Today in Hampton History 1813 – The 2500 British troops under Colonel Sidney Beckwith defeat 450 local militia near what is today the intersection of Queen Street and LaSalle Avenue (the British losing five men with 33 wounded, the Patriots losing nine men with 10 wounded), and march a mile to seize the strategically unimportant town of Hampton, in order to reward their men with loot and an easy victory. Looking down upon the inhabitants as “peasants,” the British rob many homes, commit rape, and kill one ancient bedridden Hamptonian “by mistake” in attempting to shoot his bothersome dog. The British fleet seizes Old Point Comfort; after using the lighthouse built there by the Jefferson administration in 1802 as an observation tower, they sail into Hampton Creek to fire on American batteries on Blackbeard’s Point and Cedar Point, driving away the gunners. They join the land forces in the sack of the town. Admiral Sir George Cockburn and General Beckwith use the stately Westwood home on King St. as their headquarters.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 17:46:39 +0000
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