Gwynn's Island

On July 8, 1776, Gen. Andrew Lewis and Virginia militia established an artillery battery at Fort Cricket Hill to attack Lord Dunmore’s camp on Gwynn’s Island. Without boats, Lewis was unable to launch a land attack on Dunmore’s camp.  Instead, Lewis used an artillery barrage from Fort Cricket Hill to attack Dunmore’s camp and ships on July 9.  Dunmore and his troops retreated from Gwynn’s Island that night.

This engagement marked the end of royal authority in Virginia when Gov. Dunmore abandoned Gwynn's Island and Virginia for the safety of naval vessels and Maryland. The established government effectively ceased to exist, and the revolutionaries filled the vacuum. The battle also marked the end of combat in Virginia for about three years, as the war for independence became concentrated, like the British army, in the northern colonies.