Battle of Blandford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Battle of Blandford was a battle during the American War of Independence, that took place near Petersburg, Virginia on 25 April 1781. Roughly 2,500 British regulars under the command of Brigadier General William Phillips defeated about 1,000 militia under Major General Baron von Steuben in a late afternoon battle where British artillery contributed significantly to the outcome.
Contents |
[edit] Background
At the request of Lord Cornwallis for a diversion in Virginia[1], Benedict Arnold had landed his force at Portsmouth in early 1781, and that spring, Phillips relieved his command and advanced against a largely undefended countryside.[2] A militia force under Major General Baron von Steuben tried to check their progress and protect Richmond.
Continental forces were under the command of Von Steuben. Steuben could discern that, though the British might attack Richmond as before, they definitely considered Petersburg a prime objective, since it served as a military cache for both state and Continental forces.
On 24 April, as the afternoon progressed, about 1,000 American men marched into Petersburg. They were Virginia militia regiments under Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg's Corps and other gathering militia units. The Marquis de Lafayette was several days away, with General Wayne also on the way.[3]
General Von Steuben, after council of war with General Muhlenburg and other officers, determined they would establish a line in Blandford, then a separate town east of Petersburg (now a neighborhood within the city). When the time came, the colonists could retreat across the Appomattox River over the Pocahontas Bridge.
Shortly before sunset, a force of 2,500 British soldiers under the command of Major General William Phillips disembarked at the James River landing in City Point (now Hopewell), 12 miles east of Petersburg.
That evening General Von Steuben ordered Muhlenburg's Corps to the north side of the Appomattox River on the peninsula known as Pocahontas Island, and onto the elevated ground overlooking the river.
[edit] First Line of Defense
During the moonless night, Von Steuben and Muhlenburg deployed their forces south of the river a quarter mile east of Petersburg, in the village of Blandford.[4] As morning dawned on 25 April, two infantry regiments formed a line of inexperienced Virginia militiamen, to face the well-trained British and German forces. The 500 men extended along present day East Street, from the Appomattox River to present day Washington Street.[5]
Also that morning, the British regulars marched along the River Road toward Petersburg. Major General William Phillips' army consisted of the 78th Regiment of Foot, the 80th Regiment of Foot, some Queen's Rangers, part of the Yaegers, and one light infantry battalion. It was almost noon when General Phillips and General Arnold formed their line.
[edit] The battle
The British attack began at one o'clock. A plan of battle published in 1784 shows that Phillips staged a three-pronged attack with the Yaegers and four artillery pieces holding the front, while the Light Infantry flanked the Continental position, and the Queen's Rangers went even further behind American lines menacing Petersburg.[6] The Continentals, after putting up a fierce resistance, were forced to retreat over the Pocahontas bridge. They removed its flooring as they went, to delay pursuit (an act which later earned them the praise of contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson, General Nathanael Greene, and others)[7].
Pausing on the heights near Violet Bank (in present-day Colonial Heights), the Americans engaged in an artillery duel with the British forces on the opposite bank, with further losses on both sides. After being replenished with a supply of rum, the weary militia then continued its northward retreat, reaching Chesterfield Courthouse the following day — just as the British force was crossing the Appomattox, destroying three more bridges behind them.[8]
[edit] Aftermath
Phillips and Arnold's pursuit of the retreating American militia continued to Manchester, (just across the river from Richmond), which they reached on the 29th. However, they were unable to enter Richmond, as Lafayette with 1200 troops had already preceded them there. After destroying tobacco warehouses throughout Chesterfield County, the British commanders sailed back down the James to Westover, while Lafayette advanced as far as Pocahontas. At Westover on May 7, Phillips received word to return to Petersburg and await Lord Cornwallis, who was moving up from the Southern theatre. Upon reaching Petersburg May 9, he was greeted by Lafayette's artillery positioned north of the river in what is now Colonial Heights; and during this same bombardment, on May 13, General Phillips also suddenly died of typhoid fever.
Cornwallis reached Petersburg with 5300 men on May 20, 1781, recalling Arnold as one of his first acts; and following the final campaign of the war, he eventually surrendered at Yorktown in October.[9][10]
[edit] References
- ^ Weintraub p.289
- ^ Ellis p.132
- ^ Lockhart p.251
- ^ Lockhart p.255
- ^ Historical Marker QA23, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2005
- ^ Atlas of the American Revolution, Rand McNally 1974, p. 175.
- ^ James H. Bailey, Old Petersburg, p. 17.
- ^ Francis Earl Lutz, 1954, Chesterfield: An Old Virginia County, p. 119 ff.
- ^ Wientraub p.288-89
- ^ Bailey, p. 17.
[edit] Bibliography
- Bicheno, Hugh. Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War. Harper Collins, 2003.
- Ellis, Joseph. His Excellency: George Washington. Faber and Faber, 2005.
- Lockhart, Paul Douglas. The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army. Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.
- Weintraub, Stanley. Iron Tears: Rebellion in America 1775-1783. Simon and Schuster, 2005
|
||||||||||||||||
