Mathews County, with an area of 94 square miles, was formed in 1790 from Gloucester and named for Colonel Thomas Mathews, a Revolutionary soldier. Gwynn's Island, from which Dunmore was driven in 1776, is here. Gloucester County, with an area of 223 square miles, was formed in 1651 from York and named for Gloucester County, England. Bacon, the Rebel, died in this county in 1676. Gloucester Point was the outpost of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.