Battle of Blandford

Coordinates: 37°14′04″N 77°23′38″W / 37.23438°N 77.3939°W / 37.23438; -77.3939
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Battle of Blandford (Petersburg)
Part of the
American War of Independence

A British engineer's sketch of the battle
Date25 April 1781
Location
Blandford, now a part of Petersburg, Virginia
37°14′04″N 77°23′38″W / 37.23438°N 77.3939°W / 37.23438; -77.3939
Result British victory
Belligerents
United States  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Baron von Steuben
Peter Muhlenberg		 William Phillips
Benedict Arnold
Strength
1,000[1] 2,500[2]
Casualties and losses
over 150[3] 25–30[3]
Blandford, Virginia is located in Virginia
Blandford, Virginia
Blandford, Virginia
class=notpageimage|
Virginia

The Battle of Blandford (or Blanford), also called the Battle of Petersburg, took place near

Baron von Steuben
.

The introduction of a British troop presence led by turncoat general Benedict Arnold into Virginia in early 1781 prompted an increase in militia activity to counter the British force. The militia were, however, poorly trained and equipped, and were unable to prevent Arnold from moving freely. Arnold was reinforced in March 1781 by additional troops led by General Phillips, who targeted Petersburg in a raiding expedition. Militia forces led by von Steuben and Peter Muhlenberg decided to make a stand at Blandford, then a separate community.

When the battle was joined, the outnumbered militia provided remarkably stiff resistance to the British advance, and executed a disciplined retreat across the

Marquis de Lafayette. Philips and Arnold continued to launch raids, and eventually joined forces with Charles Cornwallis's army from North Carolina
.

Background

Main article: Yorktown campaign

By December 1780, the

national currency was virtually worthless, public support for the war, about to enter its sixth year, was waning, and army troops were becoming mutinous over pay and conditions.[5] In the Americans' favor, Loyalist recruiting had been checked with a severe blow at Kings Mountain in October.[6]

To counter the British threat in the south, Washington sent Major General Nathanael Greene, one of his best strategists, to rebuild the American army in North Carolina after the defeat at Camden.[7] Charles Cornwallis, leading the British troops in the south, wanted to deal with him and gain control over the state.[8]

Arnold sent to Virginia

At Cornwallis's request for a diversion in

Westover, Virginia. Moving rapidly with an overnight forced march, he raided Richmond, the state capital, the next day.[12] After another day of raiding, he returned to his boats and sailed to Portsmouth, which he then proceeded to fortify.[13] The land approaches to this base were guarded by Virginia militia under the command of Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg, but these were inexperienced as well as relatively small in number, and could not prevent the movement of British troops by ship on the readily navigable rivers in the area.[14]

Brigadier General William Phillips

Arnold's arrival prompted General Washington to mobilize land and naval forces to challenge him. Washington sent the

British Army troops under the command of General William Phillips. When Phillips and his troops were landed at Portsmouth on 26 March, Phillips, with seniority over Arnold, took command of the forces there.[17]

Raiding by Phillips

Phillips then advanced again against the largely undefended countryside.

Baron von Steuben tried to check their progress and protect Richmond and Petersburg. Von 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 depot for both state and Continental forces. By 23 April, the British force had sailed up the James River to Westover; it landed there to drive off about 500 militia, and reports to von Steuben claimed the force to number between 2,500 and 3,000.[19]

On 24 April, as the afternoon progressed, about 1,000 of General Muhlenberg's Virginia militia marched into Petersburg. Other militia units were also gathering. Lafayette's force was still several days away, and another Continental Army force under General

Pocahontas Island and onto the elevated ground overlooking the river. Then, during the moonless night, von Steuben and Muhlenberg moved their forces south of the river into Blandford.[22]

Battle

General Peter Muhlenberg, by an unknown 19th century artist

Shortly before sunset on 24 April, Phillips landed a force of 2,500 British and

Hessian soldiers at City Point (now Hopewell), 12 miles (19 km) east of Petersburg.[2] As morning dawned the next day, four regiments of Muhlenberg's Virginia militia infantry formed two lines of defense and awaited the British force. The first line was composed of the regiments of Thomas Merriweather and John Dick, with Merriweather's anchoring the left of the line at the river, and Dick's the right, extending into the hills south of Blandford.[23] The second line, which was to form the main line of defense after the first one fell back, consisted of Ralph Faulkner's regiment on the left, and John Slaughter's on the right. The line extended along what is today Madison Street in Petersburg, from a causeway and bridge across the Lieutenant Run, a creek separating Petersburg and Blandford. The line was positioned to maximize the exposure of British troops to gunfire as they approached.[23] Von Steuben also placed one regiment on the north shore of the Appomattox River to guard against the possibility that the British landed on that side of the river.[24] He also positioned a small reserve force at the southern end of the Pocahontas Bridge, and Muhlenberg sent a company of Slaughter's men down the north bank to provide advance warning as the British approached.[23]

The British set out around 10 that morning, marching along the River Road toward Petersburg. Phillips' command consisted of the 78th and 80th Regiments of Foot,

Prince George County courthouse, but reconnaissance reported these had already been removed by the Americans, so Phillips marched directly for Petersburg.[25] Eleven lightly armed gunboats accompanied the force up the Appomattox, carrying men and supplies.[24]

The battle was preceded by an exchange of fire between the British gunboats and the American advance reconnaissance. Around 2:00 pm Phillips halted his column, then about one mile (1.6 km) from the American lines, and organized his forces for battle. On his right, Colonel

Thomas Dundas was to lead the 78th and 80th Foot to attempt a flanking maneuver against the American right, and Phillips held the second light infantry battalion and the Loyalist units of Simcoe and Arnold in reserve. He also held in reserve the four small guns the expedition had brought.[26]

As the British forces advanced on the American line, Phillips and Abercrombie noticed that one enterprising company of Virginia militia had established a position on a hill that provided them with an excellent opportunity to enfilade the British line. Abercrombie sent the jägers to flush them out.[27] The lines then closed, and the action became general.[28] The first line of militia put up stiffer resistance than the British anticipated.[29] The British artillery, and the strength of numbers that threatened to flank their position convinced the first militia line to retreat to the second after half an hour of resistance.[28][30] Phillips also detached Simcoe and his rangers on a lengthy and roundabout flanking maneuver intended to prevent the Americans from retreating across the Pocahontas Bridge.[28] While Simcoe moved, Phillips made two assaults on the second militia line, both of which were repulsed. It was not until the British artillery was in position to rake the American line more than an hour later that von Steuben finally ordered the retreat.[31] The Americans were eventually able to make an orderly retreat across the bridge, covered by the men placed on the high ground above the far side of the bridge.[28] The last companies across took up the bridge planking as they went, in order to delay pursuit (an act which later earned them the praise of contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson, General Nathanael Greene, and others).[32]

General Baron von Steuben, painting by Ralph Earl

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.[33]

Aftermath

Phillips' and Arnold's pursuit of the retreating American militia continued to

Manchester, just across the river from Richmond, which they reached on 29 April. However, they were unable to enter Richmond, as Lafayette had marched rapidly and occupied the city first. After destroying tobacco warehouses throughout Chesterfield County, the British sailed back down the James to Westover, while Lafayette advanced as far as Pocahontas. At Westover on 7 May, Phillips received orders to return to Petersburg and await Lord Cornwallis, who was moving north from Wilmington, North Carolina.[34] Upon reaching Petersburg on 9 May, Phillips was greeted by a bombardment from Lafayette's artillery positioned north of the river in what is now Colonial Heights. General Phillips contracted typhoid fever and died on 13 May, leaving Arnold temporarily in command of the British force.[35]

Cornwallis reached Petersburg on 20 May, bringing the British force up to 5,300 men. Shortly after, additional British reinforcements arrived from New York, raising his force to over 7,000 men.[36] Cornwallis ordered Arnold back to New York, and then fruitlessly chased Lafayette for a time through central Virginia before making his way back to Williamsburg.[37] Cornwallis was eventually ordered to fortify Yorktown, where Lafayette, joined early in September by a French force from the West Indies, blockaded the land routes while the French fleet prevented the arrival of British relief fleets.[38] With the arrival of George Washington and the Franco-American army from the north, Cornwallis was besieged, and surrendered his army on 17 October 1781.[32][39]

Petersburg was once again a center of military activity during the American Civil War, when it was besieged for nine months in 1864 and 1865. The role of Petersburg in this later conflict dominates commemorations of its military history. However, since 1992, the city of Petersburg has sponsored an annual reenactment of this battle.[40]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Lockhart p. 251
  2. ^ a b Davis, p. 144
  3. ^ a b Davis, p. 161
  4. ^ Ketchum, p. 92
  5. ^ Ketchum, pp. 8,12
  6. ^ Ketchum, p. 99
  7. ^ Ketchum, p. 73
  8. ^ Ketchum, pp. 119–125
  9. ^ Weintraub, p. 289
  10. ^ Ketchum, p. 125
  11. ^ Randall, p. 581
  12. ^ Randall, p. 582
  13. ^ Randall, p. 583
  14. ^ Lockhart, p. 251
  15. ^ Carrington, p. 584
  16. ^ Carrington, p. 585
  17. ^ Randall, p. 584
  18. ^ Ellis p. 132
  19. ^ Davis, pp. 140–142
  20. ^ Davis, p. 146
  21. ^ Davis, p. 145
  22. ^ Lockhart p. 255
  23. ^ a b c Davis, p. 152
  24. ^ a b Davis, p. 150
  25. ^ Davis, p. 149
  26. ^ Davis, p. 153
  27. ^ Davis, p. 154
  28. ^ a b c d Lockhart, p. 255
  29. ^ Davis, p. 163
  30. ^ Davis, p. 156
  31. ^ Davis, p. 158
  32. ^ a b Bailey, p. 17
  33. ^ Lutz, pp. 119ff
  34. ^ Lockhart, p. 256
  35. ^ Clary, p. 302
  36. ^ Clary, pp. 302–303
  37. ^ Clary, pp. 304–309
  38. ^ Clary, pp. 319–327
  39. ^ Weintraub, pp. 288–289
  40. ^ City of Petersburg Annual Commemorative Reenactment

References

External links

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