--driven by his fears, and his desire for
revenge, to destroy the property of the patriots, sent Captain Squires,
of the British navy, with six tenders, into Hampton Creek.

"He reached there before the arrival of Colonel Woodford--who, with
a hundred Culpepper men, had been sent to protect the people of
Hampton--and sent armed men in boats to burn the town; protecting
them by a furious cannonade from the guns of the tenders.

"But they were baffled in the carrying out of their design; being driven
off by Virginia riflemen, concealed in the houses. Excellent marksmen
those Virginians were, and picked off so many of the advancing foe that
they compelled them to take ignominious flight to their boats and return
to the vessels, which then had to withdraw beyond the reach of the
rifles to await reinforcements."

"What is a tender, papa?" asked Grace, as her father paused in his
narrative.

"A small vessel that attends on a larger one to convey intelligence and
supply stores," he replied; then went on with his account of Dunmore's
repulse.

"Woodford and his men reached Hampton about daybreak of the succeeding
morning. At sunrise they saw the hostile fleet approaching; it came so
near as to be within rifle shot, and Woodford bade his men fire with
caution, taking sure aim. They obeyed and picked off so many from every
part of the vessels that the seamen were soon seized with a great
terror. The cannons were silenced,--the men who worked them being shot
down,--and their commander presently ordered a retreat; but that was
difficult to accomplish, for any one seen at the helm, or aloft,
adjusting the sails, was sure to become a target for the sharpshooters;
in consequence many of the sailors retreated to the holds of the
vessels, and when their commander ordered them out on the dangerous
duty, refused to obey.

"The victory for the Americans was complete; before the fleet could
escape, the Hampton people, with Woodford and his soldiers, had sunk
five vessels."

"And such a victory!" exclaimed Rosie, in an exultant tone.

"Yes," the captain said, smiling at her enthusiasm.

"Were the houses they fired on the very ones that are there now, papa?"
asked Lulu.

"Some few of them," he replied. "Nearly all were burned by Magruder in
the Civil War; among them St. John's Episcopal Church, which was built
probably about 1700. Before the Revolution it bore the royal arms carved
upon its steeple; but soon after the Declaration