Markers of History

State Historical Marker
Virginia Q-8-F
Cornwallis at Portsmouth

Location: Crawford Pkwy, west of Court Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Visited: June 23, 2009, 1:45pm

Transcription of marker: Lord Cornwallis, com­mand­ing the British troops in the south, reached Portsmouth, July, 1781. He pre­pared to send a por­tion of his force to New York. Before the move­ment was made, orders came for him to take up a posi­tion at Old Point. Cornwallis selected Yorktown, how­ever, and Portsmouth was abandoned.

Virginia Conservation Commission, 1948

My impres­sions: Terse to the point of being use­less, in my opin­ion: He came, he saw, he departed. Lord Cornwallis was here. Doesn’t tell me any­thing, and doesn’t tease me enough to excite me to learn more about Cornwallis. Oh, well.