Lord Dunmore's War Dunmore arrived in
Williamsburg to take up the post of royal governor of the
Colony of Virginia on 25 September 1771. Despite growing issues with Great Britain, his predecessor, Lord Botetourt, had been a popular governor, even though he served only two years. Integrating himself into Virginia's
slavocracy, Dunmore purchased two
slave plantations in the colony, owning almost 100 slaves. As Virginia's colonial governor, Dunmore directed a series of campaigns against the Indians known as
Lord Dunmore's War. The
Shawnee were the main target of these attacks. He aimed to strengthen Virginia's claims in the west, particularly in the
Ohio Country. However, as a byproduct, it was known he would increase his power base. Some even accused Dunmore of colluding with the Shawnees and arranging the war to deplete the
Virginia militia and help safeguard the
Loyalist cause, should there be a colonial rebellion. Dunmore, in his history of the Indian Wars, denied these accusations.
Battle for control Lacking diplomatic skills, Dunmore tried to govern without consulting the
House of Burgesses of the
Colonial Assembly for more than a year, which exacerbated an already tense situation.
Richard Henry Lee would later write of the deeply unpopular governor that, if British administrators had "searched through the world for a person the best fitted to ruin their cause and procure union and success for these Colonies, they could not have found a more complete Agent than Lord Dunmore." In March 1775, Patrick Henry's "
Give me Liberty or give me Death!" speech delivered at
St. John's Episcopal Church in
Richmond helped convince delegates to approve a resolution calling for armed resistance. In the face of rising unrest in the colony, Dunmore sought to deprive Virginia's militia of military supplies. Dunmore gave the key to the
Williamsburg magazine to Lieutenant Henry Colins, commander of HMS
Magdalen, and ordered him to remove the powder, provoking what became known as the
Gunpowder Incident. On the night of 20 April 1775, royal marines loaded fifteen half-barrels of powder into the governor's wagon, intent on transporting it down the
Quarterpath Road to the James River and the British warship. Local militia rallied, and word of the incident spread across the colony.
Confrontation with the Hanover militia The Hanover militia, led by Patrick Henry, arrived outside Williamsburg on 3 May. That same day, Dunmore evacuated his family from the
Governor's Palace to his hunting lodge,
Porto Bello, in nearby
York County. On 6 May, Dunmore issued a proclamation against "a
certain Patrick Henry ... and a Number of deluded Followers" who had organised "an Independent Company ... and put themselves in a Posture of War." on 8 June, Dunmore took refuge on the British warship in the York River. Over the following months, Dunmore sent many raiding parties to plunder plantations along the
James,
York, and
Potomac rivers, particularly those owned by rebels. The British raiding parties exacerbated tensions by plundering Patriot supplies and encouraging their slaves to rebel. In December,
George Washington, who had been installed only months before as commander in chief of the Continental Army, commented, "I do not think that forcing his lordship on shipboard is sufficient. Nothing less than depriving him of life or liberty will secure peace to Virginia, as motives of resentment actuate his conduct to a degree equal to the total destruction of that colony." Dunmore organized these
Black Loyalists into the
Ethiopian Regiment. However, despite winning the
Battle of Kemp's Landing on 17 November 1775, Dunmore lost decisively at the
Battle of Great Bridge on 9 December 1775. Following that defeat, Dunmore loaded his troops and many Virginia Loyalists onto Royal Navy ships waiting offshore. Smallpox spread in the confined quarters, and some 500 of the 800 members of the Ethiopian Regiment died.
Final skirmishes and return to Britain On New Year's Day in 1776, Dunmore gave orders to burn waterfront buildings in
Norfolk from which patriot troops were firing on his ships. However, the fire spread. The
city burned, and with it, any hope that Dunmore's loyalists could return to Virginia. Dunmore retreated to New York. Some ships of his refugee fleet were sent south, mainly to
Florida.
Esek Hopkins, the new commander of the American navy, was given orders in early January 1776 to pursue Dunmore, who the Virginians viewed as a pirate, but Hopkins selected the Bahamas as a better target. When Dunmore realized he could not regain control in Virginia, he returned to Britain in July 1776. Dunmore continued to draw his pay as the colony's governor until 1783, when Britain recognized American independence. ==Colonial governor of the Bahamas==