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THE BATTLE OF GREAT BRIDGE
by Gerald P. Illies
Photos created and arranged by Gerald P. Illies using 25mm miniature figurines.

It is important to note that the thirteen colonies at the start of the American Revolution were independent parts of the English domain. A rebellion had begun to foster throughout the colonies, but how it was to be conducted was up to each separate state. You have probably heard of the battles of Lexington and Concord, but have you ever heard of the Battle of Great Bridge. Such revolutionaries as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Patrick Henry came from the noble colony of Virginia, which had its own clash with Britain's red-coated soldiers.

Planted amid the expansive swamps of coastal Virginia there stood a tiny village of no more than twenty-five houses. Situated on one of the watery branches of the Elizabeth River, it boasted the only land route into the city of Norfolk, VA. It was here, December 1775, only six months after the conflict at Bunker’s Hill, that the revolutionary spirit of the southern colonies was founded. This tiny, swamp encircled village of Great Bridge was about to birth rebellion in the south. After the conflict a British sailor would lament in his journal, “…we marched up to their works with the intrepidities of lions. But alas! We retreated with much fewer brave fellows than we took out. Their fire was so heavy that had we not retreated when we did, we should every one have been cut off.”

The Location of the Battle of Great Bridge

Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of the Virginian colony, had enraged the South with his proclamation which declared, “…I do require every person capable of bearing arms to resort to His Majesty’s standard, or be looked upon as traitors to His Majesty’s crown and Government, and thereby become liable to the penalty the law inflicts upon such offenses…” His proclamation, which also promised freedom to African-Americans who joined his army, raised the banner of colonial defiance against him. After a small victory against the Rebels, he retreated to Norfolk to await English reinforcements.
Just north of the village of Great Bridge was a massive wooden structure which spanned the river and gave the town its name. The British had removed the planking from the bridge, and built themselves a stockade from old lumber, rotted tree trunks, and earth; a structure that they dubbed Fort Murray, after their governor John Murray (also called Lord Dunmore). The Virginians simply called it the “hog pen”, a name that was probably as descriptive as it was derogatory. Opposite the bridge from Fort Murray, toward the Rebel position, was a land corridor on which sat six or seven houses. At the end of this corridor on the rebel side, the Virginians had created an entrenchment. It was crafted of earth and shaped like a stretched out “M”. Through this narrow pass the British would advance, confident of their victory and sure that Rebel morale would falter in the face of royal discipline.

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

The Virginian sentries wait inside their entrenchments.

The English learned from a servant who had defected from the Rebel side, that the “shirtmen” (a name the British used for the Virginians, who fought in their hunting shirts) were no more than 300 men and could be easily pushed aside. Lord Dunmore acted immediately, and at three in the morning or December 9, 1775, the British 14th regiment of foot arrived at Fort Murray with some sailors from the ships at Norfolk and about sixty townsmen from the city. Dunmore also had a large contingent of African-American militia who had run from their rebel plantations and joined the Royal standard to fight against their former masters, with the promise of freedom as their reward. Regrettably, many of them would be returned to slavery in British possessions.

With the coming of dawn, the British light infantry advanced to the bridge and began replacing the planking to allow the British regular troops, and two small cannons, to cross the river and form upon the swamp encircled corridor beyond. The grenadiers of the 14th Regiment, under Capt. Fordyce, were given the honor of leading the assault against the Rebel entrenchment. They marched in parade array to the beating of drums; a sight that the British Commander, hoped will dispirit Rebel nerves. The colonials were not going to be so easily frightened on this day.

Alerted to the movements of the British, more Virginians prepare to take aim at the redcoats.

As the sun rises, the British light infantry arrive on the inlet and chase the colonial pickets from the houses.

The British light infantry moved quickly, chasing the Rebel pickets from their holes in and around the houses on the corridor. To ensure that the pickets had been chased out, and to open a field of fire for their cannons, the British then set fire to the remaining buildings, which billowed a heavy black smoke that lingered over the battlefield. Capt. Fordyce advanced with his splendidly clad grenadiers, in their tall fur caps and their long, brightly polished bayonets. Next to them were the two cannon, which were positioned near the narrow causeway and fired upon the Rebel positions without interruption. Behind the protection of their solid earthworks the Virginians prime and ready their muskets, awaiting the close approach of the redcoats.

Some of the houses still burn while the British column advances through the smoke to the consistent beat of the drum. The encouraging sound of cannon fire can be heard to their right while musket fire from the light troops continues to pepper the Rebel lines. The grenadiers halt and fire by command, displaying the discipline and control that well-trained English lads are capable of. Their Brown Bess muskets, with its 3/4in bore, could be loaded in a matter of some 15 seconds. But it was the hypnotic movement of 17” of steel that protruded from the end of those muskets that lingered in the minds of both redcoat and rebel. If victory that day was for the British, it would once again come from the bayonet.

Rebels take aim as the British grenadiers lead the assault on the colonial entrenchments.

The first volley hits the British line.

      Inside the Rebel works, the Virginians hold their breath. They know the British skill at arms, and they know the fear that comes from the bayonet. However, the enemy cannonade does little to shake their nerves since not a single man has wounded. They keep their weapons close and await the order to fire.
    Onward the crimson lads march, with Capt. Fordyce to lead them. The narrowness of the causeway has constricted their movement, but confidence is high, and victory assured. Only a show of force is needed and the Rebels will abandon their position, fleeing from the field in chaos.
     The Redcoats are now within fifty yards of the American position, a range that is easily lethal for the well-trained riflemen who have begun arriving from the Rebel camp to reinforce the entrenchment. They take careful aim and on command rain a hail of bullets into the front rank of the advancing enemy.

The climactic moment had arrived. Capt. Fordyce takes a wound to the knee, but regains his footing, “and waving his hat over his head, encouragingly told them the day was their own.” The Rebel’s muskets should now be empty, and they could hardly stand against the bayonet. The time for victory is at hand, and the courage-inspiring yell that proceeds the charge of His Majesty’s regiment puts an extra beat into the heart of every man present. The redcoats are coming.
The Rebels know the sound, but with the aid of more riflemen who have arrived from the camp their weapons are ready for a second volley. The British are constricted to a small portion of land, which means that most of the Rebel shots will find a target. Special attention is given to Capt. Fordyce, an officer of the grenadiers, and when the second volley hits the redcoat column no less than fourteen balls make holes in his clothes.

The Colonials still have many loaded weapons and a second volley decimates the advancing British.

Continued deadly fire from the Rebels forces the remaining British to retreat.

Suddenly the unthinkable had happened; the British assault has failed. They had attacked a numerically superior, entrenched enemy across a narrow causeway with only slight cannon support. The Rebels had held their position, and the English were peppered with lead, some falling lifeless upon the earthen rampart itself. The British regulars then wavered, and when Rebel riflemen started firing upon the English flank from a nearby shoreline entrenchment, the redcoats beat a hasty retreat to their fort.
This conflict ended Lord Dunmore’s control over Virginia, the defeat being total. Yet even after the British retreated to the city Norfolk, the greatest vindication of British courage comes from the pen of a Rebel Colonel, William Woodford, who wrote, “…Captain Fordyce, of the Grenadiers, led the van with his company, who, for coolness and bravery, deserved a better fate, as well as the brave fellows who fell with him, who behaved like heroes.”

Colonel Woodford held back his enthusiastic Rebel soldiers and sent forward a white flag of truce to allow the remaining wounded to be evacuated. The British sustained between 60 and 100 casualties, while the colonials only had one man being wounded in the hand. Thus ended the British attempt to maintain English rule in the southern colonies. It would be another 5 years before the might of the British Crown would be felt upon that soil again, which would lead to the American triumph at Yorktown, only 30 miles northeast of a tiny village called Great Bridge.

CREATING HISTORY IN MINIATURE

The Rebels had chopped down all the nearby trees to help in the construction of their earth works.

Using miniatures to give the reader a visual feel of the battle is a great way to represent history to the eye, but takes substantial effort to arrange. The project here was created from a combination of rigid foam, paper, glue, sticks, and whatever else I could find. Originally I intended this work to be published in a magazine, but decided to place it here on the Time For History historical database instead.

The 2nd Virginia "Shirtmen" Regiment (25mm pewter figures manufactured by Old Glory)

The British 14th Regiment, Grenadier Company (25mm pewter figures produced by Old Glory)

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