After the battles of Lexington and Concord tensions had been building throughout the colonies between them and Britian.The Burning of Norfolk had occurred, due to these tensions, on January 1, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. British navy ships in the harbor of Norfolk, Virginia began shooting the town, and foot soldiers came ashore to burn specific properties. The town, whose mainly Tory (Loyalists) population had fled, was occupied by Whig (Revolutionary/Rebel) forces from Virginia and North Carolina. As hard as the Whigs tried to fend of the British foot soldiers, their efforts couldn't stop the burning and looting of Norfolk.