n Roads
with a substantial British force, fully intending to take Virginia out of
the war in coordination with Cornwallis' march through the Carolinas.
King's Mountain ended that plan. Needing reenforcements, Cornwallis
called Leslie southward. Again the British left the state.

Although Virginia breathed a sigh of relief, she was in a most difficult
position at the end of 1780. Her military resources were stretched to the
limit. Governor Jefferson had tried simultaneously to meet calls for
troops from Washington to the north and Greene to the south, while never
overlooking Clark to the west. Although roundly criticized for stripping
Virginia to aid other states, Jefferson well understood the crucial
nature of Greene's campaign. The only reserves he had left were
militiamen.

Of the estimated 55,000 to 60,000 Virginians who fought at some time
during the Revolution, as many as 35,000 were militia. Many were
short-term soldiers, fighting only three to six months at a time. Often
they were unprepared and untrained, not used to disciplined fighting,
good marksmen, but unskilled in the use of the bayonet. Often, and
unnecessarily disparaged, the militia was the backbone of the patriot
armies, appearing when needed, disbanding as soon as danger passed. In
Virginia they had been called out in 1777, in 1779, for a false rumor in
June 1780, and to meet Leslie in October 1780. In each case the enemy
disappeared. These British cat-and-mouse appearances may have lulled the
Virginians and Jefferson into a false sense of security, for the state
was unprepared for the real invasion Washington had warned was coming.

On December 30, 1780, Benedict Arnold, seeking the glory in the British
army he thought had been denied him by the Americans, sailed into the
Chesapeake with a small, well-disciplined British army. Whatever might be
said about Arnold's political ethics, few have criticized his command
performance with small forces. He was initially aided in Virginia by
Jefferson's caution which left Nelson's militia only half-mobilized. The
only other force was a small Continental regiment under Steuben.

Arnold sailed up the James to Westover, the estate of Tory William Byrd
III. From there he moved unopposed to Richmond, the official state
capital since April 1780. Throughout January 5 and 6 his men burned the
state buildings, destroyed the iron and powder factory at Westham, and
seized or burned all available state records. Knowing