cecere, “Battle of Gwynn’s Island: Lord Dunmore’s Last Stand in Virginia,” Journal of the American Revolution, May 26, 2016, allthingsliberty.com/2016/05/battle-of-gwynns-island-lord-dunmores-last-stand-in-virginia/. Cricket Hill is a local term to describe the battery positions occupied by Patriot forces on the mainland of Virginia opposite Gwynn’s Island, a 2,200 acre island near the mouth of the Piankatank River. Today the island is linked to the mainland by a bridge first opened in the 1930s. Only local veterans used the term Cricket Hill, all other veterans used the name Gwynn’s Island when referencing the battle. Locals continue to use the term Cricket Hill. Legend has it that Dunmore described the large number of Patriot soldiers opposing him as “crickets,” a term the locals affectionately adopted.

[3] Norman Fuss, “Prelude to Rebellion: Dunmore’s Raid on the Williamsburg Magazine,” Journal of the American Revolution, April 2, 2015, allthingsliberty.com/2015/04/prelude-to-rebellion-dunmores-raid-on-the-williamsburg-magazine-april-21-1775/. For example, Virginia provided about 20 percent of the Patriot forces during the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776; all four of these Virginia regiments present at Trenton were also involved with the campaign or represented at Cricket Hill/Gwynn’s Island.

[4] Michael Cecere, “A Tale of Two Cities: The Destruction of Falmouth and the Defense of Hampton,” Journal of the American Revolution, September 9, 2015, allthingsliberty.com/2015/09/a-tale-of-two-cities-the-destruction-of-falmouth-and-the-defense-of-hampton/; Patrick H. Hannum, “Recognizing the Skirmish at Kemp’s Landing,” Journal of the American Revolution, December 17, 2018, allthingsliberty.com/2018/12/recognizing-the-skirmish-at-kemps-landing/; Patrick H. Hannum, “Great Bridge Museum Opens Amid Pandemic,” Journal of the American Revolution, November 18, 2020, allthingsliberty.com/2020/11/great-bridge-museum-opens-amid-pandemic/; Patrick H. Hannum, “Norfolk Virginia Sacked by North Carolina and Virginia Troops,” Journal of the American Revolution, November 6, 2017, allthingsliberty.com/2017/11/norfolk-virginia-sacked-north-carolina-virginia-troops/; pension application of John Williams, W18436, revwarapps.org/w18436.pdf.

[5] William Bell Clark, ed., Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969), 4:57-8, 1396, 1411; Papers of Charles Lee, 1776-1778 (New York: New York Historical Society, 1872), 2:5; William James Morgan, ed., Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1970), 5:209, 223, 258-259, 278, 320-322, 460, 1147-1151; Virginia Gazette (Dixon & Hunter), May, 25, 1776; Virginia Gazette (Purdie), May 24, 1776, research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/.

[6] Capt. Andrew Snape Hamond was a professional officer, he was later knighted for his military accomplishments, and served in a number of responsible government assignments, including as a member of the British Parliament.

[7] Naval Documents, 5:322, 1344; Thomas Posey Memorandum Book, Collection #M 0228 OM 0074 F 0278, Correspondence and Papers, 1776-1839, Folder 9, Revolutionary War Journal, Typescript, Thomas Posey Collection, 1776-1839, Indiana Historical Society.

[8] The Patriot force assembled on the mainland opposite Gwynn’s Island between Dunmore’s landing on May 27 and his departure during the battle on July 10 evolved as company-sized units arrived. Throughout, the ten companies of the 7th Virginia regiment made up the nucleus of the force. The 2nd Minute Battalion, a temporary (May-Dec 1776) unit, included companies from three different military districts and provided six of its twelve companies. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th Virginia Regiments also contributed company-sized elements. The 1st Minute Battalion and elements of multiple Virginia Regiments, supplemented by other minute and militia companies, occupied key locations in Tidewater Virginia and were part of the overall campaign. Elements of Gloucester County minute and militia companies augmented the 7th Virginia Regiment to oppose Dunmore’s initial landing on May 27.

[9] H. R. McIlwaine, ed., Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1931), 1:12; E. M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution, 1774-1787 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978), 97-100; pension application of Edward Carrington, W6635, revwarapps.org/w6635.pdf; 1st Continental Artillery Regiment, RevWarTalk, www.revwartalk.com/1st-continental-artillery-regiment; Virginia Gazette (Dixon & Hunter), March 30, 1776.

[10] Gilbert Bodinier, Dictionnaire des officiers de l’armée royale qui ont combattu aux Etats-Unis pendant la guerre d’Indépendance 1776- 1783 suivi d’un Supplément à, André Lasseray & Gilbert Bodinier, “Les Français sous les Treize étoiles” (Château de Vincennes: Service historique de l’armee de terre, 1982), 366; Personal Correspondence, Thierry Chaunu, President, American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc. Délégué Général du Souvenir Français aux Etats-Unis, and the author, October 1, 2024; Secrétariat d’Etat à la Marine, Cote de communication : COL E 325, COL E 325, Cote d’archives: COL E 325, Identifiant ark : ark:/61561/up424auxz2vt, Date : 1770/1773, recherche-anom.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/up424auxz2vt.

[11] Richard J. Werther, “Volunteer Overload: Foreign Support of the American Cause Prior to the French Alliance,” September 8, 2020, Journal of the American Revolution, allthingsliberty.com/2020/09/volunteer-overload-foreign-support-of-the-american-cause-prior-to-the-french-alliance/; George Washington to John Hancock, April 22, 1776, founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0090.

[12] Personal Correspondence, Thierry Chaunu, Original Information provided by Mrs. Claude-Anne Lopez (1920-2012); Benjamin Franklin to Charles Lee, February 11, 1776, Founders on line, founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0207; Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1906), 4:58n1, 111-112, 120, 243.

[13] Journals of the Continental Congress, 4:211, 212, 241, 243, 363.

[14] Virginia Gazette supplement (Purdie), April 26, 1776; Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 98.

[15] Virginia Gazette, Purdie, 19 July 1776; Pension Applications of Edward Carrington W6635, revwarapps.org/w6635.pdf, W18836 Hugh Robertson, revwarapps.org/w18836.pdf; Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 98.

[16] Virginia Gazette (Purdie), May 24 1776; Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 97-100; pension applications of Gideon Johnston (Johnson), S38089, revwarapps.org/s38089.pdf and William Freeman, S39547, revwarapps.org/s39547.pdf.

[17] Papers of Charles Lee, 2:18; pension application of William Freeman, S39547, Gideon Johnston (Johnson), S38089. Freeman transferred from the 1st Virginia Regiment and Johnston transferred from the 2nd Virginia Regiment.

[18] John Gasper Stadler, serving as Virginia State Engineer, supervised the construction of the earthworks at Cricket Hill/Gwynn’s Island and other locations throughout Tidewater Virginia during 1776-1777. Papers of Charles Lee, 2:63; & Pension Application of John Saddler, VAS1886, revwarapps.org/VAS1886.pdf.

[19] Posy Diary, 6-8. Hundreds of pension applications reference service during the Cricket Hill/Gwynn’s Island campaign. Patriot units were stationed not only in the immediate area of Gwynn’s Island but in multiple potential landing locations throughout Tidewater Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay. The mobility provided by Dunmore’s fleet allowed him to land and forage for supplies or threaten much of the Virginia coastline. Patriots countered by positioning land forces at numerous locations, augmenting infantry with cannons at several locations.

[20] John R. Cross and Nicholas M. Luccketti, “An Archeological Survey of Cricket Hill Matthews County, Virginia,” mathewslibrary.org/images/pdf/Cricket_Hill_Archaeological_Survey.pdf.

[21] Thomas Posey Memorandum Book.

[22] Virginia Gazette, (Purdie), July 12, 1776; NDAR, 5: 685.

[23] Naval Documents, 5:1078; Papers of Charles Lee, 2:131-136.

[24] Naval Documents, 5:996-7.

[25] Ibid., 5:1030.

[26] Ibid., 5:1147-1151; Virginia Gazette (Purdie), July 19, 1776.

[27] Pension application of Thomas Hight, S32321, revwarapps.org/s32321.pdf; pension application of John Cundiff, S8272, S8272 John Cundiff (revwarapps.org); Papers of Charles Lee, 2:138; Viginia Gazette, Purdie, July 19, 1776; Virginia Gazette (Purdie), July 26, 1776.

[28] Brent Tarter and Robert L. Scribner, eds., Revolutionary Virginia, Independence and the Fifth Convention, 1776 (Charlotteville: University of Virginia Press, 1983), 7:649-656, 717n10; Virginia Gazette (Dixon & Hunter), July 20, 1776.

[29] Personal Correspondence, Thierry Chaunu.

[30] William McPeak, “Famous Military Weapons: Mortars,” Warfare History Network, warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/famous-military-weapons-mortars; “High Explosive Smooth Bore Mortar,” Artifact # 19390002, 240 mm Albrecht, www.warmuseum.ca/collections/artifact/1053063/; “The Siege of Vicksburg, Frederick E. Prime and C.B. Comstock’s Report,” The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Ser. I:V, XXIV, P. II, Reports (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1889), 173.

[31] Naval Documents, 5:1147-1151; Virginia Gazette (Purdie), July 19, 1776; Papers of Charles Lee, 2:131-136; Pension application of John Cunningham, S3250, revwarapps.org/s3250.pdf.

[32] Ibid. Possibly a few hundred of Dunmore’s Ethiopians, primarily those survivors inoculated for small pox, survived the transit to New York or St. Augustine, of the thousands of liberated slaves who risked their lives to join him, with 800 or more from Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties. Naval Documents, 5:840; Charles W. Carey, Jr., “Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment,” Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University, March 1995, 2, 81.

[33] Naval Documents, 5:480; Thomas Posey Memorandum Book. For an excellent contemporary view of Dunmore and his Ethiopians see Andrew Lawler, A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2025).

[34] Probably William Brent of the 2nd Virginia Regiment. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 112; Virginia documents pertaining to William Brent, VAS2639, revwarapps.org/VAS2639.pdf; pension application of William Combs, R2187, revwarapps.org/r2187.pdf.

[35] Naval Documents, 5:1078, 1144-1146, 1156, 1194, 1215, 1250, 1265, 1312-1316, 1347-1348; Naval Documents, 6: 173-4; John M. Luyx, “Fighting for Food: British Foraging Operations at St. George’s Island,” Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 71 No. 2 (1976), 212-219. This series of landing engagements is often described as the largest revolutionary war engagement in Maryland, although it took place over a number of days involving multiple landings or attempted landings by Dunmore’s forces.

[36] Naval Documents, 5:1314.