Neptune's Needle

Royal governor and captain general of Virginia. On 9 August 1641 [the king] commissioned him governor and captain general of Virginia, a position that he retained except for brief interruptions until shortly before his death.

Berkeley regularized and systematized the Virginia militia system, and in 1667 he put together a scratch force of merchant ships to fend off a Dutch war fleet. Six years later, he more easily repulsed a smaller Dutch squadron. In both instances, he ordered militiamen to patrol Virginia's shores and man coastal batteries to drive off landing parties.

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Peter Richards