During the War of 1812, British forces invaded the Chesapeake Bay and captured the town of Hampton. After American forces rebuffed Vice Admiral Sir John B. Warren's attack at Craney Island on June 22, 1813, Warren ordered Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn to capture Hampton. American troops from the 115th Virginia Militia Regiment under Major Stapleton Crutchfeild placed guns along the Hampton River to defend the town. The British attack began at 4 A.M. on June 25, 1813, when Cockburn’s force of 2,500 infantry and marines, guided by escaped slaves in exchange for their freedom, landed near Indian River. The British then maneuvered northeast along Celey Plantation Road, now Shell Road. About 450 of Crutchfield’s Virginia militiamen met them at the intersection of Celey Plantation Road and Main Road, now Queen Street, but realizing his force was vastly outnumbered, Crutchfield ordered a retreat to the Tabb area of the Peninsula. British forces occupied and plundered Hampton between June 24 and June 27, 1813. Similar defeats along the Atlantic coastline during the War of 1812 later motivated the United States to build large fortifications to deter future European invaders, including Hampton’s Fort Monroe, begun in 1822 and the largest stone fortification built in the United States.
