REVOLUTIONARY SHORE: Independence Momentum Builds as British Raid Hits Chincoteague and Wallops Islands

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By Kellee Blake

May 18, 1776  

On this very day, 250 years ago . . . 

Members of Congress continued the May 17 day of “fasting, prayer, and humiliation” proclaimed by the Second Continental Congress. Virginia delegate George Wythe took advantage of the break in meetings to send a powerful letter to his colleague Edmund Pendleton, presiding officer of the Fifth Virginia Convention gathered in Williamsburg. Wythe also sent Pendleton a “preamble” by John Adams which stated that “every kind of authority under said crown should be totally suppressed.” Adams insisted all government power should lie with the people of the colonies and Congress agreed.  The course forward was clear—total independence.      

May 18 was a warm Saturday for the folks on Chincoteague and Wallops Islands. Most were about their chores and usual pursuits as the sails of a sloop, two schooners, and three tenders coursed into Chincoteague Inlet.  Islanders held their breath as forty British soldiers and sailors disembarked on Wallops, quickly moved across their land, and demanded one of the tenants gather and pen all his cattle.  The intruders said they were badly in need of provisions, promised to do no damage unless provoked, and assured the tenant they would pay him. 

The British reportedly killed six bulls and took two alive. Island witnesses said the soldiers seemed afraid of them and were in a hurry to leave. They sailed away without paying and took “eight lean bullocks” to Lord Dunmore’s fleet near Norfolk.  The beef would be a small addition to the massive pantry the British leader required to feed his followers as they moved to Gwynn Island near the Piankatank on the Western Shore.    

It all left a bad taste in the mouths of Shoremen who understood the British war would not remain on the water.  If this enemy would land and raid at will to procure provisions, what next?   Shoremen asked Congress for more guards and, soon enough, an earthen works fort was erected at Wallops Island.  Good thing, because these stinging British attacks on land and sea would come against Shore property for the next seven years.  

Join WESR on the 4th of each month to learn more about Virginia and the Shore’s role in the War for Independence.  America’s 250th Anniversary is here!