Chapter XIV: The Navy of Virginia

Lord Dunmore’s movements in Virginia, 1775 396

Authorization of a navy, December, 1775 396

Work of the Committee of Safety 397

The “Potomac River fleet” 398

The Virginia Navy Board 398

Duties of the Navy Board 399

The location of shipyards 400

Naval manufactories and magazines 401

James Maxwell, naval agent 401

Naval officers 401

Naval increases, 1776 402

Courts of Admiralty 403

Privateers 405

The vessels of the Virginia navy 405

Condition and services of the navy, 1775-1779 407

Losses of the navy, 1775-1779 408

The Board of War and the Naval Commissioner 408

The Commissioner of the Navy 409

Military situation in the South in 1780 410

Naval legislation, 1780 411

The raid of Arnold and Phillips, 1781 413

The navy at Yorktown 415

Dismissal of the officers, seamen, and Commissioner 415

Virginia’s defence of Chesapeake Bay, 1782-1783 415

The end of the navy 416