Gloucester’s third local historical marker has been erected temporarily on a piece of county-owned property adjacent to the colonial court circle. This marker, which highlights the Battle of the Hook, will eventually be moved in the fall to the location where the battle took place, just off Hook Road at Hayes.

According to Gloucester’s tourism coordinator Hilton Snowdon, this marker commemorates the Battle that occurred in 1781, which is known as the largest cavalry action of the American War of Independence. The battle involved 1,300 troops and subsequently destroyed Lord Cornwallis’s hopes of escaping through Gloucester.

According to Snowdon, British forces retreated inside their earthworks at Gloucester Town, which is today known as Gloucester Point. Their surrender, which was the last surrender of British forces in North America, took place one hour after Cornwallis’s forces had laid down their arms across the river in Yorktown.

This sign, which cost abou...