10/27/2026
Today in Hampton History
1775 - A British fleet approaches Hampton and opens fire, beginning the Battle of Hampton - the first battle of the Revolutionary War outside New England.
The attack on Hampton was in retaliation for locals’ destruction of a small British ship grounded near Hampton in a storm in early September. For weeks afterward, tension simmered between Hampton’s town leaders and British colonial officials, before erupting at Hampton on October 26 and 27.
At the center of the dispute was Joseph Harris, an enslaved harbor pilot who had escaped to British ships in July. Harris helped part of the British crew escape from the September wreck before a party from Hampton boarded the ship, removed its equipment and supplies, and set fire to the hull.
Capt. Matthew Squire, commander of the British fleet in Virginia, demanded that the “king’s stores” from the ship be returned to him. Hampton’s town leaders refused, demanding first that Joseph Harris and dozens of other enslaved people on board British ships be forcibly returned and that loyalist squads cease seizing livestock and other supplies from locals.
Both sides refused to back down and prepared for confrontation. Virginia’s revolutionary government stationed troops at Hampton to defend against an attack, and local watermen barricaded the Hampton River with sunken ships.
The British fleet arrived at the mouth of the Hampton River on the morning of October 26. Capt. Squire made a final warning to Hampton, threatening to attack if the naval stores taken in September were not returned.
Receiving no answer, Squire prepared his assault but was blocked from taking his fleet into the barricaded Hampton River. Local militia, troops from the 2nd Virginia Regiment, and King & Queen County minutemen scrambled to what is now Merrimac Shores to engage the British fleet from the waterfront.
Fighting on the first day of the battle lasted over an hour before the Virginians’ heavy fire from shore forced Squire’s fleet to retreat. Reinforcements rushed overnight from Williamsburg to defend the town. Meanwhile, British sailors began cutting through the Hampton River barricade to renew the attack the next day.
1775 - The Battle of Hampton, the first battle of the Revolutionary War outside New England, continues.
The previous day, a British fleet commanded by Capt. Matthew Squire had approached Hampton and prepared to attack. Virginia troops engaged Squire’s flotilla from the Merrimac Shores waterfront, forcing them to withdraw for the day.
As the morning of October 27 dawned, Virginia reinforcements rushed into Hampton from Williamsburg, and British sailors worked feverishly to cut through the sunken ships blockading the mouth of the Hampton River.
At 8 AM, British cannon opened fire, and 2nd Virginia Regiment regulars, militia, and minutemen took up positions in houses and temporary fortifications on Hampton’s waterfront. The Virginians’ heavy musket fire kept the British flotilla from making an effective attack, and after about 90 minutes they began to withdraw.
The Hawke, a small British boat, was captured in the melee. Aboard the Hawke was Joseph Harris, an enslaved harbor pilot who had escaped to the British fleet in July. Harris jumped overboard to escape along with the boat’s commander Lt. John Wright, and the two swam to the opposite shore before being picked up by another British boat.
Captured on the Hawke were 6-7 white men (2 mortally wounded), 1 white woman, and Tom and Tawley, two enslaved men who had also escaped to British ships. The surviving white prisoners were later released, while Tom and Tawley were re-enslaved and eventually taken to the Caribbean to be sold. Throughout the war, over 10,000 people joined Joseph Harris, Tom, and Tawley in allying with the British to escape slavery.
Freedom Seekers like Joseph Harris, Tom, and Tawley were at the center of the dispute between Hampton town leaders and Capt. Squire that led to the Battle of Hampton. In early September, Harris and Squire were aboard a small British ship that ran aground near Hampton in a storm. Harris helped Squire escape, and a party from Hampton boarded the ship, took its supplies and equipment, and burned the hull.
Squire demanded that the “king’s stores” be returned, but Hampton’s revolutionary committee first demanded that Squire return Harris and dozens of other enslaved people on board British ships and stop raids to seize food and supplies for the British fleet.
Squire refused to return Harris and other Black Loyalists, on whom the fleet relied as pilots and guides. With their demands unmet, revolutionaries in Hampton retained the British supplies, and Squire prepared his attack on Hampton in October. By 1776, an official state navy had grown out of Hampton mariners’ battles against Capt. Squire’s fleet, and the Virginia Navy defended the state throughout the war.
The Battle of Hampton - the first battle of the Revolutionary War outside New England - put Hampton on the front lines of the Revolution and threw Virginia “into a perfect frenzy.” The American victory at Hampton on October 26 and 27 helped change public opinion toward independence and spurred Virginia’s influence in the Continental Congress.
Learn more in our exhibit "Revolutionary Hampton: Journeys of Liberty" on view now! https://www.hampton.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/5798
Image: “Attack on Hampton,” from Mary Tucker Magill, History of Virginia for the Use of Schools, 1890.
Explore more:
https://allthingsliberty.com/.../a-tale-of-two-cities.../
https://allthingsliberty.com/.../lord-dunmores.../
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/.../dunmore-john-murray.../
