Secretary Thomas Nelson built his home in Yorktown around 1725 not far from the homes of his father, Scotch Tom Nelson, and his brother, William Nelson. He was known as “Secretary” Nelson because of his long service as secretary to the royal government’s Council. During the battle at Yorktown, Secretary Nelson would be one of the few civilians to witness the bombardment.

Townspeople began to leave the commercial hub as war loomed. Yorktown was sure to be a target, with its high bluff over a deep water harbor. Americans wanted to use it to protect shipping, provide an offensive base for raids into the Chesapeake Bay and guard the state capital only 15 miles west. And “Secretary” Nelson’s house was the highest point in town, visible from a mile away.

Things only got worse when the British arrived. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwallis ordered the remaining townspeople out by Aug. 22, 1781, to reduce the competition for food for his men, and he ordered buildings taken down to clear the lines of sight for his artillery in case he was attacked.

Secretary Nelson stayed in his home at the southeastern end of Yorktown — near where the Yorktown Victory Monument stands today. When Cornwallis came to town, he put his headquarters in Nelson’s home.

The French and American forces arrived and began their bombardment of the town on Oct. 9. Fiery cannonballs punctured the roof and walls of Nelson’s sturdy brick house. Windows shattered. One of Nelson’s slaves was killed while standing inside the living room.

The attack on Nelson’s house did so much damage so quickly that Cornwallis moved into a sunken grotto at the foot of Nelson’s garden.

Nelson’s nephew, Gov. Thomas Nelson Jr., became worried for his uncle’s safety and asked Washington for a cease-fire. Cornwallis agreed to one. At noon on Oct. 10, a white banner went up from the British position and firing ceased so two British soldiers could escort the 65-year-old Secretary Nelson and a slave across the battlefield. Nelson suffered from gout and hobbled to safety over his own land where he had hunted in younger days. His home would not survive the conflict.

The history associated with Secretary Nelson's Property Marker (1781) places this location within the larger conflicts and transformations of the revolutionary era. The surviving account identifies the principal action or person, but its meaning becomes clearer when the surrounding systems of movement, supply, communication, government, labor, and community life are considered. The episode was possible because many people maintained, defended, visited, worked at, or endured this place, including individuals whose names were never recorded.

The location also illuminates the political and social transformation from colonies to independent states. Resistance and government were organized in houses, taverns, churches, courts, committees, newspapers, and commercial networks as well as on battlefields. Allegiance divided families and neighborhoods, while independence redistributed authority without eliminating slavery, unequal wealth, or older hierarchies. Prominent leaders depended on local hosts, clerks, servants, enslaved workers, artisans, messengers, and citizens who supplied the practical labor behind public action. Reading the site in that wider setting turns an individual association into a history of community, institutions, and contested power.

The marker anchors this history to a particular landscape even where the original structure, road, fortification, field, or shoreline has changed. Standing near the recorded point helps visitors understand distance, terrain, approaches, and neighboring resources in ways a written summary alone cannot. It also encourages comparison among a brief inscription, inherited local tradition, and the fuller documentary record. The site's value lies not only in a famous name or date, but in demonstrating how national events emerged from local decisions, labor, conflict, hospitality, and endurance. Preserving the location keeps the relationship between geography, memory, and historical consequence visible.