The World Turned Upside Down - 4th Virginia Continental Regiment.

The 4th Virginia Regiment was authorised on December 28th, 1775, and organised on February 28th, 1776 at Suffolk Court House, Virginia, for service with the Continental Army, to consist of ten companies from Berkley, Charlotte, Prince Edward, Sussex, Southampton, Nansemond, Brunswick, Isle of Wight, Surry and Princess Anne Counties under the command of Colonel Adam Stephen, with Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Read and Major Robert Lawson serving as principal subordinates, and was assigned on February 27th, 1776 to the Southern Department.

As part of the Southern Department its initial deployment focused on defending the Tidewater region against British naval incursions led by Governor Lord Dunmore, rather than participation in the northern theatre. The regiment, under Colonel Adam Stephen and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Elliott, conducted a series of marches within Virginia to garrison key ports such as Portsmouth and Norfolk, arriving in operational positions by spring 1776 and integrating into the Continental structure under George Washington's overall command.

4th Virginia (1776-1778) - Revolutionary Virginia

Virginia produced fifteen regiments during the war for independence, in three authorisations of troops between 1775 and 1777, with the 4th Virginia Regiment being one of seven raised in the second authorisation, along with the 1st Virginia Artillery Regiment.

The state initially raised nine regiments, eight of which were to have ten companies, and the ninth only seven at first, later raising their establishment to ten; with the 1st to 7th Regiments, having a ratio set at three rifle companies to seven musket companies, with the 8th and 9th all muskets.

That said, what happened on paper and what happened in the field were two different matters, and whether riflemen were present, and in what numbers, and not detached to separate rifle units, such as the independent companies detached and sent to Boston in 1775-76 and later Morgan's Corps of Rifles raised in early 1777, and sent to the Northern Department, is open to debate.

The 4th Virginia Regiment was subsequently relieved on September 3rd, 1776 from the Southern Department and assigned to Stephen's Brigade, an element of the Main Continental Army, 

As the British advanced in the New York Area, the 4th Virginia Regiment engaged in skirmishes at Harlem Heights on September 16th, 1776, where it helped repel British foraging parties in a morale-boosting action; and by October, as part of the Continental forces, the unit fought at the Battle of White Plains on October 28th, holding defensive lines on Chatterton's Hill against a British uphill assault, though the Americans ultimately withdrew after sustaining moderate losses. These engagements marked a series of delaying actions that prevented a complete collapse of Continental forces.

Washington took the 4th Virginia with him into New Jersey that was part of the 5,000 man contingent that linked up with General Greene to hold the area following the Battle of White Plains.

Stephen's Brigade - Brigadier General Adam Stephen

• 4th Virginia Regiment 263 men all ranks
• 5th Virginia Regiment 184 men all ranks
• 6th Virginia Regiment 298 men all ranks

The regiment would see its first action at the Battle of Trenton, now under the command of Lt Colonel Robert Lawson as part of the Advance Guard of Washington's army under General Greene that surrounded Colonel Johann Rall's garrison on December 25th-26th, 1776.

Advance Guard

Stephen's Brigade—Brig. Gen. Adam Stephen (549 men)

• 4th Virginia Continental Regiment—Lt. Col. Robert Lawson (229 men)
• 5th Virginia Continental Regiment—Col. Charles Scott (129 men)
• 6th Virginia Continental Regiment—Col. Mordecai Buckner (191 men)

Map illustrating the dispositions of the opposing British and American armies at the commencement of
Washington's winter campaign and the Battles of Trenton and Princeton - Osprey Washington crosses the Delaware.

Washington led approximately 2,400 men across the Delaware River during harsh winter conditions, while two other detachments were forced to turn back due to ice and severe weather, and after the crossing, the army marched roughly nine miles south to Trenton, arriving near the town at daybreak on December 26th at which Washington split his forces into two columns: one under General Nathanael Greene attacking from the north, and another under General John Sullivan attacking from the south.

The Battle of Trenton, December 25th-26th 1776.
Stephen's brigade are shown leading the assault on the northern outskirts of Trenton.

Four cannon were assigned to each column and Stephen's advance guard included men equipped with hammers, spikes and ropes, as these men were either to drag off or spike the Hessian artillery that Washington anticipated capturing. 

Washington, would accompany Greene's force, emphasising that security was paramount and directed that "a profound silence to be enjoyn'd and no man to quit his Ranks on the pain of Death."

The Hessians, commanded by Colonel Johann Rall, were caught off guard, having failed to maintain long-distance outposts or patrols, and the Americans launched a swift and coordinated assault, overwhelming the Hessians after a brief but intense fight that left most of them captured, and only about a third escaping across Assunpink Creek. 

American casualties were minimal, with only a few wounded and two deaths from exposure.

The Battle of Trenton by Don Troiani

The 4th Virginia would be in action soon after Trenton when it participated in the Battle of Princeton.

Stephen's Brigade - Brigadier General Adam Stephen

• 4th Virginia Regiment, estimated at about 250 men all ranks
• 5th Virginia Regiment, estimated at about 150 men all ranks
• 6th Virginia Regiment, estimated at about 150 men all ranks

Osprey - Washington crosses the Delaware.

After defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton, Washington withdrew back to Pennsylvania, where he subsequently decided to attack the British forces before going into winter quarters, leading his army back into Trenton on December 29th. 

On the night of January 2nd, 1777, Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, and then evacuated his position, to circle General Cornwallis' army, and head north to attack the British garrison at Princeton.

The Battle of Princeton, January 3rd 1777.
Stephen's Brigade are illustrated pursuing the 40th Foot back into Princeton.

On January 3rd, Brigadier General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army clashed with two regiments under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mawhood, 17th Regiment of Foot and commanding the garrison comprising the 17th Foot, 40th (left in Princeton during the clash with Mercer) and the 55th Foot together with a troop of the 16th Light Dragoons.

The Battle of Princeton on January 3rd, 1777, depicting George Washington's personal flag, or headquarters flag, with thirteen white six-pointed stars in apparently a 4-5-4 pattern on a field of blue. Picture by James Peale c1782

Mercer and his troops were overrun, and Mercer was mortally wounded, after the British had demanded his surrender, believing Mercer to be Washington, which after he declined, saw him stabbed seven times with a bayonet. Washington sent a brigade of militia under Brigadier General John Cadwalader to help them, but on seeing the flight of Mercer's men, they began to flee. Washington then rode up with reinforcements and rallied the fleeing militia., before leading the attack on Mawhood's troops, driving them back, and seeing Mawhood give the order to retreat, with most of the troops attempting to flee to Cornwallis in Trenton.

In Princeton, Brigadier General John Sullivan encouraged some British troops who had taken refuge in Nassau Hall to surrender, ending the battle, after which, Washington moved his army to Morristown and winter quarters, and with their third defeat in ten days, saw the British evacuate Central Jersey. 

Having once again dissolved at the end of the Trenton-Princeton campaign due to the one-year enlistments, the American Army was once more built up in the late winter and early spring of 1777, with Congress responding to the requirement to provide a more stable and balanced army by introducing enlistments of three years or the duration of the war.

Washington also had plans to reorganise his army on a consistent basis, intending that each division would be made up of three brigades, and that each brigade would have three full strength regiments, however a shortage of general officers and full strength regiments prevented a full implementation of this plan; never the less at the start of 1777 his main army, less those brigades from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire in the Hudson Highlands or with the Northern Army and a North Carolina Brigade en route from home, had the following structure:

Greene's Division - 1st & 2nd Virginia Brigades

Stephen's Division - 3rd & 4th Virginia Brigades

Sullivan's Division - 1st & 2nd Maryland Brigades

Lincoln's Division - 1st & 2nd Pennsylvania Brigades

Stirling's Division - 3rd Pennsylvania & New Jersey Brigades

Brigadier General Charles Scott
commanded the 4th Virginia Brigade in the 1777 campaign

On May 11th 1777, Major-General Stephen was appointed command of his own division, that included 3rd and 4th Virginia Brigades, which meant that the 4th Virginia Regiment were now part of the 4th Virginia Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Charles Scott.

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott

4th Virginia Regiment
8th Virginia Regiment
12th Virginia Regiment
Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment
Patton's Additional Continental Regiment

The Battle of Brandywine, September 11th 1777, illustrating the position of Stephen's Brigade on the extreme right flank of General Sullivan's line on the heights above Birmingham.

On September 11th 1777 the regiment as part of Scott’s Brigade would participate in the Battle of Brandywine with an estimated strength of around 314 men, part of Washington's force detailed to resist the approach of Howe's flanking attack that developed four hours into the battle; and with the 4h Virginia together with the rest of Scott's brigade, positioned on the extreme right flank of the American army opposing the advance of the British 2nd Light Infantry and Hessian Jägers.

Fighting fiercely against superior numbers during the late afternoon assault, elements of the brigade, including the 4th Virginia, conducted a rearguard action to cover the American withdrawal after the centre collapsed. This defeat enabled British General William Howe to outmanoeuvre Washington's army and occupy Philadelphia on September 26th.

Following the defeat at Brandywine, and the British occupation of Philadelphia, Washington's reorganised army attacked at Germantown on the 4th October 1777.

General George Washington’s complex battle plan at Germantown included sending four separate columns against the unsuspecting British, an operation made more problematic than it otherwise might have been due to the thick fog that enveloped the battlefield.

General George Washington’s complex plan of attack envisioned four separate American columns enveloping the British positions around Germantown with Major General Nathanael Greene's flanking column, that included McDougall's Connecticut Brigade (1,000 men), Greene's own Virginia Division (1,500 men), and Stephen's Virginia Division (1,500 men), attempting to turn the British right flank.

Greene’s formations were disordered by the maze of fences, meandering streams, and thick clumps of trees they encountered. Natural obstacles were made worse by a thick fog that stubbornly refused to dissipate. One of Greene’s units, the Virginia Brigade under Colonel William Woodford, was drawn irresistibly to the sounds of the fighting at Cliveden as Lieutenant Colonel Musgrave and six companies of the 40th Foot barricaded themselves into the great house and put up a stubborn defence.

A 19th century engraving depicts the intense struggle that developed around Cliveden House

The Virginians reached the rear of the house, and when the redcoats began firing at them from the second floor they lost no time in unlimbering their guns, and the roar of cannon and rattle of musketry around Cliveden became so intense that other American regiments also began to take notice.

Stephen's men fought in the fog with troops led by General Anthony Wayne, and he was later accused of being drunk during the battle, and after being convicted in a court martial, he was stripped of his command and cashiered out of the army, making him the only Continental Army general court-martialled and immediately dismissed from the service during the war.

At about this time, the American attack lost impetus and both columns retreated, whilst the two wide flanking columns numbering 3,000 American militia had little effect on the outcome. American losses were 152 men killed, 521 wounded and 438 captured, while Howe's men suffered 71 killed, 448 wounded and 14 missing.

When Washington finally withdrew to winter quarters at Valley Forge on December 19th 1777, the 4th Virginia Regiment, out of 283 men assigned could only muster 74 men fit for duty.

Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben's arrival in February 1778 introduced rigorous training in drill, tactics, and hygiene, transforming the under-equipped force into a more disciplined unit; the 4th Virginia underwent reorganization in late 1777 to eight companies, incorporating new recruits to rebuild strength, but by May 2nd 1778 the 4th Virginia could only report a strength of 83 men.

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

Following the British evacuation from Philadelphia in June 1778, the 4th Virginia Regiment, temporarily consolidated with the depleted 8th and 12th Virginia Regiments into a single unit of about 400 men under Colonel James Wood of the 12th Virginia, joined General Charles Scott's brigade in pursuing the enemy toward Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield
Scott's brigade are illustrated withdrawing into the American defensive line on Perrine's Hill.

On June 28th, the consolidated regiment advanced in the morning phase of the Battle of Monmouth, positioned in the centre of the American line to engage British forces, before shifting to support General Anthony Wayne's defence in the afternoon amid scorching heat that exacerbated the prolonged combat.

Scott's Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth (Colonel William Grayson commanding)

4th, 8th and 12th Virginia Regiments                               400 men approx.

Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment                    114 men approx.

Patton's Additional Continental Regiment                        113 men approx.

Crane's Artillery Regiment, Captain Thomas Wells,        2 guns

The unit's role in harassing the British rear guard demonstrated the improved discipline and tactics honed during the prior winter at Valley Forge, though specific casualty figures for the consolidated force remain undocumented in available records.

After Monmouth, the remnants of the consolidated regiment conducted garrison duties across New Jersey, including skirmishes with Loyalist raiders and foraging expeditions to sustain the army amid supply shortages. By September 1778, reorganization at White Plains, New York, consolidated remnants of the original 8th Virginia into the 4th Virginia under Colonel John Neville's command, while the original 12th Virginia was redesignated as the new 8th Virginia; its ranks were bolstered to roughly 400 effectives through drafts from disbanding Virginia units and new enlistments.

The 4th Virginia remained largely in reserve within the northern theatre, avoiding major actions while patrolling against British forays from New York. Further consolidation of this new 8th Virginia (former 12th) into the 4th occurred on May 12th, 1779, forming a nine-company unit assigned to the 2nd Virginia Brigade.

After the 1779 consolidation with the 8th Virginia Regiment and the overall contraction of the Virginia Continental Line as recruiting got harder and enlistments expired, following Virginia implementing a draft in 1777, the numbered regiments were preserved on paper to track officer seniority, but late war field operations were conducted by various “detachments," “battalions," and ad hoc “regiments."

Most of the former 4th Virginia Regiment, as part of the 1st and 2nd Detachments, was captured on the 12th May 1780 at the Siege of Charleston and its surviving personnel—primarily a company-sized detachment under Captain Alexander Parker, that had escaped capture—returned to Virginia and integrated into ongoing operations in the Tidewater region.

The Yorktown Surrender - Keith Rocco
Surviving members of the 4th Virginia Continental Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Darke fought at the siege of Yorktown.

Among those captured with the fall of Charleston was their commander Lieutenant Colonel William Darke, who after his exchange, assumed effective leadership of the reformed remnants from November 1780 until the regiment's disbandment on November 15th, 1783, including command during the Siege of Yorktown where he led assaults on British redoubts.

My 4th Virginia Continental Regiment is composed of the plastic Continental Infantry from Perry Miniatures, slightly adapted with the use of arms from the British plastic set to add variety to my regiments.

I have chosen to depict the unit as described in the October 1778 lottery held by General Washington, and the blue and red look will come in handy for scenarios when I need Virginia detachments that operated in the South in the latter part of the war.

American War of Independence American flags | League of Augsburg

The 16-figure unit is finished off with a Regimental Colour supplied by Quindia Studios, in the League of Augsburg shop as part of their American War of Independence range of flags, and a set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

Next up, work continues with the British elite battalions and the First Battalion of Combined Grenadiers as they might have looked in 1777 together with the next American unit to feature, the 8th Virginia Continental Regiment. 

As always, more anon.

JJ