the other batteries, was at last (by the help of fire) effectually done, together with the large and spacious barracks. Nothing then remained but to re-embark the men, which was done from the spot where the fort had stood, in the following order: Hospital, Baggage, Horses, Artillery, Cavalry, Prince Charles's Hessian Regiment, Forty-Second Regiment, Volunteers of Ireland, Guards. The embarkation was covered (as in landing) by the Cornwallis, galley, and four gun-boats, but the rebels never appeared in force, nor made attempts to molest them. Every thing being got on board, the ships weighed and proceeded down Elizabeth river; the prizes first, then the transports, and the men-of-war bringing up the rear. The town of Portsmouth was spared, and but few of the houses were pillaged; some, unavoidably, were so, in spite of every care to prevent it. The rebels, however, as the last of the ships were weighing, treated them with a few cannon shot from field-pieces, which they had brought down to the water side, but without doing any essential mischief. That night the fleet joined the Raisonable, and the small flying squadron from the Chesapeake, in Hampton Roads, and the next morning the whole proceeded to sea with a fair wind. The day following, the express boat, which the Commodore had sent to Sir Henry Clinton, joined him, and brought his answer, which was now of no consequence, as the evacuation of Portsmouth had taken place-a fatal and unfortunate measure, universally regretted by all who were acquainted with its great importance, and the advantages which would have resulted to Great Britain from its being in possession of the King's troops. The third day, in the evening, after leaving Virginia, the whole fleet anchored before New York, with all the transports and prizes. A more fortunate expedition, or achiev ed in less time, was never known. When Lord Howe went to the Chesapeake, (two years before,) his passage took up seven weeks and three days. In the present one, the winds, and every circumstance, were so propitious that the whole time from sailing to the return of the fleet, was no more than twenty-four days, in which time the damage sustained by the rebels was upwards of a million sterling." ARNOLD'S INCURSION, AND CAPTURE OF RICHMOND, IN JANUARY, 1781. [We submit here, in our way, the following Letter from Colonel John Page, of Rosewell, to Colonel Theodoric Bland, containing a cotemporary and highly interesting account of Arnold's Incursion into these parts, with his surprise and capture of our infant capital, in January, 1781, as copied from the original, by Charles Campbell, Esq., of Petersburg, and obligingly communicated by him for publication in our work.] ROSEWELL, JANUARY 21ST, 1781. My Dear Sir:-By some untoward accident I have been deprived of the pleasure of seeing the two French noblemen whom you intended to introduce to my acquaintance; but your letter which they brought was by some means handed to me. I return you many thanks for it. It was more than I deserved after my long silence for which you may be assured I mean to make ample amends. The confused state of my own affairs, added to that of my deceased relation Mr. Burwell, together with the attention necessary to be paid to seven of my own children and four of his who live with me, engross almost the whole of my time; so that what with these things, and with receiving and paying visits after almost four years absence from home, I have scarcely had time to write a line. As an American I enter with you into the delightful reveries you allude to, but as a Virginian I cannot. The repeated disgrace that our country has suffered and that with which she is at present overshadowed, have sunk her so low in the eyes of the world, that no illustrious foreigner can ever visit her, or any historian mention her but with contempt and derision. To compare Richmond to Lexington, Bunker's hill, or Bennington! what a shameful and humiliating contrast! Arnold the traitor, with about 1300 men, has disgraced our country, my dear friend, so much, that I am ashamed and shall ever be so to call myself a Virginian. He landed at Westover; but let some one else tell the shameful tale! This much I will mention, that the enemy arrived in James river and on that day week entered Richmond,* and on that day week landed at Cobham and marched down to Portsmouth; so that however short the notice of their approach to Richmond might be, we certainly had time to have secured the Great Bridge and Suffolk, if not Portsmouth, and to have cut them off on their march through so many defiles;-but to our eternal disgrace so unarmed and undisciplined after a five years war are our militia, that nothing like this has been done. I must however in justice to the militia of Williamsburg and James City, which first turned out under General Nelson and Colonel Innes, and that of Gloucester, which I had the honor of leading out to re-inforce those gallant few, not omit the virtues they displayed on that occasion. Nelson and Innes with 150 of the first mentioned militia, opposed Arnold's landing at Burwell's ferry, and beat off his boats, after returning a verbal answer of defiance to his written letter, which you * See Lib. Amer. Biog. v. 10, p. 54. will see in the Richmond paper, though no notice is there taken of General Nelson or his answer.* Arnold desisted from his attempt and Nelson retreated above Williamsburg. Arnold stood up the river, and our little band of heroes left their town exposed to the enemy, who kept a frigate and several transports off Burwell's ferry, as if they meant to land, threatening their destruction-but to no purposethey nobly left their homes, and followed up the river the enemies of their country. The same noble spirit actuated above 300 of our Gloucester Militia, who live much exposed to the enemy,—they readily turned out and joined Nelson, who with a handful of men, badly provided with ammunition, had been endeavoring to get in.between Arnold and Richmond, but in vain. A heavy rain prevented Innes from throwing himself with his little regiment in between them and Westover, on their retreat from Richmond. But when we joined them at Holt's forge, the general was not able to muster above 400 men tolerably well armed; so that as the enemy had returned to Westover flushed with success, and had begun to enterprise upon little posts in our neighbourhood, a council of war advised a retreat that night to a more secure post, which we effected through a heavy rain. However on that very night the enemy embarked at Westover and fell down the river, and we by a forced march reached Williamsburg, just before they came to, off Jamestown, where, I suspect, Arnold had an inclination to land and have the credit of marching through Jamestown, Williamsburg, York and Hampton, *In a series of replies made by Mr. Jefferson to strictures thrown out upon his conduct of affairs at this juncture, the following are found: 66 Query-Why publish Arnold's letter without General Nelson's answer? Answer-Ask the printer. He got neither from the Executive.-Burk's Hist. of Va., v. iv. App. p. xv. which he might easily have done after a little skirmishing; but finding that there would probably be less resistance to him on the other side of the river, he landed there with part of his forces and marched down, his ships falling down and keeping pace with him, re-inforcing him occasionally. When they passed Burwell's ferry, which was the next day about 2 o'clock on Saturday the 13th instant, between 3 and 400 men were paraded to oppose their landing, which were commanded by General Nelson and Col. Innes, for the rest of the little army had not reached the town and were halted a few miles above it, to keep open our retreat in case we should have been obliged to retire; for at that time, Arnold's landing at Cobham was supposed to be a feint. Their fleet which was a very paltry one, (there not being more than 2 frigates and 2 or 3 sloops of war in it, 2 armed brigs and 2 or 3 transport ships, with about 23 small sloops and boats) passed us very slowly, with so little wind, that had we been furnished with 2 or 3 18 pounders, we might have chastised them severely. The next day reinforcements came in, so that we were above 1200 strong; but the enemy were out of our reach. The readiness with which numbers of people who live exposed in the lower country, turned out, made some amends for the disgrace that we sustained by losing our metropolis. When I got to the Forge, I found Colonel Samuel Griffin and Colonel Temple commanding a party of light horse, with which they were constantly on the enemy's lines at Westover, and who followed their ships all the way down James river. In this party were Colonel William Nelson, Colonel Massey, Colonel Gregory Smith, Colonel Holt Richardson, Major Claiborne, Lincoln's aid, Major Burwell, Major Ragsdale, and several other old officers, and a number of young gentlemen who acted as light-horsemen; so that though Nelson had collected but a few troops, they were well officered, |