Josiah Philips (d. 1778) was a laborer in Princess Anne, Virginia. During the American Revolution he called himself a loyalist and recruited a group of other men who travelled throughout southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina robbing and attacking people who supported the pro-independence movement. While Philips claimed he commanded a unit under the orders of Lord Dunmore, Virginia's last colonial governor, patriot leaders such as Thomas Jefferson dismissed Philips as a common bandit in charge of an unruly mob who hid in the Great Dismal Swamp to get away from the law. Several residents of Currituck testified that Francis Williamson fed and supported Philips and his men in February 1777, and based on this testimony Williamson was arrested for being a loyalist. In June 1777 the Virginia state government declared Philips an outlaw and after a trial he was executed on 23 November 1778.