Green Spring

Near Green Spring Plantation in James City County, Virginia, an engagement of the American Revolutionary War unfolded that would become known as the Battle of Green Spring. Brigadier General "Mad" Anthony Wayne of the United States, commanding the forward elements under the Marquis de Lafayette, found himself caught in a British ambush on July 6, 1781. The force that struck him belonged to Earl Charles Cornwallis, and the clash stands as the final significant land engagement of the Virginia campaign before the Siege of Yorktown began.

For roughly a month beforehand, Cornwallis and Lafayette had shadowed one another across central Virginia through repeated marches and reversals. As June drew to a close, Cornwallis shifted his army toward Williamsburg, where fresh orders awaited him: proceed to Portsmouth and dispatch a portion of his troops to New York City. Meanwhile Lafayette, having gained confidence from newly arrived reinforcements, trailed close behind and began weighing the possibility of striking the British directly. When Cornwallis left Williamsburg on July 4 bound for Jamestown, intending to ferry his men across the James River toward Portsmouth, Lafayette saw an opening. He calculated that the British rear guard would be vulnerable during the river crossing itself.

But Cornwallis had already foreseen such a maneuver and prepared an intricate ambush of his own. Wayne's troops nearly fell entirely into this snare, escaping only through a daring bayonet charge launched against a British force that far outnumbered them. Despite this success, Cornwallis chose not to press his advantage with pursuit, adhering instead to his original intention of crossing the river. In the aftermath, many observers felt the episode confirmed the fitness of Wayne's "Mad" nickname, though people remained split over whether his conduct that day deserved praise or criticism. Portions of the battlefield survive today, and the fight is occasionally commemorated through historical reenactments.

Prelude

Cornwallis picked his hiding spot for the army with care. Swampy, impassable ground fell away toward the river on the left flank, while the right offered similar marshland dotted with ponds. Anyone marching from the mainland toward the ferry had no choice but to cross a 400 yard causeway running from the Green Spring Plantation, hemmed in on all sides by the same wet terrain. The earl organized his forces into two lines. On the left stood the 76th and 80th regiments, joined by a portion of the 43rd and Tarleton's British Legion, while the Brigade of Guards and the Hessian auxiliaries held the right. Light infantry companies rounded out both wings. To create the illusion of a rear guard, Cornwallis stationed a modest detachment of German jägers alongside a handful of Legion soldiers, instructing them to push back against any American advance as hard as they could.

Early on July 6, Brigadier General "Mad" Anthony Wayne set out from Norrell's Tavern with roughly 500 men, forming the advance element of Lafayette's force. Upon arriving at Green Spring, he studied the ground and spotted the British guards positioned there. Once Lafayette arrived with the bulk of the army, the two commanders resolved to press forward with the assault, though Lafayette called up additional troops from Norrell's Tavern around one in the afternoon. While the men waited for these reinforcements, brief skirmishes broke out. Among Wayne's original 500 troops were 200 Virginia riflemen commanded by Majors John Willis and Richard Call, supported by light infantry under John Francis Mercer, William Galvan, and McPherson, with Colonel Walter Stewart's Pennsylvania Continental battalion held in reserve. Lafayette then dispatched two more Pennsylvania Continental battalions, led by Colonels Richard Butler and Richard Humpton, along with Major John P. Wyllys' light infantry battalion. Growing wary that something didn't add up, Lafayette chose to keep the light infantry battalions under Colonels Francis Barber and Joseph Vose in reserve. With these three additional battalions, the force Wayne led into the swamps around 3:00 pm swelled to somewhere between eight hundred and nine hundred men, now comprising two rifle companies, a company of dragoons, most of the Pennsylvania Line, and three field artillery pieces. As the troops advanced, Lafayette made his way toward a strip of land along the riverbank, hoping to get a clear view of the fighting to come.

Battle

Nearly two hours of running skirmishing followed as Wayne's leading troops traded fire with the British pickets. Bit by bit the British line gave ground, taking heavy losses as the Americans pressed forward without letup. Particularly effective were Wayne's riflemen, who managed to bring down several British officers in command positions. Fortune reversed itself, though, near five in the afternoon, when the advancing Americans came upon a cannon Cornwallis had seemingly left behind in the roadway. The moment they grabbed the piece, it triggered a British response, opening with canister and grape shot before troops surged forward in a bayonet charge.

Watching from his position along the river, Lafayette caught sight of the larger British force and understood that Wayne was walking into a snare. There was no time, however, for him to get word to Wayne and pull him back. Instead he pushed fresh troops forward at once, hoping to keep the jaws of the trap from closing around Wayne's men. Meanwhile the British assault had rattled the American lines into disorder, and Wayne feared that any withdrawal might collapse into chaos. He pulled his men back into formation, called for his cannon to unleash grape shot, and then sent his line forward with bayonets against a British force that vastly outnumbered his own.

This bold gamble by Wayne paid off, stalling the British long enough for Lafayette's supporting troops to draw near. Lafayette himself galloped up to help steady the American withdrawal, which began falling apart once Cornwallis took personal command of a countercharge. Two American cannon had to be left behind in the retreat after their horses were killed, and Lafayette too was thrown from his mount. With daylight fading, Cornwallis declined to chase down the Americans, who fell back toward Green Spring.