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Arnold had apprised her of the irritability of that officer's temper, and by her mildness she secured his esteem and favor. *
On the morning of the twenty-seventh,April 1781Arnold, with one division of the army, consisting of the eightieth and seventy-sixth regiments and the Rangers, proceeded to a place called Osborne's, a short distance from Petersburg, where, rumor asserted, the Americans had considerable stores, and near which was anchored a marine force to oppose the further progress of vessels coming up the James River. At the same time, General Phillips, with the other division, marched to Chesterfield Court House.
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The patriots at Osborne's were not advised of the approach of the enemy until they appeared in force. Arnold sent a flag to treat with the commander of the fleet for a surrender, but he boldly refused a conference. "I am determined and ready to defend the fleet, and will sink in the vessels rather than surrender them." He then caused the drum to beat to arms, and the militia on the opposite side of the river drew up in battle order. Arnold immediately advanced with some artillery, routed the patriots, and drove the seamen to their shipping. The latter scuttled several of the vessels and or's hands. One of the vessels returned the fire from the enemy's artillery with much spirit, but was finally disabled. The militia were driven from the opposite shore, and the whole fleet was either captured or destroyed. Two ships and ten smaller craft were captured, and four ships, five brigantines, and a number of small vessels, were either burned or sunk. ** The quantity of tobacco taken or destroyed, exceeded two thousand hogsheads.
* Campbell's Reminiscences of Bollingbrook, in the Southern Literary Messenger, January, 1840.
* Note.—Explanation of the Plan.—A, B, the Queen's Rangers; C, the eightieth and seventy-sixth regiments; D, E, the British artillery, two six and two three pounders; F, Yagers; G, the American vessels; H, the American militia.
** It was to one of the prisoners, taken at this time, that Arnold put the question, "If the Americans should catch me, what would they do with me?" The soldier promptly replied, "They would bury with military honors the leg which was wounded at Saratoga, and hang the remainder of you upon a gibbet."
Troops of Arnold and Phillips.—Depredations at Manchester and Warwick.—La Fayette at Petersburg.—Death of Phillips.
Phillips and Arnold joined their divisions on the thirtieth, after having burned the barracks and a quantity of flour at Chesterfield Court House, and then pushed forward toward Richmond, where a large quantity of military stores were collected. At Manchester, opposite Richmond, they burned twelve hundred hogsheads of tobacco and other property, and were preparing to cross the river, when information reached them that La Fayette, with a body of Continental troops, had arrived the evening previous. The marquis had received orders at the head of Elk to go to Virginia and oppose Phillips and Arnold, and had made a forced march of two hundred miles in order to save the stores at Richmond. The depredators knew too well the spirit of the marquis to venture another marauding visit to Richmond while he was there, and, wheeling their columns, they proceeded down the river to Bermuda Hundred, at the mouth of the Appomattox, opposite City Point, and embarked. On their way, they passed through Warwick, a town on the James River, then larger than Richmond, where they destroyed ships on the stocks, a range of rope-walks, a magazine of flour, warehouses filled with tobacco and other merchandise, tan-houses filled with hides, and some flouring mills belonging to Colonel Carey, whose splendid mansion was near. * In one general conflagration, the thriving town, with all its industrial appurtenances, was destroyed. **
The British fleet with the land forces then sailed down the James River, when, a little below Burwell's Ferry, they were metMay 6by a boat from Portsmouth, bearing a mes sage with intelligence for General Phillips that Cornwallis was on his way north, and wished to form a junction with him at Petersburg. The whole fleet was immediately ordered to return up the James Elver, and late at night, on the ninth,May 1781the British army again entered Petersburg. So secret was their entrance, that ten American officers who were there to prepare boats for La Fayette to cross the river, were captured. Phillips was very sick of a fever on his arrival, and was carried to the house of Mrs. Bolling, where he died four days afterward. ***
The presence of La Fayette inspired the militia of Virginia with high hopes, and they flocked to his standard in considerable numbers. When informed of the return of the British fleet, he suspected the object to be a junction with Cornwallis at Petersburg. It was known that the earl had left Wilmington, and was on his way to Virginia. The marquis immediately pressed forward to take possession of the town before the arrival of Phillips and Arnold. He was too late, and after cannonading the British quarters, particularly Bollingbrook, **** from Archer's Hill, and thoroughly reconnoitering the place, he returned to Osborne's,
* Anburey, one of the officers who surrendered to Gates at Saratoga, in his Travels in America (ii., 312), speaks highly of Colonel Carey's hospitality.
** Gordon, iii., 205; Girardin, 460; Jefferson, i., 420.
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*** William Phillips, it will be remembered, was one of Burgoyne's general officers, who was made prisoner at Saratoga. He commanded the "Convention Troops," as those captives were called, while on their march to Virginia. On being exchanged, he was actively engaged at the South until his death. He was possessed of an exceedingly irritable temper, which often led him into difficulty. He was very haughty in his demeanor, especially toward the Americans, whom he affected to hold in great contempt. While lying sick at Petersburg, he dictated a letter to Governor Jefferson, and addressed it to "Thomas Jefferson, Esq., American governor of Virginia and when speaking of the American commander-in-chief, he called him "Mr. Washington." General Phillips was buried in the old Blandford church-yard, where his remains yet repose. His disease was bilious fever.
**** La Fayette was probably not aware that General Phillips was dying at Bollingbrook, or he would not have cannonaded it. British writers have charged La Fayette with inhumanity. Anburey (ii., 446) says, "A circumstance attended Phillip's death, similar to the inhumanity that the Americans displayed at the interment of General Frazer." He further asserts, that a flag was sent to the marquis, acquainting him with the condition of Phillips, but that he paid no attention to it, and continued the firing. He said a ball went through the house, just as Phillips was expiring, when the dying man exclaimed, "My God! 'tis cruel they will not let me die in peaee." This assertion proves its own inconsistency. The cannonade occurred on the tenth, and General Phillips did not die until the thirteenth. *
* Campbell says that, according to tradition, Arnold was crossing the yard when the cannonade commenced. He hastened into the house, and directed the inmates to go to the cellar for safety. General Phillips was taken there, followed by Mrs. Bolling and her family. An old negro woman, who was standing in the kitchen door, was killed by one of the balls.
Entrance of Cornwallis into Virginia.—The State in Danger.—Retirement of Governor Jefferson.—Monticello.
and there crossed the James River to the easterly side. Arnold took the chief command, on the death of General Phillips, and just one week after that event,May 20, 1781Cornwallis, with a large force, entered Petersburg. That officer, after fighting the battle with
General Greene at Guilford Court House, had retired to Wilmington, on the Cape Fear River. Perceiving the advantages to be derived by invading Virginia at separate points, he ordered General Phillips, as we have seen, to return up the James River, while he hastened to enter the state from the south and form a junction with him at Petersburg. He marched directly north, nearly on a line with the present rail-road from Wilmington, and reached the Roanoke at Halifax, seven miles below the Great Falls, where he crossed, and entered Virginia. Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton, with a corps of one hundred and eighty cavalry and sixty mounted infantry, was sent forward as an advance guard to disperse the militia and overawe the inhabitants. The outrages committed by some of these marauding troops were pronounced by Stedman, an officer of Cornwallis's army, "a disgrace to the name of man." * Simcoe had been sent by Arnold to take possession of the fords on the Nottaway and Meherrin Rivers, the only considerable streams that intervened, and the two armies, unopposed, effected a junction at Petersburg, where Cornwallis assumed the command of the whole.
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Virginia now seemed doomed to the alternative of submission or desolation. On the seventh of May, the Legislature, uneasy at the proximity of General Phillips and his army, adjourned to meet at Charlottesville, in Albemarle county, on the twenty-fourth. There, eighty-five miles from Richmond, in the bosom of a fertile and sheltered valley, on the banks of the Rivanna, they hoped to legislate undisturbed. Mr. Jefferson, the governor, feeling his incompetency, on account of his lack of military knowledge, to administer the affairs of the state with energy, declined a re-election on the first of June, and indicated General Nelson, of Yorktown, as a proper successor. At his elegant seat, called Monticello (Little Mountain), situated three miles southeast of Charlottesville, far from the din of actual hostilities, Jefferson sought repose for a season in the bosom of his family. His dream of quiet was soon broken, as we shall presently perceive.
Cornwallis, unlike most of the other British generals, was seldom inert. Although, from the western part of the Carolinas to Wilmington, and from thence to Petersburg, he had journeyed nearly fifteen hundred miles in his marches and counter-marches, he did not halt long. Four days after his av-
* American War, ii., 385. It is just to the memory of Cornwallis to say, that the enormities committed were without his sanction. Near the Roanoke, a sergeant and private of Tarleton's legion violated the person of a young girl, and robbed the house where she lived. The next morning Cornwallis ordered Tarleton to draw up his men in line. Some country people pointed out the miscreants. They were tried by a court-martial, found guilty, and hung on the spot. This example had a good effect.
** This venerated mansion is yet standing, though somewhat dilapidated and deprived of its former beauty by neglect. The furniture of its distinguished owner is nearly all gone, except a few pictures and mirrors, otherwise the interior of the house is the same as when Jefferson died. It is upon an eminence, with many aspen-trees around it, and commands a view of the Blue Ridge for one hundred and fifty miles on one side, and on the other one of the most beautiful and extensive landscapes in the world. Wirt, writing of the interior arrangements of the house during Mr. Jefferson's life time, records that, in the spacious and lofty hall which opens to the visitor on entering, "he marks no tawdry and unmeaning ornaments; but before, on the right, on the left, all around, the eye is struck and gratified by objects of science and taste, so classed and arranged as to produce their finest effect. On one side, specimens of sculpture, set out in such order as to exhibit at a coup d'oil the historié progress of that art, from the first rude attempts of the aborigines of our country, up to that exquisite and finished bust of the great patriot himself, from the master-hand of Carracei. On the other side, the visitor sees displayed a vast collection of specimens of the Indian art, their paintings, weapons, ornaments, and manufactures; on another, an array of fossil productions of our country, mineral and animal; the polished remains of those colossal monsters that once trod our forests, and are no more; and a variegated display of the branching honors of 'those monarchs of the waste' that still people the wilds of the American Continent." In a large saloon were exquisite productions of the painter's art, and from its windows opened a view of the surrounding country, such as no painter could imitate. There, too, were medallions and engravings in great profusion. Among Mr. Jefferson's papers was found, after his death, a very perfect impression in wax, of his famous seal, bearing his monogram and the motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.
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* That impression is in the present possession of Mr. Bancroft, the historian, to whose courtesy I am indebted for the privilege of making the annexed representation. I have endeavored to produce a perfect fac simile, so far as the pictorial art will allow, even to the fractures in the Wax.
* Montieello was a point of great attraction to the learned of all lands, when traveling in this country, while Jefferson lived. His writings made him favorably known as a scholar, and his public position made him honored by the nations. The remains of Mr. Jefferson lie in a small family cemetery, by the side of the winding road leading to Montieello. Over them is a granite obelisk eight feet high, and on a tablet of marble inserted in its southern face is the following inscription, whieh was found among Mr. Jefferson's papers after his death:
"Here lies buried THOMAS JEFFERSON,Author of the Declaration of Independence;Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom;And Father of the University of Virginia."Monticello.
Cornwallis's unsuccessful Pursuit of La Fayette.—Expeditions Westward.—Jefferson's Seal and Monument, and Inscriptions
rival, he marched down the James River to Westover, where he was joined by a regiment from New York. * He crossed,May 24, 1781and pushed on toward Richmond. La Fayette, with nearly three thousand troops, continental and militia, lay about half way between Richmond and Wilton. Cornwallis knew the inferiority of the marquis's force to his own, and felt so sure of success that he wrote to the British secretary, from Petersburg, saying, "The boy can not escape me." La Fayette had wisdom as well as zeal, and instead of risking a battle at that time, he cautiously retreated northward, pursued by the earl. A retreat to avoid the engagement was not the only object to be obtained by La Fayette. Wayne was on his march through Maryland with a re-enforcement of eight hundred men, and a junction was important. Cornwallis was advised of the approach of these troops, and sought, by rapid marches, to outstrip La Fayette and prevent the union. But the marquis was too agile; and after pursuing him to the North Anna, beyond Hanover Court House, plundering and destroying a vast amount of property on the way, the earl halted and encamped. La Fayette passed through Spottsylvania county to the Raccoon Ford, on the Rappahannock, in Culpepper, where he was joined by General Wayne.June 10Unsuccessful in his pursuit, Cornwallis now directed his attention to other points. In the southern part of Fluvanna county, at a place called Point of Fork, ** on the James River, the Americans had an arsenal and a large quantity of military stores. Baron Steuben, with six hundred raw militia, had charge of this post. The dispersion of the Americans and the capture of the stores were objects of importance to Cornwallis, and for that purpose he sent Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe with his rangers, and other troops under Captain Hutchinson, to surprise the baron. At the same time, the earl dispatched Tarleton, with one hundred and eighty cavalry, and seventy mounted infantry under Captain Champagne, *** to attempt the capture of Jefferson and the members of the Legislature at Charlottesville,
* This was the forty-third regiment. The convoy also brought another regiment, and two battalions of Anspachers, to strengthen the garrison at Portsmouth. Arnold, despised by Cornwallis, who no longer needed his services, was sent to New York on the first of June.
** This locality is at the confluence of the Fluvanna and Rivanna rivers, two great branches of the James River.
*** From the stables of the planters Cornwallis procured excellent horses, on whieh these and other troops were mounted.
Expedition of Simcoe against Steuben.—-Attempt to Capture Jefferson and the Legislators.—-Destruction of Property.
Steuben was advised of the approach of Tarleton, and believing his post to be the object of the expedition, he conveyed his stores to the south side of the Fluvanna and prepared to withdraw his troops thither. Simcoe's march was unknown, but when he arrived at the Point of Fork, he had nothing to surprise or capture, except about thirty Americans who were waiting the return of boats to cross the river. Simcoe, by an advantageous display of his force, and lighting numerous fires at night upon the hills along the Rivanna, deceived Steuben with the belief that the main army of Cornwallis was close upon him. Influenced by this idea, the baron hastily retreated during the night, leaving such stores behind as could not readily be removed. In the morning, Simcoe sent Captain Stephenson to destroy them, and also ordered Captain Wolsey to make a feigned pursuit upon the track of the retreating Americans.
In the mean while, Tarleton and his legion pushed forward with their accustomed speed, to catch the Virginia law-makers at Charlottesville. On their way toward the Rivanna, they destroyed twelve wagon-loads of clothing, destined for Green's army in North Carolina. On reaching that stream, they dashed into its current, and before seven o'clock in the morningJan 4, 1781they were within ten miles of Charlottesville. There Tarleton detached
Captain M'Leod, with a party of horsemen, to capture Governor Jefferson, at Monticello, while himself and the remainder of his forces pushed on to the residence of two brothers, named Walker, where he understood many influential Virginians were assembled. Several of these were captured, among whom was Colonel John Simms, a member of the Legislature, and William and Robert, brothers of General Nelson. After partaking of a tardily prepared breakfast at Dr. Walker's, * Tarleton pursued his rapid march, and rode up the hill into the village of Charlotte, under full gallop, expecting to take the legislators by surprise. He was disappointed. While passing through Louisa county, a Mr. Jouitte, suspecting Tarleton's design, mounted a fleet horse, and reached Charlottesville in time to give the alarm. The delay for breakfast at Dr. Walker's was sufficient to allow most of the members to mount fresh horses and escape. Only seven fell into the hands of the British.
M'Leod's expedition to Monticello was quite as unsuccessful. The governor was entertaining several members of the Legislature, including the speakers of both Houses, and was not aware of the proximity of an enemy, until the invaders were seen coming up the winding road leading to his mansion. His wife and children were hurried off to Colonel Carter's, six miles southward, whither Mr. Jefferson followed on horseback, making his way among the dark recesses of Carter's Mountain. The speaker hurried to Charlottesville to adjourn the Legislature, to meet at Staunton on the seventh, ** and then, with several others, mounted fleet horses and escaped. Mr. Jefferson had not been gone ten minutes when M'Leod and his party rode up and found the mansion deserted. Books, papers, and furniture were untouched by the enemy, and not a particle of the governor's property was destroyed, except a large quantity of wine in his cellar, drank and wasted by a few soldiers, without the knowledge of their commander.
After destroying one thousand new muskets, four hundred barrels of powder, several hogsheads of tobacco, and a quantity of soldier's clothing, Tarleton, with his prisoners, rejoined Cornwallis, who had advanced to Elk Hill, a plantation belonging to Governor Jefferson, near the Point of Fork. There the most wanton destruction of property occurred. They cut the throats of the young horses, carried off the older ones fit for service, slaughtered the
* Observing a delay in the preparation of breakfast, Tarleton impatiently demanded the reason. He was informed by the cook that his subalterns had already devoured two breakfasts. A guard was placed at the kitchen door, and it was not until a third breakfast was cooked that Tarleton was able to obtain his meal.
** The members of the Legislature were terribly frightened, and were not at ease even at Staunton. On the morning when they convened, Colonel Brookes, with a small company of mounted Virginians, rode into Staunton at a rapid pace, bearing a message from Baron Steuben. The members, believing them to be a part of Tarleton's legion, took to their heels, and it was some time before they could be coaxed back to their duties. On the twelfth they elected General Nelson governor of the state.
Cornwallis baffled by La Fayette.—His Retreat toward the Coast.—Detention of the Convention Troops.—Their Parole.
cattle, burned the barns with the crops of the previous year, with all the fences on the plantations near, and captured many negroes. *
One more prize attracted the attention of Cornwallis. At Albemarle Old Court House, above the Point of Pork, the Virginians had collected a large quantity of valuable stores, most of which had been sent from Richmond. The earl determined to capture or destroy them; La Fayette, who, after his junction with Wayne, had moved cautiously through Orange and the upper part of Louisa to Boswell's tavern, near the Albemarle line, resolved to protect them. Tarleton was sent to force La Fayette either to hazard a battle with the whole British army, or abandon the stores. The marquis did neither. He had discovered a rough, unused road, leading directly to the Court House. Early in the evening he set his pioneers at work, and before morning his whole force had traversed the opened way, and, to the astonishment of Cornwallis, were strongly posted upon high ground, between the British forces and the American stores. Again baffled, the earl wheeled his army, and moved toward the eastern coast, closely watched and followed by the vigilant marquis. He entered Richmond on the seventeenth, and evacuated it on the twentieth. Steuben had now joined La Fayette, and Cornwallis, believing the strength of the Americans to be much greater than it really was, hastened to Williamsburg, where, under the protection of his shipping, and re-enforced by troops from Portsmouth, he encamped. ** His subsequent movements, until his surrender at Yorktown, have been noticed in preceding chapters.
Before leaving Virginia, let us consider that important event in the history of the Revolution, the residence of the "Convention Troops" (as Burgoyne's captured army were called), in the vicinity of Charlottesville.
In a note on page 82 of the first volume of this work, I have given briefly the principal reasons why the captive army of Burgoyne was not allowed to go to England on parole. The action of Congress on the subject was technically dishonorable, and not in accordance with the letter and spirit of theconventionsigned by Gates and Burgoyne. So General Washington evidently thought when he wrote to General Heath respecting the detention of that body, and said, "By this step General Burgoyne will, it is more than probable, look upon himself as released from all former ties, and consequently at liberty to make use of any means to effect an escape." *** The suspected perfidy of the British commander, the fact that the enemy often acted upon the principle that "faith was not to be kept with rebels," and the consideration that these troops, though they might not again "serve against America," would supply the places of soldiers at home who would, partially justified the bad faith of Congress. Having resolved to keep them here, the next consideration was their maintenance. The difficulty of procuring an ample supply of food in New England, and the facilities of a sea-coast for their escape, induced Congress to order them to be sent into the interior of Virginia. Sir Henry Clinton had been applied toSept. 1778for passports for American vessels to transport fuel and provisions to Boston for the use of the prisoners, but refused. Congress, therefore, directedOct 15them to be removed to Charlottesville, in Albemarle county, Virginia. Pursuant to this direction, the whole body of captives, English and Germans, after the officers had signed a parole of honor **** respecting
* It is estimated that, during the invasion of the state which we have been considering, thirty thousand slaves were carried off, of whom twenty-seven thousand are supposed to have died of small-pox or camp-fever in the course of six months.—Howison, ii., 270.
** Gordon, Ramsay, Jefferson's Letters, Tucker's Life of Jefferson, Girardin, Howison, &c
*** Sparks's Washington, v., 221.
**** The following is the form of the parole: "We whose names are hereunto subscribed being under the restrictions of the convention of Saratoga, and ordered, by a resolution of Congress of the fifteenth ultimo, to remove from the State of Massachusetts Bay, to Charlottesville, in the State of Virginia, do severally promise and engage on our word and honor, and on the faith of gentlemen, that on our march from this place to Charlottesville, we, or either of us, will not say or do any thing injurious to the United States of America, or either of them, nor at any time exceed such limits or distances from the troops as may be assigned us by the commanding officer who may have the charge and escort of the troops of convention to Virginia, or on any other part of the route.
Given under our hands in the State of Massachusetts Bay, this day of November, A.D. 1778."
March of the Convention Troops to Virginia.—Their Route to Charlottesville.—Sufferings.—Riedesel and his Family.
their conduct on the way, took up their line of march from Cambridge and Rutland * on the tenth of November. Burgoyne having been permitted to return to England in May, the command of the convention troops devolved upon Major-general Phillips. Colonel Theodorick Bland, of the first regiment of light dragoons, was appointed by Washington to superintend the march of the captives; and Colonel James Wood was appointed to command at Charlottesville.
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It was a dreary winter's journey of seven hundred miles, and occupied about three months in its accomplishment. ** The Baroness Riedesel, in her charmingLetters and Memoirs, gives graphic pictures of events on the way, and of her residence in and departure from Virginia. Anburey, a captive officer, also records many incidents of interest connected with the journey; and in hisTravels, publishes a map of the Eastern and Middle States, on which is denoted, by colored lines, the direction of the march, and the extent of the paroles of the English and German prisoners after their arrival in Virginia. ***
The troops were, at first, all stationed at Charlottesville. That town then contained only a court-house, one tavern, and about a dozen houses. These were crowded with the English officers, and many sought quarters on neighboring plantations. The soldiers suffered dreadfully. Not expecting the captives before spring, barracks were not erected, and the only shelter that was vouchsafed them, after their fatiguing march through mud and snow, were a few half-finished huts in the woods. These, not half covered, were full of snow, and it was three days before they were made habitable. No provisions had arrived for the troops, and for a week they subsisted upon corn meal made into cakes. The officers, by signing a parole, were allowed to go as far as Richmond for quarters, and in a short time both officers and soldiers were rendered quite comfortable. General Phillips made his quarters at the plantation of Colonel Carter, **** and General Riedesel and his family resided upon the estate of Mr. Mazzei, an Italian gentleman at Colie, a few miles distant from Charlottesville. (v)Mr. Jefferson, who was then at Monticello, did every thing in his power to render
* I have before me the original parole ol the Germans, with the autographs of the ninety-five officers who signed it. It is headed by the names of Baron Riedesel, the commander of the Brunswick forces, and of those of his military family, Gerlach, Edmonstone, and Cleve. The first was deputy quarter-master general; the last two were aids-de-camp. Edmonstone, who was a Scotchman, was General Riedesel's secretary, and wrote all his English letters.
* During the summer and autumn of 1778, the English captives were quartered at Rutland, in Worcester county, fifty-five miles northwest of Boston. A portion of them were marched thither on the fifteenth of April.
** Anburey expressed his belief that the chief advantage which the Congress sought to obtain by this journey in the winter, was the desertion of troops, believing that the privations on the march would drive hundreds to that step. There were a great many desertions during the march.
*** The principal places through whieh the troops passed, were as follows: Weston, Marlborough, Worcester, Leicester, and Enfield, in Massachusetts; Suffield, Sunbury, New Hartford, Norfolk, and Sharon, in Connecticut; Nine Partners, Hopewell, Fishkill, Newburgh, Little Britain, and Goshen, in New York; Wallins, Sussex Court House, Hacketstown, and Sherwood's Ferry, in New Jersey; Tinieum, Hilltown, North Wales, Valley Forge, Lancaster, and York, in Pennsylvania; Hanover, Tawneytown, and Frederickstown, in Maryland; Little London, Neville Plantation, Farquier Court House, Carter's Plantation, Orange, Walker's Plantation to Charlottesville, in Virginia.
**** Anburey says, "the house and plantation where General Phillips resides is called Blenheim. The house was erected shortly after that memorable battle in Germany, by a Mr. Carter, who was secretary to the colony." He mentions the fact that Colonel Carter possessed fifteen hundred slaves.—Travels, ii., 327.
* (v) Madame Riedesel says, "the house where we were lodged, and indeed the whole estate, belonged to an Italian, who hired it to us, as he was about setting out on a journey. We looked impatiently forward to the time of his departure, and that of his wife and daughter, on account of the smallness of the house and the scarcity of provisions. In respect to the latter, our landlord voluntarily assumed a kind of tutorship over us. Thus, when he killed a calf, he gave us on the first day only the head and the tripe, though we represented that this was not enough for twenty persons. He replied that we could make a very good soup of it. He then added to the meat two cabbages and some stale ham; and this was all we could obtain from him.
Jefferson's Hospitality.—Erection of Barracks.—Extensive Gardening.—General Condition of the Troops.
the situation of the officers and troops as pleasant as possible. To the former, the hospitalities of his mansion and the use of his choice library were freely proffered; and when, in the spring of 1779, it was proposed to remove the troops to some other locality, he pleaded earnestly and forcibly, in a letter to Governor HenryMarch 27against the measure, on the grounds of its inhumanity, expense, and general inexpediency. For these attentions, the officers and troops often expressed their warmest gratitude toward Mr. Jefferson. The kindness of Colonel Bland, on their march, also excited their affection, and made him a favorite.
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Early in the spring, comfortable barracks for the troops were erected, under the direction of Colonel Harvey. They were upon the brow and slopes of a high hill, on Colonel Harvey's estate, five miles from Charlottesville. They cost the government about twenty-five thousand dollars. A large portion of the land was laid out into gardens, fenced in and planted. General Riedesel spent more than five hundred dollars for garden seeds for the German troops, and when autumn advanced there was no scarcity of provisions. According to Mr. Jefferson, the location was extremely healthy. * It being the universal opinion that they would remain prisoners there until the close of the war, the officers spent a great deal of money in the erection of more suitable dwellings, and in preparing rough land for cultivation. They settled their families there, built a theatre, a coffee-house, and a cold bath; and in general intercourse with the families of neighboring gentlemen, and the pursuits of music and literature, their captivity was made agreeable to them, and profitable to the province. ** Notwithstanding this apparent quiet on the surface, there was turbulence below. Captivity under the most favorable circumstances is galling. A large number deserted, and made their way to British posts at the North. On one occasion nearly four hundred eluded the vigilance of their guards, and escaped. When, in October, 1780, General Leslie with a strong force took possession of Portsmouth, great uneasiness was observed
* "Of four thousand people (the number of the captives) it should be expected, according to ordinary calculations, that one should die every day; yet in the space of near three months there have been but four deaths among them; two infants under three weeks old, and two others by apoplexy. The officers tell me the troops were never before so healthy since they were imbodied."—Letter to Governor Patrick Henry.
** It can not be wondered at, that Mr. Jefferson and other agriculturists should have been opposed to their removal, when it was estimated that forty-five thousand bushels of grain from the harvest fields of Virginia were consumed by them in a year, and that thirty thousand dollars were circulated weekly in consequence of their presence.—See Jefferson's Letter to Governor Henry. Anburey, noticing their departure from the barracks, says, "I am apt to think that Colonel Harvey, the proprietor of the estate, will reap great advantage, if the province should not, as the army entirely cleared a space of six miles in circumference round the barracks."—Travels, ii., 414.
Removal of Troops from Charlottesville.—Their Final Dispersion.—The Germans.—Departure from Petersburg
among the British troops, and just fears were entertained that they might rise upon and overpower their guard, and join their countrymen on the Elizabeth River. The Germans were less impatient, for they were enjoying life better than at home; * yet it was thought expedient to remove the whole body of prisoners to a place of greater security. Accordingly, the British were marched across the Blue Ridge,Nov. 29, 1780at Wood's Gap, and through the Great Valley to Fort Frederick, in Maryland; ** the Germans followed soon afterward, and were quartered at Winchester (then containing between three and four hundred houses), in the northern part of Virginia. Deaths, desertion, and partial exchanges had now reduced their numbers to about twenty-one hundred. Afterward they were removed to Lancaster, and some to East Windsor, in Connecticut. In the course of 1782, they were all dispersed, either by exchange or desertion. A large number of the Germans, remembering the perfidy of their rulers at home, and pleased with their national brethren who were residents here, remained at the close of the war, and many became useful citizens.
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Let us resume our journey.
I arose at daybreak, on the morning after my arrival in Petersburg.Dec 26, 1848The clouds were broken, and a keen breeze from the north reminded me of the presence of winter. Accompanied by one of the early risers of the town, I crossed the fine bridge over the Appomattox, and strolled over Archer's Hill, whereon the Americans planted their cannon and disturbed the inmates of Bollingbrook. The little village on that side retains its original name of Pocahunta or Pocahontas, and presents a natural curiosity which tradition has connected with the memory of that princess. It is a large stone, hollowed like a bowl by the hand of Nature, and is never without water in it, except in times of extreme drought. It is calledPocahontas' s Wash-basin; and the vulgar believe that the "dearest daughter" of Powhatan actually laved her limbs in its concavity. It was formerly several rods from its present position at the northwest corner of the bridge, and was broken in its removal. Strong cement keeps it whole, and it is regarded with considerable interest by the curious visitor.
Returning to Petersburg, we ascended to Bollingbrook, and just as the sun came up from the distant hills, I sketched the view on page 545. At nine o'clock, after receiving minute directions respecting my future route for a hundred miles, I took the reins and started for the Roanoke. For the first sixteen miles, to the banks of Stony Brook, the country is sandy and quite level, and the roads were fine. I crossed that stream at Dinwiddie Court House, the capitol of the county of that name, where, a few days before, Society, by the use of a sheriff and strong cord, had strangled William Dandridge Eppes, for the murder of a
* I have mentioned, on page 21, the bargain entered into by the British ministry and some German princess for the furnishing of troops, by the latter, to fight the Americans. That bargain was rendered more heinous by the methods used to obtain the requisite number of men. Laborers were seized in the fields and work-shops, and large numbers were taken from the churches while engaged in their devotions, and hurried to the barracks without being allowed a parting embrace with their families. That this was the method to be employed was evidently known to the British government several months before the bargain was consummated; "for on the fourteenth of November, 1775, the honest-hearted king wrote as follows to Lord North: "The giving commissions to German officers to get men I can by no means consent to, for it in plain English amounts to making me a kidnapper, which I can not think a very honorable occupation." * Throughout Europe the whole transaction was viewed with horror as a great crime against humanity. Frederick the Great took every occasion to express his contempt for the "scandalous man-traffic of his neighbors." It is said that whenever any of those hired Brunswickers and Hessians had to pass through any portion of his territory, he claimed to levy on them the usual toll for so many head of cattle, since, he said, they had been sold as such **
** Fort Frederick is yet a well-preserved relie of colonial times. It is upon the north bank of the Potomac, in Washington county, Maryland, about fifty miles below Cumberland. It was built in 1755-6, under the direction of Governor Sharpe. The material is stone, and cost about thirty thousand dollars. The fort is quadrangular, and contained barracks sufficient for seven hundred men. This was one of the six forts built as frontier defenses against the encroachments of the Freneh and Indians.
Capital Punishment.—Husbandry in Lower Virginia.—Fruits of the Social System.
young man. The first murder was sufficiently horrid; the second was doubly so, because Christian men and women and innocent children saw it done in cool blood, and uttered not a word of remonstrance or reprobation! It had evidently been a holiday for the people; and all the way from Petersburg to the Meherrin, it was a stock subject for conversation. A dozen times I was asked if I saw "the hanging;" and a dozen times I shuddered at the evidence of the prevailing savagism In the nineteenth century, even in the heart of our republic. But the gallows is toppling, and another generation will be amazed at the cruelty of their fathers.
From Stony Brook to the Nottaway River, a distance of fifteen miles, the country is broken, and patches of sandy soil with pine forests, alternated with red clay, bearing oaks, chestnuts, and gum-trees. Worse roads I never expect to travel, for they would be impassable. Oftentimes Charley would sink to his knees in the soft earth, which was almost as adhesive as tar. The country is sparsely populated, and the plantations generally bore evidences of unskillful culture. Although most of the soil is fertile, and might be made very productive, yet so wretchedly is it frequently managed that twenty bushels of wheat is considered a good yield for an acre, and corn in like proportion. A large number of negroes are raised in that section, and constitute the chief wealth of the inhabitants; for the land, within thirty miles of the fine markets of Petersburg and City Point, averages in value only about five dollars an acre. Good roads would increase its value, but the spirit of internal improvement is very weak there. I was informed by a gentleman with whom I passed the night within a mile of the Nottaway, that several plantations in his neighborhood did not yield corn and bacon sufficient for the negroes, and that one or two men or women were sold annually from each to buy food for the others. "Thus," as he expressively observed, "they eat each other up!" Tobacco is the staple product, yielding from five hundred to one thousand pounds per acre; but, in the absence of manure, it destroys the vitality of the soil. During a ride of seventy or eighty miles toward the Roanoke, I saw hundreds of acres thus deadened and yellow with "poverty grass," or green with shrub pines. Many proprietors are careless or indolent, and leave the management of their estates to overseers. These, in turn, lacking the stimulus of interest, seem to leave affairs in the hands of the negroes, and the negroes are always willing to trust to Providence. The consequence is, fitful labor, unskillfully applied; and the fertile acres remain half barren from year to year. To a Northern man accustomed to pictures of industry and thrift, directed and enjoyed by enlightened workers, these things appear big with evil consequences. They are the fruits of the social system in the Southern States, which has grown reverend with years; a system deprecated by all sound thinkers there, particularly in the agricultural districts, as a barrier to progress, and inimical to genuine prosperity. This subject involves questions proper for the statesman, the political economist, and the moralist to discuss. They are irrelevant to my theme, and I pass them by with this brief allusion, while resting firmly upon the hope that, through equity and wisdom, a brighter day is about to dawn upon the rich valleys and fertile uplands of Virginia and the Carolinas.
I crossed the Nottaway into Brunswick county, at Jones's Bridge. The river is narrow, and lying in a deep bed, its current is often made swift by rains. Such was its condition when I passed over; for rain had been falling since midnight, and when I resumed my journey, it was mingled with snow and hail, accompanied by a strong northwest wind All day the storm continued, but happily for me I was riding with the wind, and kept dry beneath my spacious wagon top. The red clay roads prevailed, occasionally relieved by a sandy district covered with pines, beautified by an undergrowth of holly and laurel. * My
* In many places between Petersburg and Hillsborough, in North Carolina, I observed dead trees covering several acres in patches throughout the pine forests. From one eminence I counted six of these patches in different directions, made visible by their yellow foliage in the midst of the surrounding dark green forest. I was told that they were killed by a worm, which perforates and traverses the bark in every direction. I observed these perforations, appearing like the wounds of buck shot in the bark four or five inches apart. From these, turpentine offer oozed in profusion. These worms are very fatal to the trees. A tree that has been girdled, though its leaves fall, is good timber for three or four years; but a tree attacked by these worms loses all vitality at once, and in twelve or fourteen months is useless for timber purposes. It rapidly decays, and falls to the ground. I was informed that in some instances, where pines constituted the chief value of plantations, this blight had caused the owners to abandon them.
Gee's Bridge.—Capture of Colonel Gee.—A Yankee Overseer.—Passage of the Roanoke into Carolina.—
Gee's Bridge.goal was Gee's Bridge over the Meherrin River, which I expected to reach by three o'clock in the afternoon, but a divergence into a wrong road for the space of three or four miles, delayed my arrival there until sunset. Nor was delay the only vexation, for, to regain the right road, I had to wheel and face the driving storm until I was thoroughly drenched. In this condition I was obliged to travel a red clay road four miles after crossing the Meherrin, to obtain lodging for the night.
Gee's Bridge was a rickety affair, and was used only when the Meherrin, which is similar in volume and current to the Nottaway, was too much swollen to allow travelers to ford it.