The 25-Minute Battle That Ended British Rule in Virginia
While Lexington and Concord get all the glory, Virginia had its own spectacular Revolutionary debut at Great Bridge – and the Cabells and Amherst volunteers and minutemen militia were there. Major Joseph Cabell and his brother Lt. Nicholas Cabell (the commandant of the company) joined other Virginia patriots in battle.
In just 25 minutes, Virginia militia demolished a British attack so completely that only one American got a scratch on his thumb while the British suffered over 100 casualties
The Setup
By late 1775, Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore had fled Williamsburg and taken refuge aboard Royal Navy ships in Norfolk. On November 7, he issued a proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who joined British forces, forming the Ethiopian Regiment. Combined with Loyalist Tories and two companies of the British 14th Regiment of Foot, Dunmore planned to “reduce this colony to a proper sense of their duty.”
The Perfect Trap
Great Bridge, 9 miles south of Norfolk, was the only crossing between Virginia and North Carolina—flanked on both sides by the Great Dismal Swamp. You couldn’t go around it. The approaches were narrow causeways where, as one British officer later lamented, “six men only could advance abreast.” Dunmore’s forces built Fort Murray on the north side, pulled up the bridge planking, and waited.
On December 2, Colonel William Woodford arrived with the 2nd Virginia Regiment (400 men) and 100 riflemen from the Culpeper Minutemen. They dug in on the south side. By December 8, nearly 900 patriots had gathered. Hearing the rebels had acquired cannons (which were actually useless), Dunmore ordered an attack.
The Battle: Dawn, December 9, 1775
Captain Samuel Leslie’s British troops replaced the bridge planking before dawn. At first light, Captain Charles Fordyce led 60 grenadiers across the bridge, bayonets fixed, with naval gunners and field artillery behind them.
About 60 Virginia militia waited behind earthworks. As the British advanced in their red coats, drums beating, the Americans held fire with remarkable discipline. When the British closed to 50 yards, the Virginians unleashed a devastating volley. Fordyce went down in the first hail of fire, just steps from the American position. The Culpeper riflemen—whose long rifles vastly outranged British muskets—moved to a flanking position and began picking off the exposed British forces.
In 25 minutes, it was over.
The Tally:
- British: 62-102 killed, wounded, or captured
- Americans: One man with a thumb wound
The Aftermath
The British abandoned Fort Murray that night. Dunmore and his Loyalists fled to Royal Navy ships. Within days, patriots occupied Norfolk. When the fleet demanded provisions, the rebels refused. On January 1, 1776, Norfolk—the eighth-largest city in British North America—was destroyed. Dunmore tried to operate from Gwynn’s Island, but disease ravaged his forces. By July 1776, he abandoned Virginia forever and sailed for New York. He never returned.
The victory gave Virginia three years free from major British operations, allowing the new Commonwealth to become what one historian called “a logistical backbone for the Continental Army”—a role it would play again at Yorktown in 1781.
The Battle of Great Bridge was Virginia’s declaration that British rule was finished in the Old Dominion.
For more information, visit- Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways Museum