BATTLE OF GREAT BRIDGE

Battle of Great Bridge

Early in the Revolutionary War, control of the Tidewater region of Virginia hinged on a narrow causeway at Great Bridge, south of Norfolk. On December 9th, 1775, Patriot militia and Continental troops faced a column of British regulars and Loyalists sent out by the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, to break their growing siege lines. The American earthworks and sharpshooters made the most of the terrain, pouring disciplined fire into the advancing redcoats and cutting down officers at the head of the attack. Within a short time, the British assault collapsed and their force fell back in disorder toward Norfolk. The victory at Great Bridge forced Dunmore to abandon the interior and pushed royal authority back to the waterfront, where it would soon be burned out altogether. For American forces, this little-known clash proved that hastily raised militia, properly led and positioned, could beat British regulars in open fighting.