History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Part 61

1780-1781.

Arnold's Invasion.

TOWARD the close of December, 1780, a fleet appeared within the capes of the Chesapeake, with a force detached by Sir Henry Clinton from New York, under command of the traitor Arnold. A frigate in advance having captured some small vessels, Arnold, with the aid of them, pushed on at once up the James. Attempting to land at Burwell's Ferry, (the Grove Landing,) his boats were beaten off by one hundred and fifty militia of Williamsburg and James City, under Colonel Innes and General Nelson.

Nelson, on this occasion, retorted a verbal defiance in answer to a letter with which Arnold had ushered in his invasion.[710:A]

Leaving a frigate and some transports at Burwell's Ferry, Arnold proceeded[710:B] up the river to Westover. Here landing a force of less than eight hundred men, including a small party of badly mounted cavalry, he marched for Richmond at two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. Nelson, in the mean while, with a handful of militia, badly supplied with ammunition, had marched up the right bank of the James River, but arrived too late to offer any opposition to the landing of the enemy. Arnold, at one o'clock of the next day after he marched from Westover, entered the infant capital without having encountered any resistance, although his route was very favorable for it. The energetic Simcoe, with a detachment, proceeded a few miles beyond Richmond and destroyed the foundry, emptied the contents of the powder magazine, struck off the trunnions of the cannon, and set fire to the warehouses and mills, the effect of the conflagration being heightened by occasional explosions of gunpowder. Many small arms and a stock of military supplies were destroyed, and five tons of gunpowder thrown into the river. At Richmond the public stores fell a prey; private property was plundered and destroyed; the soldiers broke into houses and procured rum; and several buildings were burnt. Part of the records of the auditor's office, and the books and papers of the council office shared the same fate.

Governor Jefferson used every effort in his power to remove the public stores, and part were rescued by being removed across the river at Westham. Late on the night of the fourth he went to Tuckahoe, and on the next day went down to Manchester, opposite Richmond, where the busy movements of the enemy were in full view. When they advanced upon that place only two hundred militia were embodied--too small a number to make any resistance. The governor, having repaired to Colonel Fleming's, in Chesterfield, to meet Steuben, received there a message from Arnold, offering not to burn Richmond, on condition that British vessels should be permitted to come to it unmolested and take away the tobacco. The proposition was rejected.

The inhabitants of Richmond were, for the most part, Scotch factors, who lived in small tenements scattered here and there between the river and the hill, some on the declivities, a few on the summit. Arnold withdrew from Richmond about mid-day on the sixth, encamped that night, as he had on the march up, at Four-mile Creek, and on the next day at Berkley and Westover.

Arthur Lee wrote, on the twenty-first of March, from Greenspring to Colonel Bland, as follows: "Most certainly you would have heard from me could I have found any conveyance but the tory-post the wisdom of our people has established, or could I have given you a pleasing account of the situation of our affairs here. But in truth, it is impossible to conceive a more hopeless state than what we are in. Laws without wisdom or justice, governments without system or order, complex and heavy taxes to raise money which is squandered away no one knows how, or wherefore, not half the troops being raised, or those which are raided being provided neither with arms, clothes, nor provisions. Twelve millions were spent in two months, and when the enemy came, there was neither man, horse, musket, cannon, wagon, boat, or any one thing in the world that could be found for our defence. In this situation it need not surprise you that Arnold, with a handful of bad troops, should march about the country, take and destroy what he pleased, feast with his tory friends, settle a regular correspondence with them, which he carried on for some time in vessels sent up the river and unnoticed, till one happening to run aground discovered Mrs. Byrd's correspondence, which, however, will produce neither good to us nor injury to her. I have reason to think she will not be tried at all, means having been taken to keep the witnesses out of the way."[712:A]

Mrs. Maria Byrd, of Westover, was a sister of Thomas Willing, Esq., director of the Bank of North America, and partner of Robert Morris, and a strenuous opponent of American independence. A sister of Mrs. Byrd married Captain Walter Sterling, of the British navy. Samuel Inglis, Esq., some time resident in Virginia as factor of the house of Willing & Morris, under the firm of Inglis & Willing, was a decided opponent of independence. He married the daughter of William Aitcheson, Esq., of Norfolk, a Scotch tory, and was brother of Captain Inglis, of the British navy.[712:B]

Simcoe, patroling in the night, surprised a party of militia at Charles City Court-house, where, after some confused firing, the militia fled with small loss; some few attempting to escape, were drowned in a mill-pond. Sergeant Adams, of Simcoe's Regiment, was mortally wounded, and dying shortly afterwards, was buried at Westover, wrapped in some American colors taken a few days before at Hoods. Nelson, re-enforced at Holt's Forge by a party of Gloucester militia under Colonel John Page, finding his force not exceeding four hundred men, retreated. On that night[712:C] the British embarked at Westover, and dropped down the James to Flower-de-Hundred. Here Simcoe was detached with a force to dislodge some militia at Bland's Mills, and after advancing about two miles, the advance guard, in a dense wood, were fired on by some Americans posted at the forks of the road in front. The British lost twenty men killed and wounded; but, charging, put the militia to flight.

Arnold sending a detachment ash.o.r.e at Fort Hoods, a skirmish ensued with two hundred and forty men in ambuscade, under Colonel George Rogers Clarke. The enemy lost seventeen killed and thirteen wounded at the first fire, when Clarke being charged, found it necessary to retreat.

John Marshall was present at this affair. The enemy dismantled the fort and carried off the heavy artillery. Nelson, in the mean time, by a forced march, reached Williamsburg just before the fleet came to off Jamestown. Arnold, however, landed part of his forces at Cobham, on the opposite side of the river, and marched down, his s.h.i.+ps keeping pace with and occasionally re-enforcing him. On the next day Nelson paraded about four hundred militia at Burwell's Ferry to oppose the landing of the enemy. Re-enforcements arriving, augmented his force to twelve hundred; but the enemy was now beyond their reach. Colonel Griffin and Colonel Temple, with a party of light horse, had hovered near the enemy's lines at Westover, and followed the fleet as it went down the river. In this party were Colonels William Nelson, Gregory Smith, Holt Richardson, Major Buller Claiborne, General Lincoln's aid, and Majors Burwell, Ragsdale, and others, together with a number of young gentlemen. Arnold returned to Portsmouth on the twentieth of January without having encountered any serious interruption.

Thus it happened that while the regular troops of Virginia were serving at a distance in other States, the militia, after a five years' war, was still so unarmed and undisciplined that no effective resistance was made to this daring invasion.

About the time when Arnold reached Portsmouth, some of his artillery-men, foraging on the road toward the Great Bridge, were attacked, their wagons captured and their officer wounded. Simcoe, with a handful of yagers and Queen's Rangers, was detached for the purpose of recovering the wagons. Ferrying across to Herbert's Point they advanced about a mile, when "an artillery-man, who had escaped and lay in the bushes, came out and informed him that Lieutenant Rynd lay not far off.

Simcoe found him shockingly mangled and mortally wounded; he sent to a neighboring farm for an ox-cart, on which the unfortunate young gentleman was placed. The rain continued in a violent manner, which precluded all pursuit of the enemy; it now grew more tempestuous, and ended in a perfect hurricane, accompanied with incessant lightning. This small party slowly moved back toward Herbert's Ferry; it was with difficulty that the drivers and attendants on the cart could find their way; the soldiers marched on with bayonets fixed, linked in ranks together, covering the road. The creaking of the wagon and the groans of the youth added to the horror of the night; the road was no longer to be traced when it quitted the woods, and it was a great satisfaction that a flash of lightning, which glared among the ruins of Norfolk, disclosed Herbert's house. Here a boat was procured, in which the unhappy youth was conveyed to the hospital-s.h.i.+p, where he died the next day."[714:A]

FOOTNOTES:

[710:A] In a series of replies made by Mr. Jefferson to strictures thrown out upon his conduct of affairs at this juncture, the following occurs: "Query--Why publish Arnold's letter without General Nelson's answer? Answer--Ask the printer. He got neither from the executive."

[710:B] January 4th, 1781.

[712:A] MS. letter of Arthur Lee in my possession.

[712:B] MS. of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Jr. Arnold's visits to Westover are referred to in Edgehill, a novel, by James E. Heath. Esq.

[712:C] January tenth.

[714:A] Simcoe, 171.

CHAPTER XCVIII.

1781.

Greene, Commander of Southern Army--Morgan's Victory at Cowpens--Arnold at Portsmouth--Battle of Guilford--Re-enforced by Phillips--The Enemy at Petersburg--Devastations--Phillips proceeds down James River--Returns to Petersburg--His Death-- Succeeded by Arnold--Simcoe--Virginia Navy--John Tyler--John Banister.

IN accordance with a resolution of congress, pa.s.sed in November, 1780, General Gates was superseded, and Was.h.i.+ngton, who was required to appoint an officer to fill the vacant post, selected General Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island. He reached Charlotte, the headquarters of the Southern army, early in December. About this time Lee's legion was ordered into South Carolina, to a point west of the Catawba. Cornwallis, whose headquarters were at Winnsborough, detached Tarleton in pursuit of Morgan, who retreated to the Cowpens, and resolved to risk a battle there. Tarleton leaving his baggage behind him well guarded, started, with his accustomed celerity, at three o'clock in the morning,[715:A] in pursuit. Before day Morgan received intelligence of his approach, and prepared for action. He drew up his regulars and Triplett's corps, reckoned not inferior to them, and about four or five hundred men, under Howard, on an eminence in an open wood. In their rear, on the declivity of the hill, Lieutenant-Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton was posted with his cavalry and some mounted Georgia militia as a reserve; and with these two corps Morgan remained in person. The front line was composed of militia, under Pickens. Major McDowell, with a battalion of North Carolina volunteers, and Major Cunningham, with a battalion of Georgia volunteers, were advanced about one hundred and fifty yards in front of this line.

Morgan's whole force amounted to eight hundred men. Soon after the troops were disposed, the British van appeared in sight, and Tarleton forming his line of battle, his troops rushed forward to the attack, shouting. Morgan's first line soon retreated into the rear of the second. The British advanced in spite of a firm resistance; Tarleton ordered up his reserve, and Howard's infantry being outflanked, Morgan rode up and directed that corps to retreat over the summit of the hill, about one hundred yards, to the cavalry. The British, now confident of victory, pressed on, in some disorder, and when the Americans halted, were within thirty yards of them. At Howard's order, his men turning, faced the enemy, and poured in, unexpectedly, a deadly fire. Howard, perceiving that the enemy's ranks were thrown into some confusion, ordered a charge with the bayonet, and the British line was broken. The cavalry on their right was at the same time routed by Was.h.i.+ngton. Howard and Was.h.i.+ngton pressed their advantage until the artillery and greater part of the infantry surrendered; but Was.h.i.+ngton pursuing too eagerly, received a temporary check, and sustained a heavier loss in this part of the action than in any other. However, the infantry advancing to support him, Tarleton resumed his retreat.[716:A]

In this battle one hundred British, including ten commissioned officers, were killed; twenty-nine commissioned officers and five hundred privates made prisoners. A large quant.i.ty of arms and baggage and one hundred dragoon horses fell into the hands of the victors. Morgan lost less than eighty men in killed and wounded.

Tarleton retreated toward Cornwallis, whose headquarters were now twenty-five miles distant. In this action Cornwallis had lost one-fifth of his number and the flower of his army. But Greene was not strong enough to press the advantage; and Morgan, apprehensive of being intercepted by Cornwallis, abandoned the captured baggage, interring the arms, and leaving his wounded under the protection of a flag, hastened to the Catawba, which he recrossed on the twenty-third. The prisoners were sent by General Greene, under escort of Stevens' brigade of Virginia militia to Charlottesville.

In the mean while Arnold, ensconced, like a vulture, was prevented from planning new schemes of devastation by apprehensions that he now began to entertain for his own safety.[717:A] Richard Henry Lee wrote: "But surely, if secrecy and despatch were used, one s.h.i.+p-of-the-line and two frigates would be the means of delivering Arnold and his people into our hands; since the strongest s.h.i.+p here is a forty-four, which covers all their operations. If I am rightly informed, the militia now in arms are strong enough to smother these invaders in a moment if a marine force was here to second the land operations."

February the ninth a French sixty-four gun-s.h.i.+p, with two frigates, under Monsieur De Tilley, sailed for the Chesapeake, and arriving by the thirteenth threatened Portsmouth. But the s.h.i.+p-of-the-line proving too large to operate against the post, De Tilley, in a few days, sailed back for Rhode Island. It was a great disappointment to the Virginians that the French admiral could not be persuaded to send a force competent to capture the traitor. Governor Jefferson, in a letter to General Muhlenburg, offered five thousand guineas for his capture; and suggested that men might be employed to effect this by entering his quarters in the garb of friends--a measure not to be justified even toward Benedict Arnold.

After the battle of the Cowpens, Greene, closely pursued by Cornwallis, retreated across the Dan into Virginia. His lords.h.i.+p then proceeded to Hillsborough, then the capital of North Carolina, where he invited the inhabitants to repair to the royal standard. Greene, re-enforced by a body of Virginia militia under General Stevens, soon re-entered North Carolina, where numerous tories were embodying themselves to join Cornwallis. On the twenty-fifth of February, Lee, with his cavalry, by stratagem surprising a body of royalists under Colonel Pyle, cut them to pieces. On the fifteenth of March occurred the battle of Guilford.

Greene's army was much superior in numbers, but consisted mainly of militia and new levies. The cavalry of Lee and Was.h.i.+ngton was excellent, but the ground was unfavorable for their action. The officers under Greene were mostly veteran. The Virginia militia were commanded by Generals Stevens and Lawson, and by Colonels Preston, Campbell, and Lynch; those of North Carolina by Generals Butler and Eaton. Of the continentals one Maryland regiment alone was veteran. Guilford court-house, near the great Salisbury road, stood on a hill which descends eastward, gradually, with an undulating slope for half a mile, terminating in a little vale intersected by a rivulet. On the right of the road the ground was open, with some copses of wood; on the left a forest. Greene, with not quite two thousand regulars, was posted at the court-house; in the field to the right of the road, the two regiments of Virginia under Huger, the two of Maryland under Williams. Three hundred yards in advance of the regulars were stationed the Virginia militia, crossing at right angles the great road; and as far in front of them and across the same road the North Carolina militia were formed: the Virginia line in the woods; the Carolinians partly in the forest and partly on its edge, behind a strong rail-fence, in front of which lay an open field. Two pieces of artillery, under Captain Singleton, were placed in the road a few yards in advance of the first line. The right flank was guarded by Was.h.i.+ngton's cavalry, a veteran Delaware company under Kirkwood, and Colonel Lynch with a battalion of Virginia militia.

The left was guarded by Lee's legion and Campbell's riflemen. At about ten o'clock in the forenoon, after some firing of artillery, the British, reaching the rivulet, deployed into line of battle, the right commanded by Leslie, the left by Webster. The North Carolina militia, unable to stand the shock, a few excepted, broke, threw away their arms, and fled precipitately through the woods. The Virginia line received the enemy with more firmness, but the greater part of them were compelled to retreat, which was accelerated by the fall of General Stevens, who was wounded in the thigh. The struggle between the enemy and the continentals was stoutly contested, but the second Maryland regiment unexpectedly giving way, Greene was compelled to retreat. Cornwallis pursued but a short distance. The American loss in killed and wounded amounted to thirty officers and four hundred privates. The British loss amounted to five hundred and thirty-two, including several valuable officers. Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart of the guards was killed; Colonel Webster mortally wounded. The total number of Greene's army was forty-five hundred, of whom thirty hundred were actually engaged.

Cornwallis' force, according to American accounts, numbered two thousand; according to his statement, to only fourteen hundred and forty-five. After this disastrous victory Lord Cornwallis found it necessary to retire toward Wilmington.

In the mean while Arnold's anxiety for his safety at Portsmouth was relieved by the arrival[719:A] of a re-enforcement under General Phillips. This accomplished and able but proud and pa.s.sionate officer, exasperated by a tedious captivity, upon his exchange had been indulged by Sir Henry Clinton in a desire to invade Virginia, and wreak his vengeance on a State where he had been so long detained (unjustly as he, not without some reason, believed) a prisoner of war. Having united Arnold's force with his own, Phillips left Portsmouth,[719:B] and on the following day the army landed at Burwell's Ferry, from which the militia fled. Phillips, with the main body, marched upon Williamsburg, and entered it without serious opposition. Simcoe, with a small party of cavalry, early next morning surprised a few artillery-men at Yorktown, (the rest escaping across the river in a boat,) and burnt "a range of the rebel barracks." The British sloop, Bonetta, anch.o.r.ed off the town.

How little did the parties engaged in this little episode antic.i.p.ate the great event which was destined soon to make that ground cla.s.sic! The Bonetta, too, was destined to return to that picturesque place to play her part in the closing scene. Phillips, embarking at Barret's Ferry, near the mouth of the Chickahominy, issued "the strictest orders to prevent privateers, the bane and disgrace of the country which employs them;" but these orders were disregarded. When off Westover, he issued further orders, saying:

"A third object of the present expedition is to gain Petersburg, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's stores at that place, and it is public stores alone that are intended to be seized." A body of two thousand five hundred men under Phillips landed at City Point,[720:A]

and pa.s.sed the night there; and on the next morning (Wednesday) marched upon Petersburg, by way of Colonel Banister's Whitehall plantation, where they halted in the heat of the day and refreshed themselves.

Steuben, with a thousand men, disputed the entry of the town. At about two o'clock the British advanced in two columns by the old road leading by the Blandford Church, and were opposed by a party of militia posted on the heights, just beyond Blandford, under Captain House, of Brunswick, and Colonel d.i.c.k. The enemy were twice broken, and ran like sheep, and during two hours advanced only one mile. At length the battalion of Americans posted at the Bollingbrook warehouses, near the Blandford Bridge, being flanked by four pieces of artillery, were compelled to retire over the Appomattox, taking up Pocahontas Bridge as soon as they had crossed it, ten men being killed in ascending the hill.

On this hill Steuben had placed some troops and cannon to cover his retreat. The American loss, killed, wounded, and taken, in this affair was estimated at sixty; that of the British probably not less, there having been, according to Colonel Banister, not less than fourteen killed; their wounded were sent down the river in gun-boats.

Abercrombie, who commanded the British infantry on this occasion, was the same who afterwards fell in Egypt. Phillips, taking possession of Petersburg, made his headquarters at Bollingbrook, a private residence, on an eminence overlooking the river. He destroyed, next day, a large quant.i.ty of tobacco, the people removing it from the warehouses to save it from the flames. One of them was set fire to by a soldier and burnt.

The enemy also destroyed several vessels. The bridge over the Appomattox being readily repaired, Abercrombie, with a detachment, pa.s.sed over on the twenty-sixth, and took possession of the heights opposite the town, known as Archer's Hill. Phillips, with his whole army, crossing on the same day, burnt the bridge, and proceeded to commit devastations at Chesterfield Court-house, Osbornes, and at Warwick, destroying the American vessels, and s.h.i.+pping off the tobacco. This being private property, its destruction was in violation of his recent order. At Manchester a detachment destroyed the warehouses and tobacco, and several dwelling-houses, the militia and inhabitants of Richmond being quiet spectators of the scene. Proceeding from Osbornes to Bermuda Hundred, the British embarked there and sailed down the river as far as Hog Island, where Phillips, receiving orders by an advice-boat, returned up the river, as far as Brandon, the seat of Benjamin Harrison, where the troops landed in a gale of wind. Colonel Theodorick Bland, Sr., received the following protection: "It is Major-General Phillips'

positive orders that no part of the property of Colonel Theodorick Bland receive any injury from his majesty's troops.

"April 25th, 1781.

"J. W. n.o.bLE, aide-de-camp Major-General Phillips.

"Major-General Phillips is very happy to show this favor on account of Colonel Bland Junior's many civilities to the troops of convention at Charlottesville."

Notwithstanding this, Colonel Bland's place of residence, Farmingdell, in Prince George County, was plundered by the British troops: his furniture broken to pieces; china-ware pounded up; tobacco, corn, and stock destroyed, and negroes taken off. General Phillips being taken ill, found it necessary to travel in a carriage, which was procured for him by Simcoe.

Part of the troops were sent[721:A] to City Point in boats; the rest marched upon Petersburg, arrived there late in the night, and surprised a party of American officers engaged in collecting boats for La Fayette to cross his army.[721:B] La Fayette, with a strong escort, appeared on the heights opposite Petersburg, and the artillery, under Colonel Gimat, cannonaded the enemy's quarters. Bollingbrook, where General Phillips lay ill of a bilious fever, being exposed to the fire, it was found necessary to remove him into the cellar, and it is commonly reported that he died while the firing was going on. This mistake appears to have originated with Anburey, who, in his Travels, mentions that during the cannonade, the British general, then at the point of death, exclaimed, "My G.o.d, 'tis cruel: they will not let me die in peace!" Anburey, being himself a prisoner of war, was not in favorable circ.u.mstances for obtaining accurate information on this subject. It appears that the cannonading took place three days before the death of General Phillips.

He died on the thirteenth. La Fayette, aware that Bollingbrook was headquarters, directed some shot particularly at that house, which, from its elevated site, afforded a conspicuous mark. This proceeding was provoked by the horrid series of devastations which Phillips had just perpetrated in company of the traitor Arnold. Two b.a.l.l.s struck the house, it is said, one pa.s.sing through it. General Phillips lies buried in the old Blandford Churchyard. Miller,[722:A] a historian of his own country, observes that it would have been a fortunate circ.u.mstance for his fame "had he died three weeks sooner than he did."[722:B]

Upon the death of General Phillips the command devolved on Arnold, and he sent an officer with a flag and a letter to La Fayette. As soon as he saw Arnold's name subscribed to the letter he refused to read it, and told the officer that he would hold no intercourse whatever with Arnold; but with any other officer he should be ever ready to interchange the civilities which the circ.u.mstances of the two armies might render desirable. Was.h.i.+ngton highly approved of this proceeding.

Already before the death of General Phillips, Simcoe had been detached from Petersburg to meet Cornwallis, who was advancing from North Carolina. Simcoe, on his route to the Roanoke, captured, some miles to the south of the Nottoway River, a Colonel Gee, at his residence, "a rebel militia officer," who, refusing to give his parole, was sent prisoner to Major Armstrong. Another "rebel," Colonel Hicks, mistaking Simcoe's party for an advanced guard of La Fayette's army, was also made prisoner. At Hicks' Ford, a captain and thirty militia-men were taken by a _ruse de guerre_, and compelled to give their paroles. Here Simcoe, on his return toward Petersburg, met with Tarleton and his "legion clothed in white."

During this year (1781) Captain Harris, with the little brig Mosquito, after taking two prizes, in a voyage to the West Indies was captured by the British frigate Ariadne, and carried into Barbadoes. The men were confined there in jail and prison-s.h.i.+ps: the officers taken to England and incarcerated in Fortune Jail, at Gosport. Driven by cruel usage to make a desperate attempt at escape, they succeeded, and returned to America, and again bore arms against the enemy. Among them were Lieutenant Chamberlayne, Mids.h.i.+pman Alexander Moore, Alexander d.i.c.k, captain of marines, and George Catlett, lieutenant of marines. Shortly after the capture of the Mosquito, the Raleigh fell into the enemy's hands, and her crew were no less maltreated. The brig Jefferson, under command of Captain Markham, captured several prizes.

Among those distinguished for their gallantry in the little navy of Virginia was Captain Samuel Barron, (son of Commodore James Barron,) afterwards of the United States navy. Captain John Cowper, of Nansemond County, was in command of the Dolphin brig, with a crew of seventy-five men. Embarking on a cruise, he nailed his flag to the mast-head, and declared that he would never strike it to an enemy. Engaging shortly after with two British vessels, she was seen no more, and it is supposed that she sunk during the action.

John Tyler was born at his father's residence, near Williamsburg, in James City County, in 1748. His father, whose name he bore, was marshal for the colony, and his mother was the daughter of Doctor Contesse, one of the Protestants driven from France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and who found a home in Virginia. John Tyler, the younger of the two sons of this union, (the elder of whom died young,) enjoyed frequent opportunities of hearing the debates in the house of burgesses, and heard Patrick Henry in the stormy discussion on his resolutions in 1765, and in the decline of life still related with animation his recollections of that debate. He became so decided an opponent of the tyrannical pretensions of the mother country that his father often predicted that, sooner or later, he would be executed for high treason.