Moore's House and its Associations.

Place of Surrender.

Governor Nelson's House.

Departure for Hampton.

mile and a half distant, is the low ground where the armies rested before making a disposition of their forces for attacking Cornwallis.

Moore's house is very pleasantly situated in the midst of a level lawn within a quarter of a mile of the banks of the York. Although so late in the a Dec. 21, season, a it was surrounded with 1848. green shrubbery, and from a bush near the piazza I plucked a full-blown rose. growing in the open air. I was shown the room in which it is asserted the capitulation was signed by Cornwallis and his conquerors. This, however, is a mistake. There is no evidence that the earl was beyond his lines until he departed for New York on parole. He signed the capitulation at his quarters in the

town; and above the signature of Washington and the French officers is written, "Done in the trenches before Yorktown," &c. Moore's house is famous only as being the place where the commissioners held their conference.

We next visited the places designated by tradition as the spot where the British laid down their arms. In a field, not more than half a mile southward of the British intrenchments, three tulip poplars were pointed out for many years as indices of the exact place of surrender. The old trees are now gone, but three small ones supply their places. This is on the east side of the Hampton road. In Trumbull's picture of the Surrender, the house of Governor Nelson is seen. Trumbull visited Yorktown for the purpose of sketching the ground, in 1791, and doubtless had the true location pointed out to him. From the field where the tulip poplars are, however, the house can not be seen, but from a large field on the west side of the Hampton road, sloping in the direction of the "Pigeon Quarter," and about a mile from the British lines (the distance mentioned in history), the house may be plainly seen. It is the opinion of Mr. Nelson and other intelligent gentlemen at Yorktown, that the large field, noted as the spot on the map printed on page 312, is the locality where the captive soldiers laid down their arms, and where the marble column, ordered by Congress, should be erected.

From the field of humiliation we rode back to the village, and after visiting the remains of the elegant dwelling of President Nelson, which was situated near that of the governor, within the British lines, I passed an hour in the venerated mansion of Governor Nelson, printed on page 315. It was erected by the first emigrant Nelson ("Scotch Tom"), and is of imported bricks. Among other relics of the past, I saw upon the walls the mutilated portraits of President Nelson and his lady, the parents of the governor. They were thus injured by the British when they rifled his house at Hanover, whither he had taken his family and furniture for security.

I left Yorktown at two o'clock for Hampton, twenty-four miles distant. Charley was invigorated by rest and abundance of oats, and the road being generally quite level, and in excellent condition, I was only about four hours on the way. plane sloping toward the ocean, and quite thickly settled.

The country is an inclined The forests are chiefly of pine,

This is a view from the lawn, looking south. It is a frame building with a brick foundation. At the time of the siege it belonged in fee to Governor Nelson, but its occupant, a widow Moore, had a life interest in it, and it was known as Moore's house. The narrow piazza in front is a modern addition. This house is upon the Temple Farm, so called from the fact that vestiges of a small temple or church, and the remains of an ancient settlement, are there seen, about a mile and a half south of Yorktown. Around the temple was a wall, and within are several tomb-stones. One of these bear the name of MAJOR WILLIAM GоосH, and the date of his death, 1655.

Arrival at Hampton.

Old Point Comfort.

Early History.

Hampton Roads.

Dunmore's Attack.

Suddenly the

interspersed with oaks, chestnuts, tulip poplars, gums, sycamores, and occasionally an elm. The green holly with its blazing berries, and the equally verdant laurel, every where enliven the forest scenery. I crossed two considerable swamps, and at twilight reached the margin of a third, within a few miles of Hampton. The branches of the tall trees interlaced above, and the amber light in the west, failed to penetrate and mark the pathway. bland air was filled with chilling vapors, which came rolling up from the sea on the wings of a southeast wind, and I was enveloped in absolute darkness in the midst of the broad morass. As at Occaquan, I gave Charley a loose rein, and relied upon his instinct and better sight for safety. His faculties proved trustworthy, and at six o'clock in the evening I was at comfortable lodgings close by the beach, in the old town of Hampton, ninety-six miles southeast of Richmond.1

Early the next morning I rode to old Point Comfort, two and a half miles distant, notwithstanding heavy masses of clouds were yet rolling in from the ocean, and a chilling mist enveloped every thing as with a shroud. Old Point Comfort is a sandy promontory, which, with Point Willoughby opposite, forms the mouth of the James River. It is a place of public resort in summer as an agreeable watering-place. The fine sandy beach affords delightful bathing grounds, and the cool breezes from the ocean deprive summer of half of its fervor. The extremity of the point, eighty acres in extent, is covered by Fort Monroe,' one of the most extensive fortifications in the United States. Within the area of the fort are the officers' quarters, with neat flower-gardens attached; and over the surface are scattered beautiful live-oaks, isolated and in groves, which give the place a summer aspect, even in mid-winter. Between Point Comfort and the opposite Cape the water is shallow, except in a narrow channel through the bar. Here the ocean tides and the river currents meet, and produce a continual ripple. From this circumstance the name of Rip Raps was given to the spot. In the midst of these, nineteen hundred yards from Fort Monroe, is the halffinished Fort Calhoun, or Castle of the Rip Raps. It was ascertained, while building it, that the ground was unstable, and the heavy masonry began to sink. Immense masses of loose stones have since been piled upon it, to sink it as deep as it will go before completing the walls. In this condition it now remains, and it is to be hoped that not another hour will be employed upon it, except to carry away the stones for the more useful and more noble purpose of erecting an iron-foundery or a cotton-mill. Henceforth our fortresses, and other paraphernalia of war, will have no other useful service to perform than to illustrate the history of a less enlightened age.

Within the bar of the Rip Raps is the wherein vast navies might ride with safety.

spacious harbor called the Hampton Roads, Twice, hostile fleets have cleft those waters.

The first was in October, 1775, when Lord Dunmore, driven by his fears, as we have seen, from Williamsburg, gratified his desire for revenge by destroying the property of the patriots. The people of Hampton anticipated an attack by the British fleet, and applied to the Committee of Safety for assistance. Colonel Woodford, with one hundred Culpepper men, was sent to protect them; but before their arrival, Captain Squires, of the British navy, sent by Dunmore with six tenders, appeared in Hampton Creek.a He commenced a furi- a Oct. 24, ous cannonade, and under that cover sent armed men in boats to burn the town. 1775. Virginia riflemen, concealed in the houses, soon sent so many death-shots that the boats were obliged to return. The tenders were compelled to recede beyond the reach of their rifles,

1

Hampton, in Elizabeth City county, is one of the oldest towns in Virginia. Its site was visited by Captain John Smith in 1607, while exploring the mouth of the James River. The natives called the place Ke-coughlan. The English commenced a settlement there in 1610, and in 1705 it was erected into a town by law. This point was Smith's first landing-place, and because he found good anchorage, a hospitable reception, and various other comforts, he gave it the name it now bears.

3 In 1630 a small fort was erected on Point Comfort; and it was there that Count De Grasse caused some fortifications to be thrown up to cover the landing of the troops under St. Simon previous to the siege of Yorktown in 1781.

* Dunmore's force consisted of the Fowey, Mercury, Kingfisher, and Otter, two companies from a West India regiment, and a motley rabble of negroes and Tories.

Repulse of Dunmore.

St. John's Church.

Attack on Hampton in 1813.

Voyage to Norfolk

and wait for re-enforcements. Woodford arrived at daybreak on the twenty-fifth, and, momentarily expecting an attack from the enemy, he immediately disposed his men for action. At sunrise the hostile fleet bore in for the shore, and, laying with springs on her cables, commenced a heavy cannonade upon the town, and greatly damaged many of the houses. Woodford commanded his men to fire with caution and sure aim, the vessels being within rifle shot. Men were picked off in every part of the ships, and great terror socn prevailed in the fleet. The cannons were deserted, for every gunner became a target for the sharpshooters. Unable to withstand such a destructive fire, the British commander ordered the cables to be slipped and the vessels to retreat. The latter movement was difficult, for men seen at the helm or aloft adjusting the sails were singled out and shot down. Many of them retreated to the holds of the vessels, and refused obedience to their commanders when ordered out on the perilous duty. Two of the sloops drifted ashore. Before the fleet could escape, the inhabitants of the town, with Woodford's corps, sunk five vessels. The victory was complete.1 Among the buildings yet remaining, which suffered from this cannonading, is St. John's (Protestant Episcopal) Church, said to be the third oldest house of worship in the state. The earliest inscription in its grave-yard is 1701. Before the Revolution, the royal arms, handsomely carved, were upon the steeple. It is related that soon after the Declaration of Independence was promulgated, the steeple was shattered by lightning, and the insignia of royalty hurled to the ground.

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.2

In 1813, Hampton was attacked by
Admiral Cockburn, with his fleet, and by

a June 25.

a force of two thousand men under General Beckwith, who landed at Old Point Comfort. The garrison of the slight fortification at Hampton consisted of four hundred and fifty militia. They were too weak to defend themselves, and retired. The town was given up to pillage at the hands of a renegade corps of French prisoners, who had been promised such a gratification. For two days they desolated Hampton without restraint. Private property was plundered or destroyed; the leading citizens were grossly insulted and abused; females were violated; and in one instance an aged sick man was murdered in the arms of his wife.' When filled to satiety, the vultures left Hampton Roads to seek for prey elsewhere.

The easterly wind ceased at noon; the clouds dispersed, and the sun shone out with all the brilliancy and fervor of early June, when I rode back to Hampton from Old Point Comfort. At three o'clock a strong breeze from the west brought back the masses of vapor which had been borne toward the Blue Ridge all night. They came in heavy cumulous clouds, and when, a little before five o'clock, I embarked upon a steam-packet for Norfolk, eighteen miles distant, rain fell copiously. We entered the Elizabeth River at dusk, and arrived at Norfolk a little past six o'clock."

A Jones, p. 63-64. Howison, ii., 95.

This view is from the church-yard looking southeast. The edifice is cruciform, and built of imported brick. It is near the head of the town, on the east side of the York road. In a field about a mile from Hampton are four black marble tablets, with arms and inscriptions upon two of them. One there, over the grave of Vice-admiral Neville, bears the date of 1697; the other, over the remains of Thomas Carle, has the date of 1700 upon it.

3 Perkins's History of the Late War. These outrages, so dishonorable to the British character, are facts well attested by a committee of Congress appointed to investigate the matter.

Norfolk is situated on the north bank of the Elizabeth River, at the head of steam-boat navigation. It was established by law as a town in 1705, formed into a borough in 1736, and incorporated a city by the Virginia Legislature in 1845.

St. Paul's Church and its Associations.

Ride to the Great Bridge.

Description of the Locality.

a Dec., 1848

The morning of the twenty-thirda was cold and blustering, like a late November day at the North. Before breakfast, I called upon the sexton of old St. Paul's Church, procured the key of the strong inclosure which surrounds it and the ancient burialground, and in the keen frosty air made the annexed sketch. This venerable edifice is almost the only survivor of the conflagration of the town on the first of January, 1776, an event which will be noticed presently. The church is cruciform, and built of imported bricks, the ends of which are glazed, and gives the edifice a checkered appearance like that of Carpenters' Hall, and several other buildings in Philadelphia. On the street front of the church, near the southwest corner, is a large cavity made by a cannon-ball hurled from the British shipping during the attack just alluded to. It is an honorable scar, and has been allowed to remain for the gratification of the curious, and as a mute relator of the malice of the foes to liberty. The short battlemented tower, built of wood, is a recent addition to the church. Originally there was a small tower with a spire at each corner, on the other end of the main building. With these exceptions, the exterior is the same as when Norfolk was destroyed; its interior has been entirely changed, and adorned with fresco painting. Over the principal side entrance to the church, the date of its erection (1739) is given in large figures formed by projecting bricks. I worshiped in the old fane on the Sabbath, but confess to wandering thoughts, for the associations of the place often closed the sensorium to the voice of the preacher.

At eight o'clock I started for the Great Bridge, and the verge of the Dismal Swamp. The country is level most of the way; and the road crosses two considerable swamps between Norfolk and the Great Bridge, wherein the dark-green gall-bush, loaded with fruit resembling whortleberries, abounds. Great Bridge is the name for a comparatively insignificant structure, unless the causeways connected with it may be included in the term

The Great Bridge proper is about forty yards in length, and spans the south bank of the Elizabeth River, about nine miles from Norfolk. Extensive marshes, filled and drained alternately with the flow of the tide, spread out on each side of the river, making the whole breadth of morass and stream, at this point, about half a mile wide. The Great Bridge1 extends across the main stream from two islands of firm earth, which are covered with trees and shrubbery. Each of these islands is connected with the main by a causeway and smaller bridges. On the western side of the river is the small scattered village of Great

1

This view is from the western bank of the stream, near the tide-mill, looking north. On the left of the

Dunmore at Norfolk.

Seizure of Holt's Printing-office.

Holt's Career.

Bridge, not much larger now than it was at the period of the Revolution.

Preparations for Battle.

On the island

at the western end of the bridge are two or three houses and a tide-mill, and upon the one at the Norfolk side, where Dunmore cast up intrenchments, is a wind-mill, seen on the extreme left in the preceding picture. The marsh is covered with osiers, and tall coarse grass; and the whole scene, though picturesque, is rather dreary in aspect. Let us observe what history has chronicled respecting the Great Bridge and vicinity.

We have already considered the flight of Dunmore from Williamsburg, and his attempt to destroy Hampton, and have alluded to his raising the royal standard at Norfolk, and proclaiming martial law throughout the colony, and freedom to the slaves. He made Norfolk harbor the rendezvous for the British fleet, and determined there to establish the headquarters of ministerial power in the Old Dominion. Previous to making an effort to take possession of the town, he sent a few soldiers and sailors ashore, under cover of the guns of the ships, to carry off John Holt's printing establishment, which was doing good service for the patriot cause. Holt, though a high churchman, was an ardent and uncompromising Whig. This outrage was committed, and two of Holt's workmen were taken away prisoners, without resistance from the people. The Tories were numerous, and the Whigs were overawed. The corporation of Norfolk sent a letter of remonstrance to Dunmore; it was answered by insult.' This insult was followed by violence. Hampton was attacked, and depredations were committed upon the shores of the Elizabeth and James Rivers. Repelled with spirit, Dunmore resolved to strike a blow of terror. With his motley force he penetrated Princess Anne county, to plunder and lay waste. He was successful, and emboldened thereby, declared open war. All Lower Virginia was aroused, and the government directed its whole attention to the portion of the state thus menaced. It was at this time that Dunmore's attempt to bring the Indians upon the colonists was made known. The people burned with fierce indignation. Colonel Woodford, who afterward became a brigadier general in the Continental army, was sent with a detachment of minute-men into Norfolk county, and the militia of that section were called to arms. Adjutant Bullit accompanied him. Perceiving these preparations, Dunmore became alarmed. He constructed batteries and intrenchments at Norfolk, armed the blacks and Tories, and ordered the country people to send their cattle to the city for his use, under penalties for disobedience. bridge are seen piles of wood and lumber, the chief articles of trade there. The causeway is seen extending on the right, to the island on the Norfolk side, whereon is a wind-mill constructed several years ago by a man whose acumen was certainly not remarkable. Placed in the midst of a morass and surrounded by trees, its sails never revolved, and it remains a monument of folly. It stands upon the site of the southern extremities of the fortifications thrown up by Dunmore, and serves the useful purpose of a guide to the remains of those works.

1 The municipal authorities informed Dunmore that they could easily have prevented the removal of the type, but preferred a peaceable course, and asked for the immediate return of the persons and property illegally carried away. Dunmore replied that he had done the people of Norfolk good service by depriving them of the means of having their minds poisoned by rebellious doctrines, and intimated that cowardice alone prevented their interfering wher. the types were carried to the fleet. Holt went to Williamsburg, where he had formerly resided and held the office of mayor, and published a severe arWIND-MILL: ticle against Dunmore. He then went to New York, where, ten years before, he had published the New York Gazette and Post Boy, in company with James Parker, and established a newspaper. When the British took possession of the city, he left it, and published his journal at Esopus and Poughkeepsie. While at the former place, he published Burgoyne's pompous proclamation, noticed on page 133, volume i.; and while at the latter, he sent forth to the world the dreadful account of the Wyoming massacre, which he received from the flying fugitives. Holt died January thirtieth, 1784, aged sixty-four years. His widow printed a memorial of him on cards, which she distributed among their friends.* -See Thomas's History of Printing, ii., 105.

*The following is a copy of the memorial preserved in Alden's Collection of American Epitaphs, i., 271: "A due tribute to the memory of John Holt, printer to this state, a native of Virginia, who patiently obeyed Death's awful summons, on the thir tieth of January, 1784, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. To say that his family lament him, is needless; that his friends be wail him, useless; that all regret him, unnecessary; for that he merited every esteem, is certain. The tongue of slander can not say less, though justice might say more. In token of sincere affection, his disconsolate widow hath caused this memorial to be erected."