"The heroism and gallantry of the Second Virginia
Regiment I cannot help particularly mentioning; they would do honor to
any country in the world. It is universally believed they behaved the
best of any troops in the field." ~ Virginia Gazette, October 17, 1777
To learn More on William Rhodes and his family, go here: William Rhodes, born 1745, Virginia, died, in Urbana, Champaign County, OH, 1825
In Alexandria, Virginia on September 1st, 1775 William enlisted
as a private soldier for the term of one year, into the first company
of the 2nd Virginia Regiment. The company was under the
command of Capt. George Johnston, and the regiment under Colonel
William Woolford. Colonel Woolford, with his men, were ordered to the
vicinity of Norfolk, VA to stop the attacks and drive out of Virginia
the British forces and loyalists under the command of former Royal
Governor Lord Dunmore. The first known battle of the 2nd
Virginia was at Great Bridge, VA on December 3, 1775. Col. Woolford,
with his men, defeated the British regulars and loyalists of Lord
Dunmore. This battle is considered by some to be the "Bunker Hill of
the South." The end result was that Dunmore lost his base at Norfolk,
and soon left the Virginia area. Later that month the soldiers were
given their first uniforms at the campus of William and Mary College.
They were issued frontier dress which consisted of purple dyed hunting
frocks, with capes and cuffs, fringed down the front, blue shroud
leggings, plain linen shirts with cuffs, round hats, and given
tomahawks. The following year they received a more military-looking
uniform.
On February 13, 1776 the 2nd Virginia was accepted for service into the
Continental Line. Early that summer, the 2nd Virginia was
ordered to New England to join the Continental Army under George
Washington. At Williamsburg in August of 1776, enlistment's in the
regiment were up. Pvt. William Rhodes was regularly discharged, and
immediately re-enlisted for three years or the war, in contrast to the
majority of the Veterans who did not and went home. Some of the battles
the 2nd Virginia participated in during the year of 1776
were the battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights, and White Planes, NY.
In September, Col. Woolford resigned and Lt. Colonel Alexander
Spotswood succeeded as commander of the 2nd Virginia.
Around January of 1777, William's company commander Capt. Thomas Tibbs died, Capt.
John Peyton Harrison succeeded him. Later in the year, the
2nd Virginia was involved in the capture of Elizabethtown,
NJ, the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, PA. The following was
printed about William's regiment in the newspaperVirginia
Gazette on October 17, 1777: "The heroism and gallantry of the
second Virginia regiment I cannot help particularly mentioning; they
would do honor to any country in the world. It is universally believed
they behaved the best of any troops in the field." During the winter
of 1777-1778, the 2nd Virginia encamped at Valley Forge, PA.
In December of 1777 at Valley Forge, the regiment had a force of 406
men, but of them 245 were sick. By March of 1778, the 2nd
Virginia's total strength had dropped 246 men, a loss of 160 from the
previous December. On June 29, 1778, they were involved in the battle
of Monmouth, NJ.
Early that year, Washington recommended to Congress that in each battalion there
be a company of Light Infantry. The Light Infantry was put in the
places of most danger, and as Washington said, "[They were] to be
constantly near the enemy and give 'em every possible annoyance." Then,
in August of 1778, there was an order to organize the Light Infantry.
The men were handpicked from each regiment. "They were to be the best
of men, the most hardy and active marksmen and commanded by good
partisan officers." Later training would be personally overseen by
drillmaster Baron Von Steuben. The Light Infantry troops were the first
on the field of battle, and served as scouts and flankers. To be
selected as one of the drafts for this elite force was a great honor.
Pvt. William Rhodes was recorded as a member of the Light Infantry in
September of 1778. In June 1779 the Light Infantry companies of
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia Lines were combined in two
regiments. Adjutant-General Alexander Scammell reported the following:
"the above companies almost to the man are composed of proper-sized
well-built men from the five feet seven to five feet nine inches high,
who have been in actual service two, three, and some almost four
years".
The Light Infantry was put to the test on July 15, 1779 by the taking of a
British fort at Stony Point on the Hudson River in New York. It was
planned that Light Infantry alone would take the fortress. A Corps
Light Infantry was organized into four regiments. The companies were
pulled from most of the Continental regiments of the various colonies.
It was ordered that the officers be armed with spontoons or spears, and
the soldiers with bayonets on unloaded muskets. The capture was to take
place under the cover of darkness. It began around midnight, under a
barrage of heavy cannon and musketry fire from the British fort at
Stony Point. The Light Infantry captured the heavily-guarded fort
without the Continentals firing a shot, capturing 532, with 80 killed
or wounded. The 2nd Virginia was in the First Regiment
commanded by Col. Christian Febiger of the Light Infantry Corps. The
following is a letter from Col. Christian Febiger to Thomas Jefferson
regarding the storming of Stony Point: "To his Excellence, Governor
Jefferson, of the State of Virginia July 21, 1779 Sir: You must
undoubtedly before this have heard of and seen the particulars of our
glorious and successful enterprise at Stony Point, which renders my
giving you a detail unnecessary. But as I had the honor to command all
the troops from our State employed on that service I think it my duty,
in justice to those brave men, to inform you that the front platoon of
the forlorn hope, [the phrase "forlorn hope" in modern terms would be a
suicide squad ], consisted of 3/4 Virginians, and the front of the
vanguard, of Virginians only, and the front of the column on the right
of Posey's battalion composed of four companies of Virginians and two
Pennsylvanians.
Lieutenant Colonel Colonelled the advance composed of 150 Volunteers, first
entered the works. Seven of my men in the forlorn hope who entered
first were either killed or wounded. I have the happiness to say that
every officer and soldier behaved with a fortitude and bravery peculiar
to men who are determined to be free, and overcame every danger and
difficulty without confusion or delay, far surpassing any enterprise in
which I have had an active part. I request neither reward nor thanks,
but I am happy in having done my duty and shared the dangers and honor
of the day; but could wish, if not inconsistent, that the citizens of
Virginia might know from your authority that their troops deserve their
thanks and support. Christian Ferbiger, Col." William Rhodes was one of
the soldiers among the six Virginia companies in Col. Christian
Febiger's First Regiment. He was among those on the front line, which
had captured the fort that night. He was also one of the 29 privates of
the regiment that was wounded during the battle. On August 22, 1779,
the 2nd Virginia Light Infantry was involved in the battle of Poweles
Hook. Of the British, 7 officers and 151 privates were captured, and
about 40 of them were killed or wounded by the bayonet, the only weapon
used. Not a musket was discharged on the American side. When William
Rhodes's term of enlistment was up in September 1779, he re-enlisted
for the duration of the war. That month he was promoted to Corporal,
with an increase in pay from 6 2/3 dollars to 7 1/3 dollars per
month.
In December of 1779, the 2nd Virginia Regiment left Virginia to march south to
Charleston, SC. Two companies of the 2nd Virginia were
attached to the 3rd Virginia Regiment, belonging to Col.
Abraham Buford. The British besieged the American soldiers at
Charleston, SC in April 1780. Then, on May 12, the British captured
much of the armies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. It
was the worst loss of the American Revolution. The Americans had over
two thousand Continentals captured, seven hundred being Virginians,
which was nearly all of their Continental troops. Most of the
2nd Virginia Regiment was captured, except for a handful of
men who were with Captain Alexander Parker. William Rhodes was in
Captain Cattlet's Company, which was one of the two companies of the
2nd VA that was still with Colonel Buford. Buford and his
troops, who had been delayed leaving Virginia, had inadvertently missed
the siege and the subsequent capture. This would later prove not so
lucky.
A few days later, Colonel Abraham Buford and his regiment were within 40 miles of Charleston, SC,
when he received the news of the surrender. He then got the order to
retreat to Hillsoro, NC. Cornwallis sent Lieutenant Colonel Banaste
Tarleton with his Legion in pursuit of Buford's Continentals. On the
29th , Tarleton's Calvary caught up with Buford's rear guard
near a place called Waxhaws. The Virginians formed a line on open
ground but it was overrun and encircled by the charging calvary. The
Continentals became a helpless mass, many men throwing down their arms.
Buford had an Ensign raise a white flag. Tarleton himself charged the
flag, then his horse was killed. When Tarleton's men saw that he was
down under a flag of truce, his men went mad. Tarleton could not or
would not hold back his men. They went sabering left and right,
ignoring any cries for quarter. Then, the Tory Infantry came in with
bayonets. By now the Americans were utterly helpless. Most had dropped
their muskets when the white flag was raised. The Tory Infantry
continued the sweep over the ground, plunging their bayonets into any
living American; not a man was spared. Out of the massacre, the
American battle cries of "Tarleton's quarter!" and "The Waxhaw
Massacre" came and became household words. Henceforth, Banaste Tarleton
was known as Bloody Tarleton. American casualties were 113 killed and
203 prisoners, but 150 of these were too badly wounded to be moved and
thus were parolled where they laid. While Col. Buford was able to
escape on horseback, William Rhodes's company commander Captain Thomas
Catlett was killed. William was among the wounded receiving two bayonet
wounds to the abdomen. James Keep who was with William at Waxhaw was
captured.
About June 1781, the American captives at Charleston were exchanged, or paroled, and warned
not to be within forty miles of a British camp. Most of the men went
home, but some of the soldiers did not heed the warning, and private
James Keep and Corporal William Rhodes where put under command of
Captain Alexander Parker at Yorktown, Virginia. Parker's Company was
made up the few veterans left in Virginia's Continental Army since the
fall of Charleston SC. On October 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, Captain
Alexander Parker's company was given the post of honor, the front
line-right flank of Anthony Wayne's Brigade on the attack force against
the British. In the late fall of 1781, Captain Alexander Parker's
company of old soldiers were included in a newly formed Virginia
Battalion, commanded by Lieut. Col. Thomas Posey. His battalion
consisted of nine companies from various Virginia regiments, and
Captain Parker's company was its Light Infantry. The Battalion was sent
south under General Arthur St. Clair during the winter of 1781 to aid
General Greene, and they where put under the command of General "Mad"
Anthony Wayne in an attempt to recapture Charleston, SC and Savannah,
Georgia.
In the spring of 1782, Captain Parker's company Light Infantry Company involved in skirmishes
with Loyalists and Indians. The following is accounts of a skirmish
that took place on the Ogeechee Road near Savannah Georgia. These
accounts where from General Anthony Wayne, and Captain Alexander
Parker. General Anthony Wayne: "On the 21st instant I
received intelligence of the enemy being out in force from Savannah, in
consequence of which White's dragoons and Posey's infantry were put in
motion, and at 5 o'clock in the evening arrived at Mrs. William
Gibbon's, six miles northwest of Savannah. At six, an express from Lt.
Col. Jackson announced the enemy in force of Harris's bridge on the
great Ogecbee [Ogeechee] road seven miles from town, and that a small
party were at Ogechee Jersy which he intended to attach as his Corps.
Upon inquiry I found that the only route to the enemy's position was
through a thick swamp of near four miles extent, with enemy deep and
dangerous morasses to pass, and to intercede the Ogechee [Ogeechee] was
of an intermediate distance from Savannah and the bridge. I was
properly informed that with the difficulty attending a night march over
such ground, as well as the delicacy of a maneuver that placed me
between the whole of the enemy's force in Georgia". The enemy force
consisted of British Cavalry and a large body of infantry picked from
the Seventh Regiment, the Hessians, Tanning's and Brown's regulars,
with the Choctaw Indian, the whole commanded by Colonel Brown.
Captain Alexander Parker: The [our] van consisted of one company of light infantry and a section
of dragoons, under the orders of Captain Alexander Parker. This officer
was directed to hasten his march through woods and swamps, and to seize
a causeway on which Browne must necessarily pass. Parker was ordered,
whenever he met the enemy, to reserve his fire, and to fall back upon
him with sword and bayonet. Wayne followed with the main body, to
support his van. About ten in the forenoon Captain Parker reached the
causeway, when he discovered a small patrol of cavalry in his front.
Each advancing, the two parties soon met, when Captain Parker accosted
the leading file, and demanded the countersign. Confounded or deceived,
the British officer, instead of falling back upon Browne, approached
Parker in the attitude of friendship. He now discovered his mistake,
but too late to extricate himself, and was with his patrol taken,
except one dragoon, who got back to Colonel Browne, moving in column to
sustain his van, with cavalry in front. Lieutenant Bowyer, who
commanded our horse, was ordered to charge, which was executed with
decision. Bowyer was supported by Parker with his infantry. The British
cavalry were thrown into confusion; and as Browne's whole force was in
column on the causeway, from whence there was no moving, to the right
or left, the substitution of his infantry for his cavalry became
impracticable, and the British colonel was obliged to fall back.
Captain Alexander Parker: This was accomplished without loss, as General Wayne did not get up in
time to improve the advantage gained by Parker. Two of our van were
killed and three were wounded. We took Major Alexander, second in
command, and eighteen dragoons, with their horses and furniture. Wayne
had been delayed by the swamps, which in the South invariably presented
stubborn difficulties to the march of troops. As soon as he reached
Parker he pursued the enemy; but all his endeavors to renew the action
proved abortive, and Browne made good his retreat to Savannah.
General Anthony Wayne: Even Col. Brown and Lt. Col. Ingram did not find the way to town til the
second night after the action, and then unattended. After refreshing
the troops at Mrs. Gibbon's, we advanced within view of their lines,
yesterday [May 23rd] morning detaching a few infantry and
dragoons to draw the enemy out, but they declined the invitation,
contenting themselves with advancing a few Indians and regulars to the
skirt of a swamp, from whence they commenced a scattering and
ineffectual fire. Finding that General Clarke was not to be enticed
from his Redoubts, I returned with the troops to this place, where the
last arrived this morning with the news of only five privates killed
and two wounded. We had also two dragoon horses killed and three hurt,
but these we shall replace with part of the cavalry taken from the
enemy. I feel myself under the highest obligation to every officer and
soldier for their good conduct, zeal, and perseverance during a very
fatiguing march of near forty miles performed in a few hours to effect
this enterprise.
Captain Alexander Parker: The Indians, whom Lieutenant-Colonel Browne expected to meet, would
have rendered his corps superior to that under Wayne, when the
encounter might have terminated differently. General Wayne seems either
to have unapprised of this intended junction, or to have disregarded
it; for he pressed forward to strike his foe, regardless of ground or
number. The fortuitous success of such conduct, encourages the ardent
soldier to put himself upon his fortune and his courage, -- overlooking
those numerous, sure, and effectual aids to be drawn from accurate
intelligence and due circumspection. Fortune at length forsakes him, no
prop remains to support him but his courage, and he falls a victim of
his own presumption; honored for his bravery, but condemned for his
temerity.
Some weeks before General Clarke made this attempt to secure the safe entry of his Indian friends
into Savannah, Wayne had intercepted a trading party of the Creeks on
their way to the British garrison. Of these, the American general
detained a few as hostages, and permitted the rest to return to their
own country. This generous treatment seems to have inspired
apprehensions in Savannah, that its effect would diminish the British
influence among the Creeks; an event deprecated by the enemy in case of
continuance of the war, which, through improbable, might nevertheless
happen. Therefore it was throught proper to prevent, by suitable
succor, the interruption of this second visit. To that end Browne had
been detached. Not only, as has been seen, did the effort fail, but it
was followed by a disaster very unpleasant to the enemy, and in its
conclusion pregnant with cause of regret to ourselves.
Guristersigo, a principal warrior among the Creeks, conducted the party of Indians lately
expected by Clarke. Althrough he did not arrive at the appointed
rendezvous so as to meet Browne, he reached in the latter part of the
succeeding month. This warrior, accompanied by his white guides, passed
through the whole State of Georgia unperceived, except by two boys, who
were taken and killed; and having reached the neighborhood of Wayne on
the 23rd of June, he determined to strike at a picket of the
requisite intelligence, with negro Negros for the execution of his
purpose. Wayne, in pursuance of a system adopted to avoid surprise (of
which the Indian chief was uninformed), moved every night; and
consequently the calculation that he would be on the 23rd
where he had been on the 22nd, was unfounded. The reverse
was the fact, which would undoubtedly have been perceived by
Guristersigo had he been acquainted with the custom of the American
general, and his plan of attack would have been modified accordingly.
Decamping from Gibbons's late in the evening of the 22nd,
Wayne exchanged positions with his picket, and thus fortunately held
the very post against which the Indian warrior had pointed his
attack.
Here the light infantry under Parker (who had been for several days close to Savannah) joined,
and being much harassed by the late tour of duty, was ordered by the
brigadier to take post near his artillery, in the rear. Knowing but one
enemy, the garrison of Savannah, Wayne gave his entire attention to
that quarter; and conscious, from his precautions, that no movement
could be made by the enemy in Savannah without due notice, he forbore
to burden his troops with the protection of his rear, because in his
opinion unnecessary. A single sentinel only from the quarter-guard was
posted in the rear, on the main road leading through the camp to
Savannah, and the very road, which Guristersigo meant to take.
Soon after nightfall the Indian chief at the head of his warriors emerged from the deep swamps,
in which he had lain concealed, and gained the road. He moved in
profound silence, and about three in the morning reached the vicinity
of our camp.; here he halted, and made his disposition for battle.
Believing that he had to deal with a small detachment only, his plan of
attack was simple and efficient. Preceded by a few of the most subtle
and daring of his comrades, directed to surprise and kill the sentinel,
he held himself ready to press forward with the main body upon the
signal to advance. This was not long delayed. His wily precursors
having encompassed our sentinel, killed him, when Guristersigo,
bounding from his stand, fell with his whole force upon our rear.
Aroused from sleep, the light infantry stood to their arms, and the
matrosses closed with their guns. But the enemy was amongst them; which
being perceived by Parker, he judiciously drew off in silence and
joined the quarter-guard behind Gibbons's house at headquarters.
The general had about this time mounted, and, concluding that the garrison of Savannah was upon
him, he resorted to the bayonet, determined to die sword in hand.
Orders to this effect were given to Parker and dispatched to
Lieutenant-Colonel Posey, commanding in camp, distant a few hundred
yards. Captain Parker, seconded by the quarter-guard, advanced upon the
foe; and Posey moved with all possible celerity to support the light
troops, but did not arrive in time to share in the action. Wayne,
participating with his light corps in the surrounding dangers, was now
dismounted, his horse being killed; the light troops, nevertheless,
continued to press forward, and Parker drove all in his way back to our
cannon, where the Indian chief with a part of his warriors was
attempting to turn our guns to his aid. Here Guristersigo renewed the
conflict, and fought gallantly; but the rifle and tomahawk are
unavailing when confronted by the bayonet in close quarters. We soon
recovered our artillery, and Guristersigo, fighting bravely, was
killed. Seventeen of the warriors and his white guides fell by his
side, and the rest fled.
Th Battle account through Leutenant Colonel Thomas Posey: "The whole of the troops had for several weeks been doing hard
duty, every night lying down in their rank with clothes and
accoutrements on, and their arms by their sides, and almost worn out
with fatigue in watching and loss of rest, in constant expectation that
the British would either come out of Savannah in force for action, or
that we might have an opportunity of falling in with foraging parties.
When the attack was made, it was with such fury and violence, at a dead
time of the night when the men were in profound sleep (except the
guards), with yelling and the use of their tomahawks, spears,
scalping-knives, and guns, that our men were thrown into disorder.
Wayne and Posey had thrown their cloaks about them and lay close to
each other. The alarm soon roused them, and they had proceeded but a
few steps hen Capt. Parker met Col. Posey, and informing him that the
suddenness of the attack had confused his men, wished to know if the
colonel had any particular orders. Posey immediately ordered that the
Light Infantry should be rallied behind the nearby house, and his
exertions, united with Parker's, in a short space of time collected the
men. Posey then placed himself with Parker at their head, and ordered a
charge through the enemy to the regiment; the charge was made with
celerity and firmness; through the conflict was severe, many of the
Indians falling by the force of the bayonet.
One or more of the enemy fell by Posey's own arm, and unfortunately for
Sgt. Thompson of Parker's Light Infantry (who, contrary to orders had
taken off his coat and tied up his head with a handkerchief who
manfully engaged and had immediately next to Posey fired at an Indian),
Posey took him, from his appearance with his coat off and his head tied
up, for an Indian and thrust his sword through his body and laid him at
his feet. But he greatly lamented the circumstance when he visited the
hospital the next morning, and learned from the brave but incautious
sergeant the particulars of his wounds. General Wayne with the calvary
followed by Posey, who had filed off to the right to gain his regiment,
which he had met on its march to the scene of action, and placing
himself at the head, charged immediately upon the rear of the enemy and
put them to flight. General Wayne filed off to the left, where he fell
in with a considerable body of Indians, and compelled them to retreat
after a severe conflict. Thus, with the untied force and much bravery
of both officers and soldiers, the whole of the Indians were defeated
and routed." Chief Guristersigo was killed by bayonet. Corporal William
Rhodes was once again a casualty of war and was one of Parker's Light
Infantry men wounded that night. He received a gunshot wound through
the shoulder that which would affect his mobility over the rest his
life.
In October of 1782 Posey's regiment was ordered to return to
Virginia. Though, William, still wasn't physically able to join them in the several houndred mile trek home, so was left behind in South Carolina. His regiment arived in Virginia, where around July 3rd 1783,the men were dischared from the army, and the regiment was disbanded. A while later William was fit enough to return home which he did, where he was discharged in Richmond, Virginia. William served for nearly eight years, the scars he bore, were testimony to the hard fought battles he served in from New York, to Georgia.
Back to the Previous Page
