From Norfolk, Virginia, Royal Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of
Dunmore, dispatches a note to William Legge, 2nd Earl of
Dartmouth, expressing his "inexpressible mortification" that
British Major General Sir Henry Clinton had been ordered to the
"insignificant province of North Carolina to the neglect of this
the richest and powerfully important province in America."
Dunmore was facing expulsion from Virginia at the hands of the
Patriots and was deeply insulted that the army chose to defend
its claims to the less significant colony of North Carolina
instead of the economically and politically vital colony of
Virginia. Having departed New York on February 12, General
Clinton met with Governor Dunmore in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on
February 17 while en route to Cape Fear, North Carolina; he was
forced to remain in Hampton Roads until February 27 due to
stormy weather. Clinton finally reached North Carolina on March
12, by which time the North Carolina Loyalists had been routed
at Moore's Creek Bridge on Februar