USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 16
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2 Girardin, 334.
b Ibid. Colonel Lawson's letter, 335.
245
SUFFOLK BURNED.
1779.]
the heads of the barrels were staved, and their con- tents taking fire, ran down into the river, in a broad sheet of flame. The burning mass floated over to the opposite shore, and set fire to the dry herbage of a marsh, which was instantly in conflagration ; the town was burning at the same time; public and private stores were alike destroyed ; and before the enemy left it, the country for miles around was a scene of ruin. After committing ravages in other places, the troops re-embarked, and the fleet sailed back to New York about the last of May.ª
How could a body of troops, certainly not over- whelming in numbers, thus desolate whole coun- ties, without effectual resistance ? This is a ques- tion often asked. To answer it we may say that there was much in the condition of Virginia to ac- count for her feebleness and to excuse her rulers. Regular soldiers withdrawn for the Continental service ; no ships to guard the entrance of her bay ; no heavy forts to protect Hampton Roads; a wide country thinly peopled ; scanty supplies of ammuni- tion ; indifferent arms ; undisciplined militia: these facts explain the result. Yet we cannot entirely acquit the authorities of the land ; there ought to have been preparation. We shall soon see the same scenes repeated and enlarged, and the same fatal inefficiency attending the movements of the invaded.
(1780.) Early in the session of the next year, the Legislature made every preparation that law could do for the defence of the commonwealth.
a Girardin, 336-338.
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246
GENERAL HORATIO GATES
[CHAP. IV.
War was coming nearer to them every day; the enemy was generally successful in the South, and after overrunning the Carolinas, Virginia would be the next point of attack. The Assembly autho- rised the Governor to call twenty thousand militia into the field, if necessary ; to impress provisions and clothing ; to lay an embargo on the ports of the state, when expedient ; to hasten the manufacture of arms, and to raise money by new taxes.ª At the · same time they filled the Continental regiments by drafts of one man from every fifteen, and provided for a new issue of paper money. This last was ruinous, but necessary. It is true, the state bills had fallen so low in value that hundreds of nominal dollars would hardly buy food for a day for a single man; but they had no other money, and no hope except to wait for better times, when the public faith should be redeemed. The Assembly farther empowered the Governor to punish desertion se- verely, and to confine or remove all persons thought to be disaffected to the common cause.
On the 20th June, General Horatio Gates re- ceived notice of his appointment to command the southern army. He immediately left his farm in Berkeley County, and passed through Fredericks- burg and Richmond, on his way to join the Baron De Kalb, in North Carolina. While in Fredericks- burg, the hero of Saratoga met with the eccentric Ge- neral Charles Lee, and in conversation with him ex- pressed high hopes for the coming campaign, "Take care," said Lee, " or your northern laurels will soon
a Girardin, 330.
247
AT CAMDEN.
1780.]
be covered with a southern willow."ª The prediction was but too speedily verified. It will not be neces- sary to accompany the unhappy Gates through the bloody field of Camden, where his own hopes, and those of his country, came near to annihilation. (August 16.) He met the British army under Cornwallis, and was totally defeated; the militia fled, and Gates was borne away in vain efforts to rally them; the Continentals fought and died, and the heroic De Kalb fell in their midst, after receiv- ing eleven wounds. The brave Colonel Porterfield, who commanded the Virginia regulars, was one of the victims of this day. The Virginia militia were among those who ingloriously fled from the field. Colonel Stevens who commanded them was almost maddened by their conduct ; he urged, he implored, he threw himself upon their bayonets, and turned them towards the enemy, but all in vain. A false move directed by Gates had exposed them to a dis- advantageous attack, and they never recovered from their panic.b.
The unfortunate General was soon superseded, and returned to Virginia depressed with grief and mortification. (December 28th.) As he passed through Richmond, the Legislature was in session, and generously sought to soothe his pain by a vote of sympathy. They assured him of their high re- gard and esteem ; that the memory of former ser- vices could not be obliterated by the late reverse, and that Virginia, as a member of the Union, would
a Weems' Marion, 99, 100. Weems' Marion, 106 ; Girardin, 400, b See Otis's Botta, ii. 292, 293; 401.
248
LESLIE'S INCURSION.
[CHAP. IV.
always be ready to testify to him her gratitude.ª He retired to his farm in the country, which he did not leave again during the war. If he had erred by the indulgence of vanity, and had grossly sinned in striving to supplant Washington, his punishment was ample, and we have reason to believe his repen- tance was sincere.b As a gentleman of courteous and liberal character, he was respected by all who knew him.
After the defeat of Gates, Cornwallis had hoped to be able to penetrate Virginia, and for this pur- pose, had urged Sir Henry Clinton to send a suffi- cient force from New York to co-operate with him. Accordingly, about the close of October, a British fleet entered Chesapeake Bay, giving convoy to three thousand troops, under General Leslie. Some of these were disembarked at Portsmouth, some at Hampton, and others at points in the Bay in Princess Anne County ; but, after a time, all were concen- trated at Portsmouth, and entrenchments were com- menced. The movements of the foe were myste- rious and seemed undecided, but the mystery was soon explained. Instead of being able to advance into Virginia, Cornwallis had made a precipitate re- treat; the total overthrow of his subordinate, Fer- guson, at King's Mountain, had deranged all his plans. General Leslie was thus left without support. These facts were discovered by a singular incident. A man whose appearance excited suspicion, was apprehended between Portsmouth and North Caro-
a Resolution in Girardin, 416. b Read Lincoln's Lives of the Pre- sidents, Washington, 67.
249
SAILS FOR CHARLESTON.
1780.]
lina. When it was proposed to search him, he was observed to carry something rapidly from his pocket to his mouth ; this was taken out, and found to be a letter written on silk paper, rolled in goldbeater's skin, and tightly tied, so as not to be larger than a goose-quill. The letter was signed A. L., was dated Portsmouth, Virginia, November 4, 1780, and di- rected to Lord Cornwallis. It informed his lord- ship that the writer had already written to him ; knew not certainly where he was; waited his or- ders, and would reward the bearer if he brought him a note or mark from his lordship.ª This mis- sive explained all, and relieved Governor Jefferson
from some of his anxiety. Militia were ordered to guard the passages from Portsmouth, but no colli- sion took place. Could the French fleet, then ho- vering on the American coast, have been informed - of the true state of things, they might have caught the enemy as " in a net ;"> but, on the 22d Novem- ber, the British re-embarked, and clearing from Hampton Roads, sailed for Charleston. They had committed devastations, but these were never sanc- tioned by their officers, whose conduct had been worthy of generous soldiers.c
This invasion led to a change, which will not be understood without a preliminary statement. When Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, the " Conven- tion" between himself and Gates provided that the prisoners, rank and file, should be kept together,
a Jefferson's Works, i. 196. The letter is in the Appen., Note F., 461, and in Girardin, 420.
b Jefferson's Letter to Gates, i. 194. c Jefferson's Works, i. 194-198; Girardin, 424.
+
250
SARATOGA TROOPS.
[CHAP. IV.
and should be permitted to go to England, not to serve again against America, until exchanged. This would have enabled Great Britain to employ them elsewhere, and to send against America the troops whose places they took. Certainly, there- fore, it was an arrangement most unfavourable to the United States. Some delay occurred in getting quarters for these troops in Boston, and British authorities having on several occasions uttered and acted the principle that " faith was not to be kept with rebels," Congress resolved not to suffer the prisoners to embark until England should expressly ratify the Saratoga Convention. Meanwhile, some place, at once secure and comfortable, was to be selected, in which they might be quartered. The neighbourhood of Charlottesville, in Virginia, was chosen, and early in 1779, the troops, numbering more than four thousand souls, were transferred to this spot. On the top and brow of a ridge, five miles from the town, barracks were built for them which cost twenty-five thousand dollars. The officers rented houses and settled their families, bought cows and sheep, and turned farmers; their society was sought by the gentlemen of the country, and music and literature enabled them to beguile the hours of captivity. The ground near the bar- racks was laid off in several hundred gardens ; the men enclosed them with separate paling, and cultivated them with care. The German General, Reidésel, is said to have expended two hundred pounds in garden-seeds for the use of his own troops. As far as possible the prisoners were made quiet
251
SARATOGA TROOPS.
1780.]
and content, and their sojourn was a source rather of gain than of injury to Virginia. Forty-five thousand bushels of grain for their use, were to be supplied by her harvests every year, and it has been estimated that in each week thirty thousand dollars were circulated by reason of the presence of these troops.ª Their health was remarkable; in three months only four deaths occurred at the bar- racks; two were infants, and two soldiers fell vic- tims to apoplexy.
Yet captivity is never grateful ; man may have every physical want supplied, but without liberty he is not happy. Desertions from the station often occurred, and at one time in so great numbers that Mr. Jefferson found it necessary to write to the Commander-in-chief, with the hope that he might arrest some of a party of nearly four hundred, who were making their way to the North. When ' General Leslie penetrated Virginia, and fortified himself at Portsmouth, the prisoners became more and more restive. Many deserted and joined their countrymen ; several were apprehended in attempt- ing the same course, and there were serious fears that the whole body of British captives would rise and endeavour to overcome their guard. The Ger- mans were less impatient, but the danger was pressing. Under these circumstances it was thought expedient that the whole of these troops should be transferred from Virginia to some place of greater
ª Jefferson, i. 156, 158, 160.
b Jefferson to General Washing- ton, i. 165 .- Colonel Theodoric
Bland, of Virginia, commanded the barracks in Albemarle for a long time .- Sce Bland Papers, passim.
252 .
IMPORTANT RESOLUTION.
[CHAP. IV.
safety. (Oct. 26.) They were now about two thou- sand one hundred in number ; desertions, death, and partial exchanges having greatly reduced them. Fort Frederick, in Maryland, was prepared for their reception ; two divisions were formed ; on the 20th November, the British were marched from their barracks, and crossing the Blue Ridge, pro- ceeded through the Valley to Maryland ; the Ger- mans followed to Winchester in a few weeks, and about the end of the year all were safely quartered in their new stations.ª
(1781.) The next year was pregnant with the fate of America; but before we proceed to its military history, the order of events will require reference to a subject of high importance, and of influence not yet exhausted. On the 2d day of January, the Legislature passed a resolution offer- ing to cede to Congress all the lands of the Com- monwealth in the huge territory northwest of the Ohio River, for the benefit of the states composing the Union. This liberal grant was made with the immediate design of inducing all the states to be- come parties to the Articles of Confederation. It was proposed on certain conditions, and as nearly three years passed before it was finally ratified, its farther consideration will be deferred until it can be regularly presented.
The previous dangers of Virginia might have warned her rulers to be prepared for a renewal of invasion. The invasion of Leslie was so recent that its marks were yet visible, and in addition to
a Jefferson, i. 193 ; Girardin, 422.
253
ARNOLD'S INCURSION.
1781.]
these, Washington, ever vigilant, had warned the Governor of movements in New York which threatened a descent.ª Yet no adequate means of defence were used, and when the storm actually commenced, it met feeble resistance. On the last day of the old year, Mr. Jefferson received intelli- gence that twenty-seven ships had entered Chesa- peake Bay, and were standing up towards the mouth of James River. This should have been the signal for vigorous movements ; not for flying,
but for fighting. Had General Nelson been called to the capital, and suffered to direct the military operations, it is probable that the enemy would have been checked, and Richmond saved from im- pending insult. But this efficient officer was in the counties near the coast, striving to organize the militia, and to make the stand which afterwards so distinguished him.' The hostile fleet sailed slowly up James River, on the 2d and 3d of January, and on the 4th, at 2 o'clock, P.M., the invading force landed at Westover, on the north side of the river, and twenty-five miles below Richmond, thus mak- ing it certain that the capital was their object. The enemy were about nine hundred in number, and many of them were deserters from the American army. They were commanded by Benedict Ar- nold, the traitor, the man of infamy, whom the conscience of a world would have condemned to
a Girardin, 453. c Lee's Memoirs of War in S. b Letter to Washington, Jeffer- Campaign.
son's Works, i. 200; Henry Lee's
Remarks on Jefferson, 140.
254
PROCEEDINGS
[CHAP. IV.
the gibbet, and whose natural courage hardly neu- tralized his fear of falling into the hands of his country men.
It is deeply to be regretted, that no leader was present to use the resources at hand for defending Richmond. Pressing as was the emergency, ample means existed for resistance, and had they been turned against the enemy at the critical moment, it is not improbable that they would have been suc- cessful. On the 4th of January, two hundred mi- litia were assembled, and by placing in the ranks the men of the town, and the teamsters of ammuni- tion wagons, together with new arrivals from the country, the number by the 5th would have been considerably increased. At the foundry, near Westham, and hardly six miles above Richmond, were more than five tons of gunpowder and other warlike stores, and in the city there were five brass four-pounders, and a full supply of muskets, with all necessary accompaniments.ª The natural posi- tion of Richmond is strong; hills descend to the river on all sides, and cannon properly planted, and backed by resolute men, would have opposed for- midable resistance to the invaders, who were en- tirely without artillery.
But Governor Jefferson was not a warrior. His call for militia on the 4th was the only step that bore even the appearance of defence; all his other measures were for flight, and for flight conducted with singular disregard to every thing except the safety of persons. In reviewing the course adopted
a Jefferson, Works, i. 201, 202 ; iv. 39 ; Girardin, 455 ; Henry Lee, 130.
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255
1781.] 1 AT RICHMOND.
under his order, it is hard to avoid the impression that a strange bewilderment pervaded his proceed- ings, betokening the absence not merely of military skill, but of firm nerves, and of apprehension quick in times of danger. The five brass cannon were planted, not against the enemy, but at the bottom of" the James; the teamsters and militia, instead of loading muskets with powder and ball, loaded wa- gons with arms and ammunition, and drove them off in haste to Westham. When news was received that the British had landed at Westover, orders were given to throw the remaining stores directly across the river from Richmond, with the hope of preserving them.ª Why it should have been sup- posed that these military munitions would be safe at Westham, if they were not so in Richmond, it is not easy to divine. If the city was taken, there was nothing to prevent the enemy from marching up or crossing the river, as was afterwards fully proved. But Mr. Jefferson urged on the fugitive operations with vigour ; at about half-past seven in the evening of the 4th, he mounted his horse, and leaving the capital, rode speedily to Westham to see to the arms, and thence went on to Tuckahoe, eight miles above, arriving at one o'clock in the night. Hither his family had preceded him. Fol- lowing the Governor's example, most of the white inhabitants of Richmond at the same time took to flight.
The town at this time did not contain three hun- dred houses, but was rapidly expanding up and a Jefferson, iv. 39 ; Girardin, 454, 455.
256
ARNOLD ENTERS RICHMOND. [CHAP. IV.
down the river.ª (January 5.) At about one o'clock on this day, Arnold, at the head of his troops, en- tered the principal street without encountering the slightest opposition. Meanwhile Mr. Jefferson crossed the river, and came down to Britton's op- posite to Westham. He was still anxious as to the arms ; they were never pointed at the enemy, but fearing they might be shot at from the other shore, or be wet by rain, he had them removed to a place of greater safety.b During the evening, while he was at Colonel Flemming's, five miles above Brit- ton's, some citizens from Richmond waited on him, conveying an offer from Arnold not to burn the town, if British ships might be allowed quietly to come up and take away the tobacco there stored. This offer was rejected; if acceded to, it would probably have saved none of the public stores. Hardly had the British entered the town, before Colonel Simcoe, at the head of a body of infantry and fifty horse, dashed forward upon Westham, burned the foundry, the boring-mill, the magazine, and several other houses, threw the five tons of gunpowder into the canal, and destroyed all the papers belonging to the Auditor's office and the Council of State. They then returned unmolested to Richmond.
(January 6.) Arnold commenced his work by destroying a great quantity of private stores in the town. Many warehouses were broken open, and casks containing ardent spirits were rolled out and
a Morse, in Howe, 307. b Works, iv. 40; Girardin, 454; Henry Lee, 133.
257
BARON STEUBEN.
1781.]
staved. The liquor ran in streams down the gut- ters, and cows and hogs partaking freely, were seen staggering about the streets. Thus the foe might have learned a lesson of temperance. They burned several private, and all that could by any possi- bility be considered as public, buildings. Three hundred muskets, three wagons, and a set of arti- ficer's tools, were included in the destruction. The five brass pieces buried in the river under the Go- vernor's order, were found by the British, raised and borne off in triumph. a Having thus wrought his pleasure in the capital, the enemy commenced his march in the evening, and retired leisurely to his shipping, striking a body of one hundred and fifty militia at Charles City Courthouse, of whom one was killed and eleven were captured. In forty- eight hours the invaders had penetrated thirty-three miles into the country, committed the desired waste, and returned. On the 10th, they re-embarked, and with a fair wind sailed down the river.
(Jan. 8.) Finding the coast clear, Mr. Jefferson once more took possession of his capital. So animated had been his movements during the past three days, that he had borne down his horse with fatigue, and had then been driven to mount "an unbroken colt."b Such exertions may well be pleaded as his excuse for declining to take the field in person in the sub- sequent skirmishes. Virginia was not without her brave spirits, and had they but gained a chance for fair combat, the enemy would have had little to boast of for the future. Baron Steuben, a Prussian
a Jefferson, i. 201.
b Henry Lee, 137.
VOL. II.
17
258
COLONEL CLARKE.
[CHAP. IV.
officer, was a Brigadier-General in the American service. He had accompanied General Greene to Virginia, and had happily been detained. He was a fine tactician, and indefatigable at the drill. Now he came forward, and assumed the difficult task of disciplining the militia. In a short time, thirty- seven hundred were ready, in three divisions: one under General Weeden, at Fredericksburg; ano- ther under General Nelson, at Williamsburg, and in the low counties; and the third under Steuben, who followed closely on the enemy.
Some of the British vessels had ventured up the Appamatox, to a place known as Broadway's, when they were fiercely attacked by General Smallwood, with three hundred militia, armed with muskets, and they returned precipitately to City Point. Not content with this success, Smallwood brought up two four-pounders, and opened upon the ships at the Point a fire which drove them down the river to join the main fleet. Baron Steuben now marched with his division towards a landing called Hood's, hoping there to intercept part of the adverse force ; but the ships arrived there three hours before him, and Arnold, with all of his troops, disembarked. Now a blow was to be struck by a hero; Colonel Clarke, the conqueror of Illinois, was with Steuben, and earnestly asked permission to go forward with two hundred and forty men. His request was granted. Placing his force in ambush near the spot where Arnold and his men were landing in the night, he gave them a close volley, which killed seventeen on the spot, and wounded thirteen.
1781.]
GENERAL PHILLIPS. 259
They were thrown into the utmost confusion ; but, recovering, they returned the fire, and charged with the bayonet.ª The Virginians, being few in num- ber, and without bayonets, were compelled to re- tire, yet the partial success of their attack will convince us that resolute resistance would have stopped the progress of the enemy.
Arnold marched slowly down towards the Bay, destroying stores, and carrying off tobacco wherever he could find them. Finally, he established his force at Portsmouth, and threw up entrenchments. Mr. Jefferson was eager to capture him, and offered five thousand guineas to any of the men of General Muhlenburg's western corps who would accom- plish the work.b But the traitor knew his danger, and kept close quarters, never stirring beyond them, unless with a guard. Meanwhile the attention of General Washington was more and more directed to Virginia ; his quick eye saw that with a suffi- cient naval force at the mouth of the Bay, and firm operations on land, the British might be overcome ; his representations induced the French Admiral Destouches to sail with his fleet from Rhode Island, for the Chesapeake; but, meeting the English squadron under Arbuthnot, a battle ensued, which, though indecisive, induced the French to return to Newport.
On the 26th of March, the British General Phil- lips arrived at Portsmouth with two thousand men. He immediately assumed the command, much to
a Jefferson, i. 206; Girardin, 457. b See his letter to Muhlenburg, Girardin, 458.
260
PETERSBURG.
[CHAP. IV.
the relief of the soldiers, who heartily despised Arnold. Treason may be encouraged, but traitors will always be hated. Phillips was not long con- tent with inactivity. On the 18th April, he com- menced ascending the James, sending parties to York, where they spiked guns, and to the Chicka- homing, where they burned a twenty-gun ship, then on the stocks. On the 24th, the whole body of troops, numbering twenty-three hundred men, landed at City Point, and marched directly upon Petersburg. Here Baron Steuben, with one thou- sand militia, prepared to receive them ; although so much their inferior, he most gallantly contested the ground, pouring in several fires, which threw the British van into confusion, and made them retreat precipitately upon their comrades. The enemy gained inch by inch; in two hours they had ad- vanced but a single mile; yet, at length, the Vir- ginians retreated, and in perfect order passed a bridge which spanned the Appamatox. General Phillips took possession of Petersburg, burned many hogsheads of tobacco, and some small vessels lying at the wharves, and then despatched Arnold to Chesterfield Court-house, where he destroyed the barracks, and burned a quantity of flour. On the 30th, Phillips and Arnold again united, and march- ed to Manchester. They desired to pay Rich- mond another visit, as courteous as the last; but this time, they were disappointed.a
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