Little England

In 1634 Capps Point, later known as Little England, was patented by William Capps, a prominent planter who maintained a lucrative saltworks. He served as a burgess in the 1619 General Assembly, the first representative legislative body in the New World. On 25 June 1813, during the War of 1812, British Admiral George Cockburn sailed into the mouth of Hampton River and shelled Hampton. A complement of 450 Virginia militiamen tried in vain to hold the British at bay with several small cannons mounted in the fortification at Little England. Afterward the British occupied and plundered the town.