Battle of Craney Island The Battle of Craney Island was a victory for the United States during the War of 1812 . The battle saved the city of Norfolk , Virginia , from British invasion . Background . Admiral Sir George Cockburn commanded a British fleet blockading Chesapeake Bay . In early 1813 , Cockburn and Admiral Sir John B . Warren planned to attack the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth and capture the frigate U . S . S . " Constellation " . Brigadier General Robert B . Taylor commanded the Virginia Militia in the Norfolk area . Taylor hastily built defenses around Norfolk and Portsmouth , but he had no intentions of letting the British penetrate as far as those two cities . Instead Taylor commandeered several ships and created a barrier across the Elizabeth River . He next built fortifications on Craney Island at the mouth of the Elizabeth River near Hampton Roads . Since the " Constellation " was already penned up in the Chesapeake because of the British blockade , the ship ' s crew was used to man some of the redoubts on the island . In all , 750 Americans were defending the fortifications on Craney Island . Battle . On the morning of June 22 , 1813 , a British landing party of 700 Royal Marines and soldiers of the 102nd Regiment along with a company of Independent Foreigners came ashore at Hoffler ' s Creek near the mouth of the Nansemond River to the west of Craney Island . When the British landed , the defenders realized they were not flying a flag and quickly raised an American flag over the breastworks . The defenders fired , and the attackers began to fall back , realizing that they could not ford the water between the mainland and the island ( the Thoroughfare ) under such fire . British barges manned by sailors , Royal Marines , and the other company of Independent Foreigners then attempted to attack the eastern side of the island . Defending this portion was a company of light artillery under the command of Captain Arthur Emmerson . Emmerson ordered his gunners to hold their fire until the British were in range . Once they opened fire , the British attackers were driven off , with some barges destroyed , and they retreated back to the ships . Results . The Americans had scored a defensive victory in the face of a much larger force . Norfolk and the Gosport Navy Yard were spared from attack . Having failed in their attempt to attack Norfolk , Admirals Warren and Cockburn moved north for actions in the Chesapeake Bay , including an attempt to attack St . Michaels , Maryland , in August . Two days later , the British crossed the Hampton Roads from Craney Island to take revenge on Hampton , Va . – the town was burned and left in ruins . Most of the atrocities were committed by men of the Independent Companies of Foreigners , former French prisoners of war recruited from British prison hulks . While they were renowned for indiscipline , their actions at Hampton were not entirely unprovoked . During the landing , a boat containing 17 men of the Independent Companies became stranded on a shoal off shore , and the men were massacred by the American defenders despite their attempts to surrender . Enraged by the merciless treatment of their comrades by the Americans , the remainder of the Independent Companies ran amok when they landed . A British officer recorded the result in his diary : " Every horror was perpetrated with impunity – rape , murder , pillage – and not a single man was punished . " Three active battalions of the Regular Army ( 1 – 4 Inf , 2 – 4 Inf and 3 – 4 Inf ) perpetuate the lineages of the old 20th Infantry Regiment , which had elements that participated in the Battle of Craney Island .