Colonel Stevens and his little band remained upon the site of Norfolk, until February,1776 when, having removed the families and appraised the dwellings which remained, he caused them to be destroyed, that the enemy might have no shelter. Thus the most flourishing town in Virginia was made an utter desolation; ** but its eligible location insured its phonix-like resurrection, and again, when peace returned, "beauty for ashes" soon characterized the spot. Howe divided his troops; some were stationed at Kemp's Landing, some at the Great Bridge, and others in Suffolk, whither most of the fugitives from the city fled, and found open-handed hospitality in the interior.
Dunmore's movements on the coast compelled the Virginians to exercise the most active vigilance. After Howe abandoned the site of Norfolk, the fugitive governor erected barracks there, but being prevented from obtaining supplies from the neighboring country, he destroyed them, sailed down the Elizabeth River, and after maneuvering for a while in Hampton Roads,May, 1776 he finally landed upon Gwyn's Island, in Chesapeake Bay, on the east side of Matthew's county, near the mouth of the Piankatank River. This island contains about two thousand acres, and was remarkable for its fertility and beauty. Dunmore's force consisted of about five hundred men, white and black. He cast up some intrenchments, and built a stockade fort, with the evident intention of making that his place of rendezvous while plundering and desolating the plantations on the neighboring coast.
General Andrew Lewis, *** then in command of a brigade of Virginia troops, was sent by the Committee of Safety to dislodge Dunmore. On the eighth of July, he erected two batteries (one mounting two eighteen pounders, and the other bearing lighter guns), nearly opposite the point on the island where the enemy was encamped. The next morning,July 9, 1776 at eight o'clock, Lewis gave the signal for attack, by applying a match, himself, to
* Virginia Gazette, January, 1776. Burk, iii., 451. Howison, ii., 109.
** When Dunmore destroyed Norfolk, its population was six thousand, and so rapidly was it increasing in business and wealth, that in the two years from 1773 to 1775, the rents in the city increased from forty thousand to fifty thousand dollars a year. The actual loss by the cannonade and conflagration was estimated at fifteen hundred thousand dollars; the personal suffering was inconceivable.
*** Andrew Lewis was a native of Augusta county, in Virginia. With five brothers, he was in the battle when Braddock was defeated, and continued active during ihe war. He was a major in Washington's Virginia regiment, and was highly esteemed by him for his courage and skill. He was the commander, as already noticed on page 487, at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. When Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental army, he recommended Lewis as one of the major generals, but he was overlooked. He accepted the office of a brigadier general, and commanded a detachment of the army stationed near Williamsburg. He drove Dunmore from Gwyn's Island in 1776, and resigned his command on account of illness in 1780. He died in Bedford county, forty miles from his home, on the Roanoke, while on his way thither. General Lewis was more than six feet in height, and possessed great personal dignity.
Attack upon Dunmore.—His Flight.—Distress upon Gwyn's Island.—Destruction of Properly by Collier and Matthews.