Whether Bacon could have enlisted the peoples of Carolina and Maryland in his cause, secured naval and military aid from the Dutch, and anticipated the American Revolution by a century, must remain in the realm of speculation. But before he could proceed far with his plans he suffered an irreparable disaster—he lost command of the water.
In Bacon's Rebellion, as in the Revolution and the War between the States, the great Virginia rivers made it possible for the side which had superior naval forces to penetrate into the heart of the country, while they proved a barrier to the movement of troops by land. So when several merchant vessels, which Bacon had seized and armed, fell into Berkeley's hands, leaving him the undisputed master in Virginia waters, the rebel cause became almost hopeless.[48]
Yet it is remarkable that when the Governor had assembled a formidable force, brought them up the James, and occupied Jamestown, Bacon succeeded in driving him out. The place seemed impregnable, since the only approach was over a narrow isthmus, protected by barricades and guarded by the cannon of the ships in the river. Berkeley himself supplies the explanation when he reported that his men refused to fight, but in spite of his urgent pleas, hurried him on shipboard and away.[49]
So Bacon's men entered the little capital unopposed. But they realized that they could not hold it, for Berkeley's fleet was still nearby, while other loyalist forces were threatening from the north. After a consultation, the leaders decided to burn the town. Lawrence applied the torch to his own house. Drummond to his, Bacon to the little church, others to Berkeley's five houses, and the statehouse.[50] As Berkeley saw the flames rising above the rooftops and reflected on the waters of the James he cursed the cowardice of the men who had forced him to desert the place.
But now the end was at hand for Bacon. While at the house of Major Thomas Pate, in Gloucester County, he became ill of dysentery. As he lay on his deathbed, he kept inquiring whether the redcoats had arrived, and whether there was a strong guard around the house. We do not know whether his wife was there to comfort him in his last hours, but it is probable that she was far away at Curles Neck. He died October 26, 1676. Knowing that Berkeley would want to expose the body on a gibbet, Lawrence is said to have disposed of it in secret, probably with a night service somewhere in the Virginia woods, and then to have had a public funeral with a casket weighted with stones.[51]
Bacon was mourned in many a humble cottage throughout the colony. Who now would lead the people in their struggle to gain their rights? One of his followers wrote in touching verse that death had ended "our hopes of safety, liberty, our all."[52] There was no one else who had won the confidence and affection of the people to take his place.
The struggle continued for three more months, the rebels won more victories, but something like anarchy ensued. There was no central government, some of the county courts were closed, crops were rotting in the fields, servants and slaves left their masters to join the rebel forces, there was indiscriminate plundering, the masters of the incoming merchant vessels refused to sell their goods to the rebels or buy what tobacco they had on hand.
As soon as Berkeley got his hands on some of Bacon's followers, he began a series of executions unparalleled in American history. Thomas Hansford pleaded that he might be shot like a soldier, but Sir William told him he was condemned, not as a soldier, but as a rebel. As he stood on the scaffold he addressed the assembled crowd, declaring that he died a loyal subject and lover of his country.[53] When Major Cheeseman was brought before the Governor, his wife rushed in to plead that she be hanged and her husband spared. Berkeley spurned her with a vile insult. Cheeseman cheated the hangman by dying in prison.[54] But Captain Wilford, George Farloe, Thomas Young, and others soon followed Hansford to the gallows.
The end came before the arrival of the English troops. Group after group surrendered, and their leaders took the oath of loyalty, kissed the Governor's hand, and were pardoned. But there was no pardon for Bacon's two chief advisers. "I so much hate Drummond and Lawrence that though they could put the country in peace into my hands, I would not accept it from such villains," Berkeley declared.[55]
Lawrence escaped. He was last seen with four others on the extreme frontier, riding through the snow and disappearing into the forest. Their fate is unknown. Drummond was found hiding in Chickahominy Swamp and brought before the Governor. He was greeted with a mocking bow. "Mr. Drummond, you are very welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour." He was treated with savage brutality, and then, after the pretence of a trial, hurried off to the scaffold.[56]