250 and Counting

Category: Battle of Great Bridge

  • The Burning of Norfolk–January 1, 1776

    Cover art for January 1, 1776: "Incident in the Burning of Norfolk," engraving, artist unknown. Originally appeared as an illustration in Cassell's History of the United States in the late 1870s.
    “Incident in the Burning of Norfolk,” engraving, artist unknown. Originally appeared as an illustration in Cassell’s History of the United States in the late 1870s.

    Happy New Year to you!

    The burning of Norfolk was the follow-up to the Battle of Great Bridge and the Patriot occupation of that town. Colonel Howe probably overplayed his hand with this one, and the consequences were catastrophic for the town.

    The Declaration of Independence is just a few months away, now, and (spoiler alert) the part you may be most anticipating doesn’t happen on July 4. But in the meantime, there’s lots and lots of extremely historic things for us to talk about in the run-up to the Declaration, and the immediate aftermath.

    Running through 1775, one day at a time, has been a huge privilege for us, and we hope you’ll stay with us through 1776. This was a project that I’d been thinking about for a long time, longer than I’ve known my partner, Mike Messner. And when I suggested to him that we team up, he jumped on the idea immediately. He’s been instrumental in helping with the research, with brainstorming the ideas, and with keeping me committed to the idea of actually doing a podcast that runs every single day.

    We put a couple of hours into researching, writing, recording, (sometimes re-writing and re-recording) and editing these episodes, and I hope the effort shows. Thank you so much for taking this ride with us, and here’s to the next year.

    Have a wonderful 2026!

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  • Washington Has Some Intel–December 18, 1775

    Cover art for December 18, 1775: A hand-colored printed halftone of a 19th-century illustration of George Washington writing at his desk.
    A hand-colored printed halftone of a 19th-century illustration of George Washington writing at his desk.

    Military Intelligence is a peculiar thing, if only because you never know where it’s going to come from, and/or what it’s going to affect.

    And that’s where today’s episode comes in, because Congress received a letter written today which detailed some plans for British military activity in Virginia. What’s surprising is that the intelligence came from…George Washington, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Washington was the lucky recipient of food that had been intercepted on its way to the British folks under siege in Boston. He also received several documents outlining plans that were afoot in Virginia, and he dutifully passed them along.

    Most of it was related to Great Bridge, which had already seen some action, but it still put Congress wise to the fact that the war wasn’t only taking place in the northeast, and that military intelligence can come from anywhere.

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  • The Battle of Great Bridge–December 9, 1775

    Cover art for December 9, 1775: Sketch of the Battle of Great Bridge by Lord Rawdon. Title: A view of the Great Bridge near Norfolk in Virginia where the action happened between a detachment of the 14th Regt: & a body of the rebels. Key: A. A stockade fort thrown up by the regulars before the action. B. Entrenchments of the rebels. C. A narrow causeway by which the regulars were forced to advance to the attack. D. The church occupied by the rebels. Once again, the map has North toward the bottom.
    Note once again that the map is drawn with North on the bottom. Hover to get the guide to the markers.

    The Battle of Great Bridge is a little bit overlooked these days, and more’s the pity. It was the first battle in Virginia, it was a big victory for Patriot troops, the Royal Governor and his crowd got pushed out altogether, and nobody died on the Patriot side.

    On the British side, about 100 soldiers were dead. The last time the British lost a substantial number of troops, it was at Bunker Hill, which they won. (The vocabulary word you seek is “Pyrrhic Victory.”)

    Best of all, it fueled Virginia’s moves toward independence.

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