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. Led by American defector Benedict Arnold, the Richmond campaign is considered one of his greatest successes while serving under the British Army. It shocked patriot leaders and is considered one of his most notorious actions by modern Americans.
Lieutenant 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 theater of the war.
Before the beginning of the raid, Thomas Jefferson, the governor of Virginia, had moved the capital of Virginia from Williamsburg to Richmond, because of its strategically central, defensible location. In the event of an attack, Jefferson moved all of the town's military supplies to a foundry five miles outside of Richmond.
From January 1 to January 3, Arnold's fleet sailed up the James River, laying waste to Patriot plantations and settlements along the way. On January 4, the British made camp at Westover Plantation, where they would ready themselves for the assault against Richmond. In the afternoon, Arnold and his men disembarked on foot towards the city.
The following day, Arnold's force of Loyalist "greencoats", consisting of infantry, dragoons, and artillery, arrived at Richmond, which was defended by approximately 200 militiamen. His timing was excellent; most of the defenders were nearing the end of their enlistment periods and were so confident that Richmond was safe from attack that they had not bothered to establish defenses or post sentries.
Upon seeing the disorganized state of the militia, Colonel John Graves Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers ordered his men to engage them right away. The militiamen fired off a single volley at the advancing British before retreating in panic towards the woods, with the Loyalist detachment chasing after them. 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. He and his family fled by carriage as other top government officials scrambled to make their own escapes.
At 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 stating that he would leave the city in peace if allowed to seize every parcel of tobacco he could find. Jefferson refused the terms, and the city suffered the consequences.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
This page covers Richmond Evacuation Fire (April 2-3, 1865). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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