Maryland and Virginia Fight Over Possession of Kent Island in the Pocomoke Sound, 1635

     East of Tangier Island is the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Pocomoke Sound, rich in Native American history, Underground Railroad history, and the site of the first naval battle in the Chesapeake Bay between the Virginia and Maryland colonies over possession of Kent Island.  

     Misconceptions over ownership of the “Isle of Kent” are rooted in England’s overlapping licensures and land grants. William Claiborne established a successful trading post and settlement on Kent Island to benefit the Virginia Colony in 1631 under licensure for trade from King Charles I. However, conflicts arose when it was discovered that Kent Island fell within the boundaries of a 1632 land grant issued to Cecilius Calvert (2nd Lord Baltimore) which included easterly territories crossing into the Delmarva peninsula to the Delaware Bay.

     As Claiborne did not have Calvert’s permission to trade in the Maryland territory, Calvert seized Claiborne’s ship the Long Tayle, along with its cargo of trade goods. In reprisal, on April 23, 1635, Claiborne sent an armed pinnace, the Cockatrice, commanded by Lieutenant Ratcliffe Warren, to demand the return of the Long Tayle and to seize any Maryland vessels encountered. In the Pocomoke Sound, the Cockatrice met up with two of Calvert’s ships, the St. Margaret and the St. Helen, and a battle resulted. The Cockatrice was defeated, with Claiborne’s captain and two crew members killed.

     Claiborne continued to actively fight for Kent Island, regaining temporary possession in 1644 only to be ousted again by Governor Calvert in 1646. With the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, Claiborne lost his political influence (he was a supporter of the parliamentary cause) and retired to Romancoke, his plantation in Virginia. He continued until his death to petition the courts for what he deemed his rightful ownership of Kent Island. Accounts report he died somewhere between 1677 and 1679, making him at least  77 years old at death. 

     The Battle of Pocomoke Sound is recognized as the first recorded naval battle between 

English settlers in North America.