his orders from one of them."

This decision virtually annulled the power of Henry as
commander-in-chief. The clause of the ordinance of convention which
authorized the committee to direct military movements is the
following:--

"_And whereas_ it may be necessary for the public security
that the forces to be raised by virtue of this ordinance
should, as occasion may require, be marched to different parts
of the colony, and that the officers should be subject to a
proper control,--

"_Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid_, That the
officers and soldiers under such command shall, in all things
not otherwise particularly provided for by this ordinance and
the articles established for their regulation, be under the
control and subject to the order of the general committee of
safety."[637:A]

It could hardly be said of Woodford and his men that they were marched
to a different part of the colony; he and Colonel Henry were still in
the same quarter of Virginia, and not far apart. For so numerous a body
as the convention, or even the committee of safety, to assume all the
functions of the commander-in-chief, was incompatible with the unity,
secrecy, and promptitude demanded in the conduct of war. If not, of what
advantage was the appointment of a commander-in-chief at all? If the
committee, by such a construction of their powers, could virtually annul
the authority of the commander-in-chief, he, whose powers were at the
least as ample as theirs, might, by a like construction, have repudiated
their authority. The conduct of the committee toward Colonel Henry was
strongly censured by the people as well as the troops, and they imputed
it to personal envy.[637:B] Those, however, who approved of the
committee's course, attributed it to a want of confidence in Colonel
Henry, as deficient in military experience.[638:A] Other mortifications
were in store for the man of the people.

Shortly after the battle of the Great Bridge the Provincials, under
Howe, took possession of Norfolk, encamped there in the "Town Camp."

FOOTNOTES:

[632:A] John Banister proposing to turn his saw-mill at Petersburg into
a powder-mill, the convention ordered saltpetre and sulphur to be sent
there for him. Richard Bland advised that saltpetre should be made at
Appomattox warehouses, (Petersburg,) fearing that supineness possessed
all ranks, and offering to contribute toward that use