The Virginia campaign was a campaign of the American Revolutionary War that occurred from February to July 1781 as the Marquis de Lafayette was sent with 1,200 Continental Army troops to harass the British forces sent to ravage Virginia on the eve of Charles Cornwallis' retreat to Yorktown. The British burned Richmond in January, fought against Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben's force at the Battle of Blandford in April, skirmished with a detachment of Lafayette's force at the Battle of Spencer's Ordinary near Williamsburg in June, and nearly destroyed Anthony Wayne's force at the Battle of Green Spring; these inconclusive encounters interrupted Benedict Arnold and William Phillips' raids in Virginia, and these commanders ultimately withdrew to North Carolina to join Cornwallis' army as it marched north to Yorktown to await reinforcements from New York City. Having bought George Washington and Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau enough time to march south from New York with the Continental Army and French army, Lafayette was able to join them in besieging the British at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, effectively ending the war.
History[]
In January of 1781, turncoat Benedict Arnold joined Colonel John Graves Simcoe to raid and burn Patriot communities throughout Virginia. Virginia had given the Continental Army some of its best troops. Now these men were with George Washington to the north, or with Nathanael Greene to the south fighting for the Carolinas.
To protect Virginia - his own home state - Washington sent French volunteer Marquis de Lafayette southward with 1,200 Continental troops. Though just 23 years old, Lafayette was a fine leader. Lafayette was outnumbered, but he harassed Arnold and Simcoe and kept them from taking control of the region. In May, Cornwallis brought his own army north to Virginia and took command of royal forces there.
Lafayette had to keep his troops from being caught by this fast-moving British general. The young French nobleman skillfully stayed a step ahead of Cornwallis, taking every chance to turn and fight. On 6 July, Cornwallis lured Lafayette into a trap. At Green Spring, Virginia, Cornwallis pretended to cross the James River. Instead, he sent only a few troops to the other side, keeping most of his army ready. Lafayette took the bait, thinking he would catch Cornwallis' army divided by the river. Lafayette attacked, but at the last moment he sensed a trap. He pulled back most of his troops and withdrew just in time to save his army.