Battle of Kemp's Landing
Part of theAmerican Revolutionary War
Detail of a 1770s map of eastern Virginia. Oriented with North at the bottom of the map, Kemp's Landing is near the center of the map, and Norfolk is to its right (west).
Date November 15, 1775[citation needed] Location Kemp's Landing, Virginia; now inVirginia Beach, Virginia 36°49′37″N76°09′37″W / 36.82694°N 76.16028°W /36.82694; -76.16028 Result British victory
Belligerents
Virginia Committee of Safety Patriot militia	Province of Virginia British army Loyalist militia
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Hutchings (POW) Anthony Lawson	John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
Strength
170 militia[1]	100infantry 20 militia[1]
Casualties and losses
7 killed[1][2] 18 captured[1][2]	1 wounded[1]

TheBattle of Kemp's Landing, also known as theSkirmish of Kempsville, was askirmish in theAmerican Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775.Militia companies fromPrincess Anne County in theProvince of Virginia assembled atKemp's Landing to counterBritish troops under the command of Virginia's last colonial governor,John Murray, Lord Dunmore, that had landed at nearbyGreat Bridge. Dunmore was investigating rumors ofPatriot troop arrivals fromNorth Carolina that turned out to be false; he instead moved against the Princess Anne militia, defeating their attempt at an ambush and routing them.

Dunmore followed up the victory with a reading ofhis proclamation declaringmartial law and promising freedom toslaves belonging to Patriot owners if they served in the British military. This increased opposition to his activities, and he was eventually forced to leave Virginia.

Tensions in theBritishColony of Virginia were raised in April 1775 at roughly the same time that the hostilities of theAmerican Revolutionary War broke out in theProvince of Massachusetts Bay with theBattles of Lexington and Concord. RebelliousWhigs in control of the provincial assembly had begun recruiting troops by March 1775, leading to a struggle for control of the colony's military supplies.^[3] Under orders fromJohn Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, theroyal governor of Virginia, British troopsremoved gunpowder from the colonial storehouse inWilliamsburg, alarming theWhigs that dominated the colonial legislature.^[4] Although the incident was resolved without violence, Dunmore, fearing for his personal safety, left Williamsburg in June 1775 and placed his family on board aRoyal Navy ship.^[5] He then assembled a small British fleet atNorfolk, a port town whose merchants had significantLoyalist (Tory) tendencies. The threat posed by this fleet may have played a role in minimizing Whig activity in the town.^[6]

Incidents continued between Whigs on one side and Tories on the other until October, when Dunmore had acquired enough military support to begin operations, and the rebellious Whigs had accumulated a significant body of men at Williamsburg. GeneralThomas Gage, the British commander-in-chief for North America, had ordered small detachments of the14th Regiment of Foot to Virginia in response to pleas by Dunmore for military help. These troops began raiding surrounding counties for rebel military supplies on October 12.^[7] This activity continued through the end of October, when a small British ship ran aground and was captured by Whigs during a skirmish nearHampton.^[8] Navy boats sent to punish the townspeople were repulsed byContinental Army troops and militia in a skirmish that resulted in the killing and capture of several sailors.^[9] Dunmore reacted to this event bywriting a proclamation on November 7 in which he declared martial law, and offered toemancipate Whig-held slaves in Virginia willing to serve in theBritish Army.^[10] Although he did not immediately publicize the proclamation,^[11] Dunmore was able to recruit enough slaves to form theEthiopian Regiment, as well as raising a company of Tories he called theQueen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment. These local forces supplemented the two companies of the 14th Foot that were the sole British military presence in the colony.^[12]

Virginia'sCommittee of Safety began organizing troops at Williamsburg to send to Norfolk in response to Dunmore's actions. The forces raised, led byContinental Army ColonelWilliam Woodford, did not leave Williamsburg until November 7 due to shortages of equipment and supplies. They were prevented from crossing theJames River for a week by British ships sent by Dunmore to patrol the river.^[13] Dunmore, who was operating from aRoyal Navy ship, landed "109 Rank and file, with 22 Voluntteers from Norfolk" nearGreat Bridge on November 14, to investigate rumors thatPatriot militia had arrived in the area fromNorth Carolina.^[1][11] His landing prompted the militia ofPrincess Anne County to be called out.^[1] About 170 men responded to the militia call issued by Joseph Hutchings, the local militia commander, and Anthony Lawson, a prominent local landowner. They mustered atKemp's Landing, about 10 miles (16 km) from Great Bridge, and set up an ambush along the road to Great Bridge.^[1]

Dunmore's search of the Great Bridge area the next day confirmed that the rumors were false, but heard of the militia mustering at Kemp's Landing. Leaving a company of troops to defend the causeway to the bridge and begin construction of defenses, he took 100 regulars and 20 Loyalists toward Kemp's Landing.^[1][11]

The Patriot ambush was spoiled when Hutchings' inexperienced militiamen opened fire too early.^[1] Dunmore's disciplined regulars returned fire, moving through the woods to flush out the rebels.^[11] The militia scattered, and in the ensuing chase, Hutchings was captured by one of his former slaves. Lawson was able to escape the battle, but was captured a few days later. In total, 18 Patriots were captured and seven were killed;^[2] one British soldier suffered a single minor wound.^[1]

After securing the town, Dunmore raised the British standard, and read out the text of his proclamation.^[11] The next day more than 100 militiamen who had previously opposed him swore an oath to the Crown, claiming that they had been forced into arms by the Patriots.^[14] Dunmore then moved on to Norfolk, where he again raised the standard, and began developing defenses in and around the town.^[14]

Woodford's force eventually reached Great Bridge, and was joined by companies from North Carolina. This threat prompted Dunmore to order an attack against them; in the December 9Battle of Great Bridge Woodford won a decisive victory.^[15] Dunmore afterward withdrew from Norfolk, whichwas then burned on January 1, 1776, by a combination of Patriot and Loyalist action.^[16] He continued raiding operations against Virginia coastal communities until August 1776, when he departed forNew York City.^[17]

Kemp's Landing incorporated in 1778 asKempsville, and became the county seat forPrincess Anne County.^[18] Princess Anne County was merged intoVirginia Beach in 1963; Kempsville is now an urban neighborhood of the city.^[19]

• Selby, John E; Higginbotham, Don (2007).The Revolution in Virginia, 1775–1783. Colonial Williamsburg.ISBN 978-0-87935-233-2.
• Russell, David Lee (2000).The American Revolution in the Southern colonies. McFarland.ISBN 978-0-7864-0783-5.
• Parkinson, Roger G. (2016).The Common Cause: Creating Race and Nation in the American Revolution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.ISBN 9781469626635.
• Wilson, David K (2005).The Southern Strategy: Britain's conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775–1780. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.ISBN 1-57003-573-3.
• Yarsinske, Amy Waters (2002).Virginia Beach: A History of Virginia's Golden Shore. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.ISBN 978-0-7385-2402-3.OCLC 183259987.

• Virginia Historical Society (1906).The Virginia magazine of history and biography, volume 14. Virginia Historical Society. – has correspondence of the time, including a letter recounting the incident

• period news account

• 1775 in the Thirteen Colonies
• Conflicts in 1775
• Battles of the American Revolutionary War in Virginia
• Battles involving Great Britain
• Battles involving the United States
• History of Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Battles in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War 1775–1779
• 1775 in the Colony of Virginia

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