Burning of Norfolk

The Burning of Norfolk was an incident that occurred during the American Revolutionary War.

On January 1, 1776, by the order of John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, the British ships in Norfolk Harbor began shelling the town with heated shot and hollow shells containing live coals, with the express purpose of burning the town to the ground.

Five days after the Battle of Great Bridge, the victorious Patriot Colonel William Woodford, and his 2nd Virginia Regiment occupied the town of Norfolk. Most of the inhabitants were Loyalists, and they fled to the British ships that were in the harbor. Severe overcrowding soon led to deaths from disease and starvation. The occupying forces refused requests for provisions, and were also taking pot shots at the ships.

Dunmore announced that he would burn the town on January 1, 1776, and the shelling began at 4 a.m. Landing parties helped the fires along, as did the occupiers. When the flames finally burned out two days later, four-fifths of the once prosperous town “lay in ashes.” [Ward pg 849]

Notes

References

* Ward, Christopher "The War of the Revolution" the Macmillan Company 1952