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description=Recreating the 2d Virginia Regiment, 1775-1780;

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main army that was directly behind them wayne had no idea how close he was to cornwallis and the main british force the 2 nd and 3 rd pennsylvania regiments under colonels butler and hampton as well as continental artillery soon arrived along with several battalions of light infantry the pennsylvanians and gimat s battalion of light infantry joined with wayne s advance guard two other battalions of light infantry vose s and barbers formed a line behind wayne as a reserve lafayette himself decided to ride forward along the river bank and saw that cornwallis was presenting a rouse he rode back to order wayne to withdraw but it was too late cornwallis ordered his main force to join the action the ensuing battle is known today as the battle of green spring it is fortunate that several detailed first hand accounts of the battle survive several of these accounts are presented below the scope of the action was such that it could be comprehended fairly well by many of the participants so the accounts corroborate each other nicely of particular interest are the comments on the types of tactics used by the opposing forces map of the left bank of the james river and the battle of green spring the campaign in virginia prior to yorktown by jean nicholas desandroüins photos from 225th reenactment photos on flickr video from 225th reenactment of the battle of green spring primary sources ensign ebenezer denny 7 th pennsylvania regiment our advance drove in the enemy s pickets marching at this time by companies in open order when perhaps within one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy we closed column and displayed advanced in battalion until the firing commenced and ran along the whole line a regiment or more of the light infantry and three pieces of artillery were in the line saw the british light infantry distinctly advancing at arms length distance and their second line in close order with shouldered musket just in front of their camp their infantry only engaged the main body were discovered filing off to the right and left when orders were given us to retreat the company were almost all old soldiers kept compact and close to our leading company and continued running until out of reach of the fire the enemy advanced no farther than to the ground we left we could not have been engaged longer than about three or four minutes but at the distance of sixty yards only about a fortnight after the action visited the field could trace plainly the ground occupied by both from the tops of the cartridges which lay in a line the distance about sixty paces the military journal of ebenezer denny memoirs of the historical society of pennsylvania vol vii 1860 lt francis brooke 1 st continental artillery i was attached to gen lawson s brigade with one six pounder and had some opportunity to know the whole force of the american army it consisted of eight thousand militia stephen s and lawson s brigades of one thousands light infantry new england troops brought on by the marquis fine troops they were the pennsylvania line as it was called between six and seven hundred men commanded by gen wayne with a good train of artillery one thousand riflemen under gen campbell of king s mountain and part of the regiment of virginia continental troops under colonel febiger a dane a vidette corps of dragoons under captain larkin smith and a single company of harrison s regiment of artillery to which i belonged there were some additional militia under major willis the british army was more efficient seven thousand infantry who had fought the battles of the south tarleton s and simcoe s full regiments of cavalry and a fine train of artillery these were all troops that could not be easily driven out of a field of battle the marquis in a few days marched to the cross roads and the burnt ordinary sixteen miles from williamsburg the skirmish at hot water by col butler of the pennsylvania line and major john willis with some virginia militia had occurred a few days before while the army lay on this ground lord cornwallis marched from williamsburg to green spring or jamestown the morning of that battle major geo washington an old schoolmate the second aid to the marquis was at our quarters and was asked if the marquis knew where lord cornwallis was and whether he had crossed the river his reply was that gen wayne had been sent on that morning to find out where he was tarleton in his journal says that one or two days before he had bribed a white man and a negro to go out and if they met with any american detachments to inform them that the british army except a small portion of it had crossed the river it was this negro who fell in with gen wayne who on his report marched down and attacked the whole british army tarleton is wrong in supposing that the marquis intended to bring on a general engagement on the contrary at 12 o clock when he learned that wayne was in some danger he ordered col galvan who belonged to the light infantry to run down with only one hundred men to his relief while he with capt john f mercer s troop of horse who had lately joined and some militia riflemen followed to support him the marquis certainly had no idea of a general battle as the rest of the army remained quietly in their encampment the whole of the day general wayne brought on the battle relying on the intelligence the negro gave him whom tarleton had bribed for which his troops suffered very much he as tarleton says attacked the whole british army and got off only by the lord cornwallis supposing that a general action was intended by the marquis and taking time to prepare for it wayne not only lost his artillery but had i think eleven officers badly wounded whom i saw the next morning under the hands of the surgeon at the church in the rear of our encampment i think it is very certain that the marquis at this time intended no general battle nor lord cornwallis either his object was to cross the river and fall down to portsmouth that he might send the reinforcement required of him by gen clinton who apprehended an attack by gen washington and the count rochambeau who was hourly expected to arrive with french troops from the west indies a family narrative being the reminiscences of a revolutionary officer afterwards judge of the court of appeals written for the information of his children by francis j brooke sometime captain in harrison s regiment of artillery richmond macfarland ferguson 1849 continental officer artwork by don troiani lt william feltman pennsylvania continentals at sunrise we took up the line of march for jamestown at which place the enemy lay encamped the first battalion of our line the pennsylvanians was detached with a small party of riflemen which brought on a scattering fire in the front and on the flanks of our battalion the first that continued two or three hours between our riflemen and their yeagers our battalion the first was then ordered to close column and advance when we had information the 2 nd and 3 rd battalions with one of light infantry were in sight of us we then formed again displayed to the right and left the 3 rd battalion on our right and the 2 nd on our left being then formed brought on a general engagement our advance regular at a charge till we got within eighty yards of their whole army they being regularly formed standing one yard distance from each other their light infantry being in front of our battalion we advanced under a heavy fire of grape shot at which distance we opened our musketry then i received a wound with a canister shot in my left breast but did not retreat until the whole of us retreated which was very rapidly journal of lieut william feltman of the first pennsylvania regiment 1781 82 including the march into virginia and the siege of yorktown philadelphia 1853 lt ebenezer wild vose s light infantry battalion marched at 7 o clock and passing through hot warter halted in a field about three miles from the british encampment at james town our men being much tired and fatigued and having had nothing to eat for more than 24 hours the l ight infantry moved back 3 miles for the purpose of cooking by this manoeuvre we left the pennsylvania troops in our front to watch the motions of the enemy general wayne being anxious to perform wonders about 5 o clk with his 3 regiments some small detachments the whole consisting of about 1 000 men attacked the whole british army in their own encampment we immediately marched to reinforce him but before we could reach the field of action met the pennsylvania line retreating in the greatest disorder having been overpowered by numbers and left their artillery we marched past the disordered troops and formed a line of battle in a field near the green springs the day being spent the enemy stopped their pursuit about 9 o clk we began our march again retired to the church we left in the morning where we arrived about midnight much tired and fatigued journal of ebenezer wild proceedings of the massachusetts historical society 2d ser 6 1891 captain benjamin bartholomew 5 th pennsylvania regiment march d at 8 oclock a m 5 miles there halted half an hour were order d to retire a miles to mr lee s farm there lay untill 4 oclock p m some detach d parts of the army with col stuarts colonel walter stewart 2nd pennsylvania regiment battation had movd down to the green springs in the morning and drove in the enemies picquets pickets when we were ordered to advan ce to where the light parties were skirmishing with the enemy near green spring seat we arrived about one hour before sun set with our two battalions and one of infantry commanded by lt col jimot lt colonel gimat of the light infantry the line was formed and ordered to advance in a few minutes a smart firing commenc d from from both parties ours kept their post untill the y had fired four round the enemies whole army being drawn up to oppose our four battalions there line being so very extensive nearly surrounding us we retreated across the morass where the other two battalion of infantry were form d to cover our retreat our artilery horses being nearly all kill d or wounded we were obliged to abandon our two pieces of artilery which fell into the enemies hands we had ten officers wounded one of which was left on the field we had 5 sergs 64 men wounded our loss kill d was 3 sergs 19 r and file nine missing we retired to chickeyhomeny church arrived at 11 oclock at night this day night march 16 miles marching to victory capt benjamin bartholomew s diary of the yorktown campaign may 1781 to march 1782 e lee shepard ed richmond virginia historical society 2002 colonel john mercer virginia militia at the distance of about 300 yards in the rear of where we had been engaged i found gen l wayne s brigade drawn up across the road thro the wood to the right i staid with them until they were defeated we had just begun to assume the stiff german tactics as the british acquir d the good sense from experience in our woody country to lay it aside gen l wayne s brigade were drawn up in such close order as to render it utterly impracticable to advance in line preserve their order the line was necessarily broke by the trees as they pass d the wood the british advanc d in open order at arm s length aiming very low kept up a deadly fire in this situation gen l wayne gave repeated orders for the line to charge but this operation was really impossible from the manner in which they were form d they cou d not be pushed forward notwithstanding his own bravery the ardor of an admirable corps of field officers who gave them the best examples the destruction amongst them was very great whilst the effect of their own fire from the causes already explain d was i believe very trifling gaillard hunt fragments of revolutionary history being hitherto unpublished writings of the men of the american revolution brooklyn ny 1892 p 50 51 letter of colonel john francis mercer probably written between 1809 and 1817 doctor robert wharry i was brought to bed with a disappointment another bull s ferry blockhouse affair madness mad anthony by god i never knew such a piece of work heard of about eight hundred troops opposed to five or six thousand veterans upon their own ground general george washington commander in chief continental army my dear marquis i have had the pleasure of receiving your favours of the 8 th and 20 th instants the first relieved me from much anxiety as i had seen mr rivingtons account of the action at green spring which you may suppose was highly coloured in their favor i find by your last that neither my letter of the 29 th of june or that of the 13 th instant had reached you i cannot tell the dates of those previous as i have but few papers with me i will confess to you that i have written much seldomer than i wished to do but it has been owing to the very great danger to which dispatches were exposed while lord cornwallis was in possession of the country you ask my opinion of the virginia campaign be assured my dear marquis your conduct meets my warmest approbation as it must that of every body should it ever be said that my attachment to you betrayed me into partiality you have only to appeal to facts to refute any such charge but i trust there will be no occasion i very much approve of your intention of reinforcing general greene as soon as circumstances will admit and as strongly as possible if he can only maintain the advantages he has already gained in the carolinas and georgia the british ministry will make a very different figure in the political scene to what it is plain they expected from lord george germaine s letters of march last i refer you to my private letter which accompanies this and am with the tenderest regard etc p s the maps you mention have not come to hand your servant may perhaps have them he did not come himself to head quarters the letters were received from an express washington to lafayette 30 july 1781 george washington papers presidential papers microfilm washington dc 1961 series 4 extract of a letter from an officer of rank in the american army dated july 11 th 1781 the british officers we were informed are much displeased at the issue and acknowledged they were out generalled otherwise they must have cut to pieces our small detachment aided as they were by five hundred horse and considerable body of infantry mounted we could not possibly have extricated ourselves from the difficulties we were in but by the manoeuvre we adopted which though it may have the appearance of temerity to those unacquainted with circumstances yet was founded on the truest of military principles and was one of those necessary though daring measures which seldom fail of producing the desired effect that is confusing the enemy and opening a way to retreat in sight of a much superior army banastre tarleton a history of the campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the southern provinces of north america london 1787 p 401 402 return of the killed wounded and missing of the de...