THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050257
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Random Rambles
SOURCE: Tony Stein
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Col. William Woodford had it comparatively easy on Dec. 9, 1775. All he had to do to win the crucial Battle of Great Bridge was beat the British.
But in order to win their own ``battle of Great Bridge,'' Shirley Jiral and Elizabeth Hanbury have to raise big bucks, find a site, get a theater built and and dangle dramatic bait that will hook a horde of paying customers. They have weathered a decade of dead-ends, but they haven't given up on their efforts to stage a drama based on Woodford's historic victory.
``We are two committed women who will never give up,'' Jiral said the other day. She came down hard on the ``never.''
The 1775 battle happened because Great Bridge was a key point on the network of inland waterways that were used to transport goods and supplies. The Colonials held Great Bridge. The British wanted it. So on Dec. 9, 1775, here came the red-coated British regulars, maybe thinking that a well-disciplined ``Boo!'' would scatter the ragtag Americans.
That had to be one of the great under-estimations of the 18th century. But the British didn't know it when they squared off against the Colonials at a site near where the Locks Pointe Restaurant and the William Wood real estate office are now. On one side, the Brits, best-trained, most formidable troops in the world. On the other side, Colonel Woodford and Virginia state troops plus militia units from as far away as Culpeper.
The British charged. The Americans waited. . . waited. . . and then shot the Brits to pieces, Great Bridge was held for our side and historians say it was a major reason the British eventually gave up Norfolk.
In 1985, Chesapeake's then-city manager Don Scalf took a notion. ``Let's stage an outdoor drama about the Battle of Great Bridge,'' he said, ``and let's appoint a committee to get the project on the road.''
Boy, has that road ever been bumpy. Not at first, though. The committee, chaired by Jiral, started from Square One by choosing an author to write the play. They picked an Ohio man with a couple of historical dramas already under his belt. Then the committee called in experts from the Outdoor Drama Institute of the University of North Carolina. Question for the experts: Is an outdoor drama in Chesapeake a good idea?
Could be, the experts said. It depends on a lot of things. Gotta have a lively play, strong community support and a high-pitched passel of publicity. Figure on spending about 2 million bucks for a theater and production of the play.
That was in 1988. This is 1995, and the project remains stalled. Money is the big hitch; an even bigger hitch now. Jiral guesses that the cost today would be closer to $4 million. But she and Hanbury foresee a pay-back worth the pay-out.
Jiral and Hanbury, who is immediate past president of the Norfolk County Historical Society, observe that Chesapeake may be the fastest-growing city in the state, but it is a ``faceless'' city. It doesn't have anything that makes outsiders nod knowingly and say ``Oh, yeah, that's Chesapeake.''
A Great Bridge battle drama would do it, the ladies declare. There is a strong regional population base to buy tickets, plus the tourists who yearly flock south. And then there is that mantle of ``cityness'' that will fit a little better on Chesapeake if the drama goes forward.
``I hope the City Council will realize that they have to deal with the cultural life of Chesapeake,'' Jiral says.
It could be a great thing. Think of the images that could come to life: Col. Woodford and his stalwart troops. The Culpeper Minutemen under their flag that said, ``Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.'' Billy Flora, the black freeman who stood up to the Brits as they charged and got off a volley of eight shots.
British troops crying for mercy because they were afraid they might be scalped. Instead they got kindness from people like innkeeper Polly Miller, who helped care for the wounded. The rest of the British forces, sadder but wiser about the ability of Americans to fight, And the gut-grabber that it could be to bring alive a star-spangled vision of what a struggling little band of colonies could become.
Jiral and Hanbury can see those scenes in their minds. The idea excites them just as much today as it did 10 years ago. That's why they keep on trying. That's why they are ``networking,'' scouring public and private sources in the community for possible help and support.
I wish them well. The city needs the cultural identity, and the Battle of Great Bridge deserves a lot more notice than it has gotten. ``After all,'' says Jiral, ``if the battle hadn't been fought and won, we might be speaking with a British accent.'' by CNB