During the War of 1812, British soldiers carried out a series of raids throughout Southeastern Virginia from the relative safety of their ships. While their one foray onto land, the Battle of Craney Island, ended in defeat, the British were able to burn the city of Hampton and destroy property around Williamsburg. In letters, maps, and testimony those affected by the war tell their part of its larger narrative.

But it was not just the battles themselves that changed the lives of the people of Southeastern Virginia. The British blockade reduced trade, leaving merchants without goods and farmers without a way to sell their produce. And even though the “Enemy has disappeared from our Waters,” as St. George Tucker wrote after the burning of Hampton, it was not until the end of the war that the blockade was lifted and life returned to normal. Finally, on a national scale the war stirred the emotions of people across the country. Joseph Dilworth, a Quaker teacher in Pennsylvania, writes about his anxiety when he hears that the British burned the US Capitol and the White House.

Images of the exhibit are available from Special Collections on Flickr.

Curator: Ben Bromley, Public Services Archives Specialist; Exhibit design and installation: Jennie Davy, Burger Archives Specialist