Wayne's Charge upon Ihe British Line.—Retreat of Cornwallis to Portsmouth.—Tarleton's Expedition.—Williamsburg.
sound a charge, and, with a full-voiced shout, his whole force, cavalry, riflemen, and infantry, dashed forward in the face of a terrible storm of lead and iron, and smote the British line with ball, bayonet, and cutlass so fiercely, that it recoiled in amazement. La Fayette, who had personally reconnoitered the British camp from a tongue of land near the present Jamestown landing, perceived the peril of Wayne, and immediately drew up a line of Continentals half a mile in the rear of the scene of conflict, to cover a retreat if Wayne should attempt it. When the latter saw this, and perceived the flanking parties of the enemy halting or retrograding, he sounded a retreat, and in good order his brave band fell back upon La Fayette's line. Never was a desperate maneuver better planned or more successfully executed. Upon that single cast of the die depended the safety of his corps. It was a winning one for the moment, and the night-shadows coming on, the advantage gained was made secure.
Cornwallis was astonished and perplexed by the charge and retreat. The lateness of the hour, and the whole movement, made him view the maneuver as a lure to draw him into an ambuscade; and, instead of pursuing the Republicans, he called in his detachments, a July 9, 1781 crossed over to Jamestown Island during the evening, and three days afterward (a) crossed the James River with the largest portion of his troops, and proceeded by easy marches to Portsmouth. * The other portion of his army, pursuant to General Clinton's requisition, embarked in transports for New York. ** In this action, according to La Fayette, the Americans lost one hundred and eighteen men *** (including ten officers), in killed, wounded, and prisoners; also the two pieces of cannon, which they were obliged to leave on the field, the horses attached to them having been killed. The British loss was five officers wounded, and seventy-five privates killed and wounded. ****
The Americans, under La Fayette, remained in the vicinity of Williamsburg until the arrival of the combined armies, nearly two months afterward, on their way to besiege Cornwallis at Yorktown. b Dec 20, 1848 I arrived at Williamsburg at noon, (b) and proceeded immediately to search out the interesting localities of that ancient and earliest incorporated town in Virginia. They are chiefly upon the main street, a broad avenue pleasantly shaded, and almost as quiet as a rural lane. I first took a hasty stroll upon the spacious green in front of William and Mary College, the oldest literary institution in America except Harvard University. (v) The entrance to the green is flanked by stately live oaks, cheering the visitor in winter with their evergreen foliage. In the center of the green stands the mutilated statue of Lord Botetourt, the best beloved of the colonial governors. This statue was erected in the old capital in 1774, and in 1797 it was removed to its present position. I did not make a sketch of it, because a student at the college promised to hand me one made by his own
* Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton and his legion were dispatched on the 9th to New London, in Bedford county, nearly two hundred miles distant, to destroy some stores destined for Greene's army at the South, said to be in that district. Tarleton, with his usual celerity, passed through Petersburgh the same evening, and pushed forward toward the Blue Ridge. He was disappointed, for he could find no magazines of stores. He was also informed that Greene was besieging Ninety-Six, and successfully reconquering the districts over which the British had marched victoriously. He returned toward the sea-board, and rejoined Cornwallis at Suffolk on the 24th. The whole army then proceeded to Portsmouth.
** Before they left Hampton Roads, Cornwallis received orders to retain these troops, and occupy some defensible position in Virginia.
*** Stedman says (ii., 395) the American loss "amounted to about three hundred." That officer (who belonged to the surgeon's staff) was with Cornwallis at Jamestown. He gives the whole number of the British loss at seventy-five.
**** Marshall, i., 439, 440; Stedman, ii., 394, 395; Girardin; Simcoe's Journal; Howison.
* (v) William and Mary College was founded in 1692, and the sovereigns whose name it bears granted the corporation twenty thousand acres of land as an endowment. In 1693 the building was erected. It is of brick, and large enough to accommodate one hundred students. For its support a penny a pound duty on certain tobacco exported from Virginia and Maryland was allowed, also a small duly on liquors imported, and furs and skins exported. From these resources it received ample support. It was formerly allowed a representation in the House of Burgesses. There is now a law school connected with the institution.
Remains of Dunmore's Palace.—Brenton Church.—Lord Botetourt.—His Reception in Virginia.—Ode.