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We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.-Thomas Paine

The whole country can easily be made a solitude, and by the living God, if any insult is offered to me, or to those who have obeyed my orders, I will declare freedom to the slaves, and lay the town in ashes.- Earl of Dunmore, His Majesty’s Lieutenant and Governor General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, to the Mayor of Williamsburg, 1775

The British are using every art to seduce the Negroes.-Robert Carter Nicholas, Virginia Patriot

Dunmore should be instantly crushed . . . otherwise, like a snowball rolling, his army will get size. –George Washington to Joseph Reed, December 15, 1775


As I have ever entertained Hopes, that an Accommodation might have taken Place between Great Britain and this Colony, without being compelled by my Duty to this most disagreeable but now absolutely necessary Step, rendered so by a Body of armed Men unlawfully assembled, firing on His Majesty’s Tenders, and the formation of an Army, and that Army now on their March to attack his Majesty’s Troops and destroy the well disposed subjects of the Colony. To defeat such treasonable Purposes, and that all such Traitors, and their Abettors, may be brought to Justice, and that the Peace, and good Order of this Colony may be again restored, which the ordinary Course of the Civil Law is unable to effect; I have thought fit to issue this my Proclamation, hereby declaring, that until the aforesaid good Purpose can be obtained, I do in Virtue of the Power and Authority to ME given, by His Majesty . . . declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His MAJESTY'S Troops as soon as may be . . .

God Save the King.

-Governor, November 7, 1775​


December is a cold month, even if you’re in Virginia. And if you’re camped along the Elizabeth River, in a swampland where your clothes never dried, without blankets, tents, or shoes, it can be downright shitty. [1] Such, at least, was the feeling among the Second Virginia Regiment and the Culpepper Minutemen who were camped outside Fort Murray. The warmth of patriotism was well and good, but a pair of dry socks would be nice too. But they were fighting for the freedom of their country, so there was nothing to do but grin and bear it. After all, if they lost... who knew the consequences would be devastating.

For on the other side of the river, across what the locals called “The Great Bridge” [2], lay Fort Murray, Lord Dunmore’s chokehold on communications between Virginia and North Carolina. Fort Murray was a small stockade, with only a four-pounder cannons, but it controlled the main route between the colonies, and acted as an outpost of Lord Dunmore's control of the region around Norfolk. And if one of the militia officers peered through a spyglass, he could see another reason Fort Murray and Lord Dunmore were a threat: African troops, wearing sashes that proclaimed “Liberty to the Slaves.” [3]

Could there be any greater threat to Virginia’s freedom?

By December 10th, Lieutenant Woodford, Commander of the American forces, was getting desperate. The weather was crappy, his troops were complaining, and the British seemed happy to wait in their fortress. But what else was there to do? [4] And so, on December 14, the Americans went forth.

It was not the best of plans. The British had removed planking from the bridge across the river, and so the Americans had to construct a quick bridge to toss across the river, using what wood they could find in the area.[5] The plan was to attack early in the morning before the sun rose, and to their credit, the Americans marched quietly, catching the British off guard until they were almost at the causeway. But a Briton managed to raise the alarm [6], and soon the Americans were exposed to withering fire from cannon and musket.


Although this painting ostensibly depicts the Battle of Great Bridge, the black soldier is dressed in the uniform of the Black Pioneers, who saw action in the Midatlantic Colonies. The Ethiopian Regiment wore white uniforms with a black sash until 1776, when they began to be issued red uniforms in line with British practice

The Americans did not even make it to the stockade, and were forced to withdraw under gunfire and cannonshot back to their position. By the end of the battle, some three hundred Americans were dead and twenty-five British. [7] The casualties were bad enough, but the strategic consequences were far worse. Lord Dunmore’s forces had retained control over the route between the Southern colonies and Virginia; his troops, a motley assortment of British soldiers, Scottish immigrants, tories, and slaves, had bested the yeomen of Virginia; and those predicting a short, victorious war could now help but wonder at the future.

Little wonder that Lord Dunmore could confidently write home that “for Christmas this year, I shall present his majesty with a subjugated Virginia.”

And then things got complicated.



[1] Or as Lieutenant Woodford, commander of the American forces at the battle, wrote,

. "The enemy are strongly fortified on the other side of the bridge, and a great number of the negroes and tories with them; my prisoners disagree as to the numbers. We are situated here in the mud and mire, exposed to every hardship that can be conceived, but the want of provisions, of which our stock is but small, the men suffering for shoes; and if ever soldiers deserved a second blanket in any service, they do in this; our stock of ammunition much reduced.”

[2] I didn’t name it.

[3] Lord Dunmore’s proclamation is OTL, and was not based on any desires for emancipation on the part of all slaves, or anything so astounding. Rather, he recognizes that the Southern economy is built on slavery and indentured labor, and hoped to scare the Virginians into submission with the threat of an army of slaves and indentured servants.

But as Washington warned, once the ball starts rolling…

[4] This is the POD. On December 9th, Lord Dunmore attacked because he received an intelligence report estimating that the Americans only had 300 troops. In ATL he never receives any such report, and remains in the fortress.

[5] Fortunately there were some loyalist houses in the area which provided a ready source of raw material.

[6] Because of the narrow length of the bridge, the British had to march six abreast; so do the Americans, going the opposite way.

Future historians will debate whether it was one of the local tories (Scotch highlanders, actually), a British soldier, or an escaped slave who called out the alarm. Nobody will actually care except for some overworked grad students.

[7] In OTL, when Lord Dunmore tried to march across the causeway and attack the fortified American position, there were about 100 casualties on the British side, and someone on the American side lost a thumb.
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