On this day 250 years ago, Lt. Matthew Squire of the Royal Navy commanding a flotilla of the 14-gun HMS Otter, the sloop HMS Hawke, another sloop and two tenders, entered the Hampton River to bombard Hampton, Virginia. The 25 men of Capt. George Nicholas’s company of the 2nd Virginia Regiment on one side of the Hampton River, and 30 Gloucester Minutemen commanded by Capt. George Lyne on the other side of the river, plus a few militia from Hampton opened fire on the British fleet. The British fired four-pounder cannons and muskets at the Patriots but the Virginians suffered no casualties, and reportedly killed one British sailor and wounded others. The battle would continue to the next day and the British would continue to get the worst of the fighting.
Sources:
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/the-battle-of-hampton-october-26-27-1775/
Today, October 26, 2025, there is a commemoration of the Battle of Hampton.
On This Day In The Revolution 