Skirmish of Kempsville

Battle of Kemp's Landing
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Detail of a 1770s map of eastern Virginia. Oriented with North at the bottom of the map, Kemp's Landing is near the center of the map, and Norfolk is to its right (west).
Date November 15, 1775 Location Kemp's Landing, Virginia; now in Virginia Beach, Virginia 36°49′37″N 76°09′37″W / 36.82694°N 76.16028°W / 36.82694; -76.16028Coordinates: 36°49′37″N 76°09′37″W / 36.82694°N 76.16028°W / 36.82694; -76.16028 Result British victory
Belligerents
Province of Virginia Patriots	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Hutchings (POW) Anthony Lawson	John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
Strength
170 militia	100 infantry 20 militia
Casualties and losses
7 killed or wounded 18 captured	1 wounded

The Battle of Kemp's Landing, also known as the Skirmish of Kempsville, was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775. Militia companies from Princess Anne County in the Province of Virginia assembled at Kemp's Landing to counter British troops under the command of Virginia's last colonial governor, John Murray, Lord Dunmore, that had landed at nearby Great Bridge. Dunmore was investigating rumors of Patriot troop arrivals from North Carolina that turned out to be false; he instead moved against the Princess Anne militia, defeating their attempt at an ambush and routing them.

Dunmore followed up the victory with a reading of his proclamation declaring martial law and promising freedom to slaves belonging to Patriot owners if they served in the British military. This increased opposition to his activities, and he was eventually forced to leave Virginia.

Tensions in the British Colony of Virginia were raised in April 1775 at roughly the same time that the hostilities of the American Revolutionary War broke out in the Province of Massachusetts Bay with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Rebellious Whigs in control of the provincial assembly had begun recruiting troops by March 1775, leading to a struggle for control of the colony's military supplies. Under orders from John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, British troops removed gunpowder from the colonial storehouse in Williamsburg, alarming the Whigs that dominated the colonial legislature. Although the incident was resolved without violence, Dunmore, fearing for his personal safety, left Williamsburg in June 1775 and placed his family on board a Royal Navy ship. He then assembled a small British fleet at Norfolk, a port town whose merchants had significant Loyalist (Tory) tendencies. The threat posed by this fleet may have played a role in minimizing Whig activity in the town.

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