Thomas Mathews to the Governor July 29, 1807

I hold it my duty to inform your Excellency that the zeal manifested by your fellow-citizens in furnishing the necessary labor for the erection of batteries, has subsided in so great a degree that it has been with much difficulty Fort Norfolk has been put in tolerable order. When you reflect upon the great expense and labor absolutely necessary to be employed in the performance of this work, and that this has been added to many other privations and inconveniences to which the citizens of this particular quarter of the country have been exposed, you will not. I am confident, impute this abatement of exertion to any defect of patriotism or of ardor for the defence of their country, but to that imperious necessity to which all must yield. The manner in which the work at Fort Norfolk was done on the spur of the occasion, and when we were in expectation of an immediate attack, was too slight to promise any considerate defence. The work has therefore undergone various alterations and been much improved. The temporary gun carriages have been discarded, and others are preparing with all possible expedition. A few days more will complete this work, not so well, it is true, as I could wish, but in the best mode practicable with the resources I could command.
For the more perfect security of this fort and town, it will be essentially and indispensably necessary to erect works at Craney Island, at Washington Point, and possibly at some other intermediate points on the river. These I designed to have commenced, but I have been compelled to abandon this project from the want of necessary strength for carrying it on. The troops in present service, your Excellency will readily see, are not calculated to perform duties of this nature, especially under existing circumstances.
I suggest these things to you that some adequate provision may be made should you consider it proper to act further upon this subject. I will take the liberty of calling the attention of your Excellency to other points of the last importance to citizens of this quarter of the country, and to the troops generally who may be at any time called into service. Our militia generally is composed of men little acquainted with military duty and not accustomed to the hardships of a soldier's life. It requires some time to instruct them in the performance of those exercises which are all important to be understood, and to habituate them to sustain without injury to themselves the privations and hardships to which they must of necessity be exposed. According to the present system of short reliefs, it will always happen that by the time the first detachment have acquired that information and experience which is so indispensable, they are discharged. New troops are substituted in their places, the same routine is to be gone through again with these, and thus constant murmurs and complaints are kept up among the troops, and the protection of the country is confided to raw and inexperienced soldiers. This being the case, I submit it to the consideration of your Excellency if it will not be better to order out the next relief to do duty for a longer period than has as yet been contemplated, say three months, unless sooner discharged. The troops then, knowing certainly the period of their expected service, will come prepared to stay out the length of time. They will long before their tour of duty expires, become acquainted with what it is necessary for them to learn, and thus many of the inconveniences I have stated, will be avoided and more secure reliance may be placed in our men. To this I will add that the expense to the Government will be greatly diminished, because under the present system much expense is incurred for the troops while they are marching to and from the point of their destination.
The situation of the troops from the Fifty-fourth Regiment, now in service, is peculiar. From this regiment, consisting of 800 men, I have been compelled to detach 500. They are all citizens of Norfolk, chiefly mechanics and persons depending on their own manual labor for the support of themselves and their families.
Much inconvenience is sustained, not only by themselves but by the community generally, from being deprived of the labors of so many useful artizans. Should any attack be made, this is the point where it will probably be attempted, and at any future period the greatest fatigue, hardship, and exertion must be expected from this particular regiment. So circumstanced, it would seem to me better if this detachment could be speedily relieved by new troops drawn from some other quarter; that no considerable detachment should hereafter be drawn from this regiment, but that it should always be held prepared for service at any moment. Besides the necessary guards, we should then have always a reserve, on whom reliance can be placed in case of necessity. Whereas at present, should any mischance befall us, we shall be perfectly defenceless and unprotected until new detachments can be called in from a distance.  
If your Excellency shall approve of this arrangement, I would suggest further the expediency of detailing the 500 men who will be required to relieve the detachment from the Fifty-fourth Regiment from the neighboring brigades, commanded by the Brigadier-Generals White, Wills, and Pegram. It will be less convenient to draw this detachment from the brigades than to detail so large a body from one of them. I cannot draw them from my own brigade under present circumstances. For your Excellency will at once perceive that it would be highly improper for me to call for any forces from the three regiments on the Eastern Shore. The two regiments from Norfolk county have already supplied a detachment of 200 men, which must be relieved from time to time from those regiments. And the regiment from Princess Anne has furnished a detachment of fifty men, which must be relieved in like manner. So that you will see but a small body in addition to these detachments can, under such circumstances, be required from regiments already furnishing such large drafts. I will take the liberty of stating other things for the consideration of your Excellency. From the want of tents and every other article of camp equipage, I have not ventured to encamp any of the men employed in the present service, but have been compelled to billet them in the towns. In this situation, the men arc exposed to much expense, which many of them cannot afford. They will acquire habits of dissipation that will be permanently injurious to themselves and their country, and are so scattered that it would be difficult if not impossible to collect them properly in case of a sudden alarm. If these necessary articles could be furnished, all the evils I have enumerated, and many others, would be avoided, and the discipline of the soldiers much better preserved. I should then be enabled to encamp the troops where they are most wanted, and thereby to prevent not only much fatigue of marching, but to preserve the health of the soldiers from the attack of those epidemics to which they will soon be exposed if they remain in the towns.
The detachment from the Twentieth Regiment, now on duty at the Cape, being much exposed and totally destitute of every necessary article of camp equipage, I have been constrained to procure ten tents for them, and I have ordered the Quartermaster also to provide canteens and camp kettles for the whole detachment. The troops cannot do without such things if any service is required of them. The tents I shall not provide until further directed by your Excellency.
In my last letter, I stated to your Excellency the reports prevailing here of the intentions of the British to collect their vessels of small draft of water from their several stations at this point. This was but report, but its truth seems to be more probable to-day. I have just been informed that, in addition to the three ships mentioned before, two others have yesterday arrived in Lynnhaven Bay. What they are or what their force, I know not, but I conjecture they are the Indian and Squirrel sloops of war, the former carrying — and the latter — guns. The first of these ships was lately off Charleston, and the other off Cape Henlopen. No attempt, however, indicating hostility has yet been made.
I am, &c.

Fort Norfolk Documents

Before 1794, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865

Source of Information

CALENDAR of VIRGINIA STATE PAPERS and OTHER MANUSCRIPTS, FROM JANUARY 1, 1799, TO DECEMBER 31, 1807, PRESERVED IN THE CAPITOL AT RICHMOND. ARRANGED AND EDITED, UNDER THE AUTHORITY AND DIRECTION OF Hon. H. W. FLOUENOY, SECRETARY Of THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, AND STATE LIBRARIAN. VOLUME IX. RICHMOND: J. H. O.BANNON, SUPERINTENDENT PUBLIC PRINTING. 1890