Return to Norfolk. Portsmouth and Gosport. French and English Fleets. Attempt to capture Arnold. I arrived at Norfolk in time to cross the river to Portsmouth' and walk to the government navy-yard at Gosport, a short distance above. It is reached by a causeway from Portsmouth, and is well worthy of a visit from the traveler. There lay the Pennsylvania, the largest ship-of-war in the world-a colossal monument of government folly and extravagance. She was full rigged, and near her were the frigates Constitution and Constellation, dismantled. Her timber and iron might make many comfortable dwellings, but they are allowed to rot and rust in utter uselessness. I tarried but a moment there, for the sun was going down, and I wished to sketch Arnold's head-quarters, at Portsmouth, before returning 1781. to Norfolk, for I expected to ascend the James River on Monday. Arnold's quarters, represented in the engraving, is a building of stone, and stands on the corner of High and Crawford Streets, a short distance from the ferry. Let us note the events connected with Arnold's residence here. We have mentioned on page 436 the retreat of Arnold down the James River after his depredations at Richmond. He proceeded to Portsmouth, where he took post, and began to fortify on the twentieth of January, a Generals Steuben, Nelson, Weedon, and Muhlenberg were act a 1781. ively engaged in collecting the militia to defend the country and drive out the invaders, and Washington devised a plan for capturing the traitor. Having learned that four British ships, which had been lying in Gardiner's Bay, off the east end of Long Island, had gone eastward, and that two of them were disabled in a storm, he requested Rochambeau to send the French fleet (then commanded by D'Estouches, the successor of Admiral Ternay) and a detachment of his land forces to the Chesapeake. At the same time, he sent La Fayette thither with a detachment of twelve hundred infantry. The plan was to attack the traitor by sea and land simultaneously, so that he could not escape from the Elizabeth River. A Feb. 9, part, only, of the French fleet was sent, under De Tilley,b with orders to attempt the destruction of the British fleet there. They took or destroyed ten small vessels. They also captured the Romulus, of one hundred and fourteen guns, at the entrance of Narraganset Bay, and carried her into Newport harbor. This expedition accomplished nothing respecting Arnold; and Washington, anxious to have co-operation with La Fayette and the Virginia militia against the recreant, went to Newport and held an interview with Rochambeau. The result was that the French fleet left Newport on the eighth of March. They were followed by the British fleet, then in Gardiner's Bay, under Admiral Arbuthnot, who intercepted the French at the entrance of the Chesapeake. They drew up in c Feb. 16. battle order, eight ships on a side, and a partial engagement ensued. Neither party could justly claim a victory. The French abandoned their design of co-operating with the marquis, and returned to Newport. The plan, so well arranged and so nearly accomplished, was defeated. La Fayette marched back to the head of Elk, and Arnold was left to the skill and bravery of the Virginia troops near him. These were inadequate to drive him from Portsmouth, and he remained there until about the middle of April, when he was joined by a detachment under Major-general Phillips. The two commanders now determined to overrun all the fertile portion of Virginia lying near the James River, and on the twenty-fourth of April they reached City Point with twenty-five hundred troops Thither we will follow them presently. 1 Portsmouth is a considerable town on the west side of the Elizabeth River, opposite Norfolk. It lies upon lower ground than the latter. It was established as a town in 1752, on lands owned by William Crawford, in whose honor one of its finest streets was named. The Gosport navy-yard is within half a mile of the center of Portsmouth, and around it a little village has grown up. Governor Jefferson was eager to capture Arnold, and offered five thousand guineas to any of the men of General Muhlenberg's Western corps who would accomplish it.-See Jefferson's Letter to Muhlenberg, 66 The ill-fated bark that worthless Arnold bears- And shatters into shivers every oar."-FRENEAU. They came, as the ocean-wave comes in its wrath, They came as the mountain-wind comes on its path They were met, as the rock meets the wave, And dashes its fury to air; They were met, as the foe should be met by the brave, With courage, and not with despair."-PROSPER M. WETMORE. AWOKE at four o'clock on Christmas morning, and my first waking thought was of the dawn of a fourth of July in a Northern city. Guns, pistols, and squibs were already heralding the holiday; indeed the revelry commenced at dark the previous evening, notwithstanding it was the night of the Sabbath. Expecting to depart in the steam-boat for City Point at six o'clock in the morning, I had directed the hostler, a funny little negro, who was as full of promises as a bank-teller's drawer, to feed my horse at half past four. I showed him a bright coin, and promised him its possession if he would be punctual. Of course he would "be up before dat time, rely upon it;" but experience had taught me to be distrustful. At the appointed hour I went to the stable dormitory, and rapped several times before the hostler stirred. Yes, massa," he exclaimed, "I'se jis turnin' over as you cum up de stair;" and striking a light with flint and tinder, he went down to the stable with his lantern. I stood in the door watching the breaking of the clouds and the peeping forth of the stars after a stormy night, when a clatter in the stall attracted my attention. Upon looking in, I discovered the little hostler under the manger, with his tin lantern crushed beneath him, but the candle still burning. "Ki!" he exclaimed, scrambling to regain his feet, "Ki! how like de debble he butt! Mos knock my brains out!" I soon perceived the cause of the trouble. A large black goat, with a beard like a Turk, which I had seen in the stable the previous evening, observing the negro's motions while rubbing Charley's legs, and interpreting them as a challenge, had played the battering-ram with the hostler, and laid him sprawling under the manger. "Did he hit you?" I inquired, gravely, trying to suppress laughter. "Hit me, massa!" he exclaimed; "why he most ruin me, I reckons. See dar!" and with all the dramatic gravity of Anthony when he held up the robe of Cæsar, and exclaimed, "See what a rent the envious Casca made!" the hostler exhibited a "rent" in his nether gar ment at least an ell in length. Notwithstanding his mishap, Billy insisted that "de goat is healthy for de hosses, and musn't be turned out any how ;" but he promised to give him alicken de fus time he ketch him asleep." Charley had his oats in time, and at six o'clock we embarked on the Alice for James River and City Point. Going out of the harbor at Norfolk we passed the United States Marine Hospital, on the western bank of the river, a spacious building standing upon the site of Fort Nelson of the Revolution. On the opposite side I perceived the ruins of Fort Norfolk, erected in 1812. We passed Craney Island' before sunrise, and leaving Hampton and its noble harbor on the 1 Craney Island is at the mouth of the Elizabeth River. The Americans erected fortifications there in 1812, which commanded the entrance to Norfolk harbor. On the twenty-second of June, 1813, a powerful British fleet made an attack upon these works. A part of the hostile force landed on Nansemond Point, Voyage up the James River. City Point. Petersburg. Blandford Church. Founding of Petersburg. right entered the broad mouth of the James River. A strong breeze, warm as the breath of May, came from the southwest and dispersed the moving clouds. I have seldom experienced a more delightful voyage than on that genial Christmas day upon the ancient Powhatan, whose shores are so thickly clustered with historical associations. Jamestown, the Chickahominy, Charles City, Westover, and Berkley, were all passed before noon; and at one o'clock we landed at City Point, at the junction of the James and Appomattox Rivers, about forty miles below Richmond.' Here the British army, under Phillips and Arnold, debarked on the twenty-fourth of April, 1781, and proceeded to Petersburg. An intelligent mulatto, enjoying his holiday freedom, took a seat with me for Petersburg. He was a guide on the way, and gave me considerable information respecting localities around that town, where his master resided. We passed through Blandford, an old town separated from Petersburg' only by a deep ravine and a small stream, and at a little after three o'clock I was dining at the Bollingbrook. At four, accompanied by a young man ac quainted with the way, I went up to the old Blandford Church, one of the most picturesque and attractive ruins in Virginia. It stands in the midst of a burial-ground upon an eminence overlooking the ancient village of Blandford and its younger sister at the falls of the Appomattox, with an extensive and diversified landscape for scores of miles around. The edifice is cruciform, and was built of imported bricks about one hundred and fifty years ago. Some of the noblest and wealthiest of Virginia's aristocracy worshiped within its walls; for Blandford was the focus of fashion and refinement, while Petersburg was rudely struggling for its present pre-eminence. But the glory of the town and its church departed; Blandford is now only a suburban hamlet of Petersburg, and the old temple, dismantled of its interior decorations, is left to the occupancy of the bats and the owls. "LONE relic of the past, old moldering pile, And hark! the organ's solemn strains are pealing, Like songs of seraphs, or rapt cherubim ! But no! 'tis but my fancy, and I gaze BLANDFORD CHURCH.3 Where twines the ivy round thy ruins gray, Where the lone toad sits brooding in the aisle, Once trod by "ladye fayre" and gallant gay! Before my gaze altar and chancel rise, The surpliced priest, the mourner bowed in prayFair worshipers, with heaven-directed eyes, [er, And manhood's piety, and pride are there! Knights of the olden time perchance are kneeling, And choristers pour forth the hallowed hymn; and a part attempted to reach the island in barges. On ruined walls, where creeps the lizard cold; Or dusky bats beneath the pale moon's rays Their solemn, lonely midnight vigils hold. Yet they are here! the learned and the proud, Genius, and worth, and beauty-they are here! I stand rebuked amid the slumbering crowd, While time-past voices touch the spirit's ear." JOHN C. M'CABE. The former were driven off by the Virginia militia, and the latter were so galled by the guns of a battery, that those who were not destroyed retreated to the ships. The repulse was decisive. More than two hundred of the enemy were killed and wounded. Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Gosport were saved. 1 City Point is in Prince George county. It is a post village and a port of entry. A rail-way connects it with Petersburg. Fort Henry, erected for a defense of the people south of the James River, was built on the site of Petersburg in 1646. Colonel Bolling, a gentleman of taste and fortune, settled there early in the last century. Colonel Byrd, of Westover, mentions him as living in fine style there in 1728. Peter Jones was the first settler, having established a trading-house there soon after the erection of Fort Henry. The locality was first called Peter's Point, and afterward Petersburg. Jones was a friend of Colonel Byrd, and accompanied that gentleman to the Roanoke in 1733. He says in his journal, "When we got home we laid the foundation of two large cities; one at Shacco's, to be called Richmond; and the other at the point of Appomattox, to be called Petersburg, The latter and Blandford were established towns in 1748. Blandford was then the most flourishing settlement of the two. 3 This view is from the outside of the old inclosure, looking south. Sudden Storm. Services of Steuben. Military Operations between City Point and Williamsburg. While sketching the venerable ruin, a heavy black cloud, like the chariot of a summer tempest, came up from the southwest. I tarried a moment at the reputed grave of General Phillips, and then hurried across the ravine to Petersburg; but I was too late to escape the shower, and was so thoroughly drenched that I was obliged to exchange every garment for a dry one. A cool drizzle continued throughout the evening, and gave a deeper coloring to the disappointment I felt on being denied the privilege of passing an hour with Charles Campbell, Esq., one of Virginia's best local historians. He was twenty miles away ; so I employed that hour in jotting down the incidents of the day, and in turning over the leaves of the old chronicle. Petersburg is a central point of view, and here, before we cross the Roanoke, we will consider the remainder of the Revolutionary annals of the · Old Dominion." We have already noticed the invasion under Arnold; the destruction of Richmond, and the founderies and magazines at Westham, at the head of the falls of the James River; and at Yorktown observed the concluding scenes of Cornwallis's operations in Virginia. It was a fortunate circumstance for that state, that the Baron Steuben, the veteran disciplinarian from the armies of Frederick the Great, was detained in Virginia, while on his way southward with General Greene. His services in disciplining the militia, and organizing them in such order as to give them strength to beat back the invaders at various points, were of incalculable value. During Arnold's invasion, they were led against his disciplined parties on several occasions, and with success. On one occasion, General Smallwood, with three hundred militia, drove the traitor's boats out of the Appomattox, and sent them in confusion far below City Point; and Steuben himself, with George Rogers Clarke, the hero of the Ohio Valley, led a considerable force to strike the enemy between Westover and the Chickahominy. It being evident that the entire subjugation of Virginia was a part of the plan of the British for the campaign of 1781,' Washington early turned his attention to that point, and concerted measures to avert the blow. La Fayette sought and obtained the honor of commanding the Continental forces destined for that theater of action. Washington gave him his instructions on the twentieth of February,a and with about twelve hundred troops, detached from the forces then at New Windsor and Morristown, he marched southward. The first object of this expedition, as we have seen, was to co-operate with the French fleet against Arnold. That portion of the general plan failed, and the marquis, as we have observed, returned to the head of Elk." a 1781. b 1781. c April, 1781. General Phillips, in command of the united forces under Arnold and himself, landed at City Point on the twenty-fourth of April,b where he remained until the next morning, when they marched directly upon Petersburg. On his way up the James River, he sent Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe, with the Queen's Rangers, to attack a body of Virginia militia at Williamsburg, and to get possession of Yorktown. The expedition landed near Burwell's Ferry, a little below Williamsburg, on the nineteenth, at which place the Americans had thrown up some intrenchments. The Virginians fled at the approach of Simcoe, and General Phillips, with the army, landed. Simcoe marched that night toward Williamsburg. It was a night of tempest and intense darkness, and it was not until the morning of the twentieth when he entered the town. The militia also fled from Williamsburg, and the enemy took possession of the place. It being ascertained that a large garrison would be necessary for Yorktown, if taken, the project of its capture was abandoned, and the troops proceeded up the river.3 Baron Steuben, with one thousand militia, had taken post near Blandford Church, and ' Cornwallis had overrun the Carolinas, and the security of his conquests depended, in a measure, upon the subjugation of Virginia, and the establishment of royal power upon the shores of the Chesapeake from the Capes to the Elk. Cornwallis expressed to Sir Henry Clinton a hope that the Chesapeake might be come the seat of war for that campaign, even at the expense of abandoning New York, if necessary. til Virginia is in a manner subdued," he said, “our hold upon the Carolinas must be difficult, if not precarious." 2 See page 540. 3 Simcoe's Journal, 189-192 "Un was ready to receive the British. Notwithstanding his force consisted of less than one third of the number of the enemy, he determined to dispute the ground. The British came in sight toward noon, and formed, with their line extended to the left, upon the plain near Blandford. Phillips and Simcoe reconnoitered, and having satisfied themselves that Steu SKIRMISH AT PETERSBURG. Bl APAMATO INDFORD Scale One Mile. ben's force was not very large, prepared to attack him. The ground was broken where the Americans were posted. A party of yagers passing through a gully behind an orchard, got upon the flank of the patrols, and fired with such effect as to cause their retreat to an em inence in their rear. Phillips now ordered his artillery to be secretly drawn up. As soon as it opened upon the Virginians, Lieutenantcolonel Abercrombie advanced in front, while Simcoe with his rangers, and Captain Boyd with light infantry, passed through the wood to turn their left flank. Steuben perceived this movement, and ordered his troops to fall back. It was now between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. Inch by inch the British made their way, the Virgin. ians disputing their progress with pertinacity. The enemy were two hours advancing one mile, and when they reached the heights near Blandford Church, the Americans opened a fire upon them from their cannon on Archer's Hill, on the north side of the Appomattox. Overmatched both by skill and numbers, Steuben retreated across the Appomattox, destroyed the bridge, and took post on Baker's Hill, from whence he soon retired with his arms, baggage, and stores, to Chesterfield Court House, ten miles distant. The bridge was soon repaired, and the next day Abercrombie, with the light infantry and rangers, crossed over and occupied the heights where Steuben had been posted. Four hundred hogsheads of tobacco and the vessels in the river were burned, and other property was destroyed. The loss of the Americans in killed, wounded, and taken in this skirmish of nearly three hours, was between sixty and seventy; that of the enemy was probably about the same.' The British now prepared for offensive operations in the vicinity. Phillips and Arnold quartered at the spacious mansion of Mrs. Bolling, known as Bollingbrook, and yet standing upon East Hill, in the south part of the town.' Other officers also occupied the two man NOTE.-Explanation of the Plan.-1, Yagers; 2, four pieces of cannon; 3, British Light Infantry; 4, Queen's Rangers; 5, Riflemen; 6, first position of the Americans; 7, second position; 8, third position, across the Appomattox; 9, second position of the Queen's Rangers; 10, their third position. This plan is copied from Simcoe's Journal. 1 Jefferson's letter to Washington. 2 There are here three eminences which overlook the town, East Hill, Center Hill, and West Hill. Mrs. Bolling was a widow, and one of the largest land-holders in Virginia. She owned the tobacco warehouses at Petersburg, and nearly one half of the town. These were probably spared because Mrs. Bolling treated Phillips and Arnold courteously. De Chastellux, who afterward visited Petersburg, has the following notice of the building seen in the engraving upon the next page. "Her house, or rather houses-for she has two on the same line resembling each other, which she proposes to join together—are situated on the summit of a considerable slope which rises from the level of the town of Petersburg, and corresponds so exactly with the course of the river, that there is no doubt of its having formerly formed one of its banks. This slope and the vast platform on which the house is built are covered with grass, which affords excellent pasturage, and are also her property." Speaking of the family, he continues: "On our arrival, we were saluted by Miss Bowling [Bolling], a young lady of fifteen, possessing all the freshness of her age; she was |