Mathews built up a group of around 200 militiamen, and embarked hastily to catch and damage Arnold's slow-moving army near Richmond.Įventually, delayed by bad weather, sickness and mutiny, Mathews' forces caught up with Arnold's army, and attacked it by surprise. The Governor called his friend, Sampson Mathews, the Colonel of the Virginia militia, and ordered him to assault Arnold's forces. ![]() Arnold's British force had entered Virginia's very capital, unopposed, and had singlehandedly defiled it. When the news of Richmond's destruction reached Jefferson, he was aghast. After its destruction, the British went down to the port town of Warwick (across the James river, in Chesterfield County), and began another spree of violence, burning down homes and looting buildings. After most of Richmond was burned and its valuables sacked, Arnold led his forces outside of Richmond and to the Westham cannon foundry, which held even more armaments, and proceeded to burn it down. A strong wind spread the flames even more, adding to the destruction. British troops then started a rampage across the city, burning government buildings as well as private homes, ransacking the city of its valuables and supplies. Upon receiving the letter the next day on January 6, Arnold was enraged, and ordered Richmond to be set to the torch. Jefferson's response was livid, refusing that a turncoat do anything to Richmond's supplies. Jefferson, seeing his militiamen dispersed, and no other plausible way to defend Richmond, quickly ordered the mass-evacuation of most military supplies from the city, and promptly fled in his carriage, along with the rest of Virginia's government officials and his family.Īt noon, Arnold's forces marched triumphantly into the city, described by an eyewitness as "undisturbed by even a single shot." From his headquarters at Main Street's City Tavern (he would only stay in Richmond for a day), Arnold wrote a letter to Jefferson, saying that if he could move the city's tobacco stores and military arms to his ships, he would leave Richmond unharmed. ![]() The militiamen fired a weak musket volley at the advancing British, and then broke and ran into the woods, with the Loyalist detachment chasing after them. Upon seeing the group of Virginia militiamen, Colonel John Graves Simcoe, of the Queen's Rangers, ordered a detachment of soldiers to confront them. Surprisingly enough, most Virginia militiamen had not bothered to defend their capital because they had already served their time in battle, and thought that their duty was up. The following day, Arnold's force of Loyalist "green-coats", consisting of infantry, dragoons, and artillery, arrived at Richmond, which was defended by about 200 militiamen. In the afternoon, Arnold and his men disembarked on foot towards Richmond. On 4 January, the British reached Westover Plantation, where they would ready themselves for the assault against Richmond. Little did Jefferson know how big of an attack would soon follow.įrom the 1st to the 3rd of January, Arnold's fleet sailed up the James River, laying waste to plantations and settlements along the way. In the event of an attack, Jefferson moved all of the town's military supplies to a foundry five miles outside of Richmond. Prior to the beginning of the raid, Thomas Jefferson, the then- Governor of Virginia, had moved the capital of Virginia from Williamsburg to Richmond, because of its strategically central, defensible location. The British general Sir Henry Clinton hoped that sending an American-born commander to Richmond would convince more Loyalists in the area to join the British cause, which would subsequently give the British Army the upper hand in the Southern Theatre of the war. ![]() Led by American turncoat Benedict Arnold, the Richmond Campaign is considered one of his greatest successes while serving under the British Army, and one of the most notorious actions that Arnold ever performed. The Raid on Richmond was a series of British military actions against the capital of Virginia, Richmond, and the surrounding area, during the American Revolutionary War. Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route.
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