VA, USA
Loyalist Exodus from Norfolk
December 1, 1775
As patriot control tightened over Norfolk in late 1775, Loyalist families fled to Dunmore's ships in the harbor or attempted to leave the colony entirely. The exodus included some of Norfolk's wealthiest merchants, whose commercial connections to Britain made them targets of patriot hostility. Andrew Sprowle, the town's richest merchant and owner of the Gosport shipyard, died aboard a British ship in the harbor.
The Loyalist exodus stripped Norfolk of much of its commercial expertise and capital. The departures, combined with the subsequent destruction of the town, transformed Norfolk from Virginia's busiest port into a depopulated ruin. Rebuilding would take years, and the prewar commercial elite never returned. Norfolk's Revolutionary experience was defined as much by what was lost as by what was gained.
People Involved
Virginia's last royal governor, who issued the proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who joined the British — a measure that enraged patriot Virginia and deepened the colony's commitment to independence. Dunmore directed the bombardment of Norfolk from his ships on January 1, 1776, before eventually withdrawing from Virginia entirely.
One of Norfolk's wealthiest merchants and owner of the Gosport shipyard, Sprowle was a committed Loyalist who supported Dunmore and provided supplies to British forces. His property was targeted by patriot forces, and he died aboard a British ship in the harbor in 1776, his fortune destroyed.