In March, 1675-6, war was declared against the Indians. Five hundred men were ordered to proceed to the frontier, and eight forts garrisoned. Fifty-five men out of James City county to be garrisoned neare the ffalls of James River, at Captain Byrd's, or at one ffort or place of defence over against him at Newletts, [or Howletts,] of which fforte Coll. Edward Ramsay be captaine or cheife commander."

In 1676, a party of Indians, evacuating a fort on the Potomac where they had been besieged by the colonists, "took their route over the head of that river, and thence over the heads of Rappahannock and York Rivers, killing whom they found of the upmost plantations, until they came to the head of James River, where (with Bacon and others) they slew Mr. Bacon's overseer, whom he much loved, and one of his servants, whose blood he vowed to avenge, if possible "*

"Bacon's Quarter Branch and Bloody Run, near Richmond, still call to mind Bacon and his rebellion. The term Bacon's Quarter, indicates that his plantation lay there. Bloody Run, according to tradition, is so called from a bloody battle Bacon fought there with the Indians. We have not been able to find any thing in the history of those times to confirm this tradition, and it would seem more probable that Bloody Run derived its name from the battle in which Hill was defeated, and Totopotomoi slain. The stream is a small one, and is said during the battle to have run blood."+

In 1679, certain privileges were granted Capt. Wm. Byrd, upon the condition that he should settle fifty able-bodied and well-armed men in the vicinity of the falls, to act as a protection to the frontier against the Indians.

In the Westover mss. Col. Byrd mentions his plantations at the falls, as follows: "September 18th, (1732,) for the pleasure of the good company of Mrs. Byrd and her little governor, my son, I went about half-way to the falls in my chariot. There we halted not far from a purling stream, and upon the stump of a propagate oak picked the bones of a piece of roast beef. By the spirit which it gave me, I was the better able to part with the dear companions of my travels, and to perform the rest of my journey on horseback by myself. I reached Shacco's before two o'clock, and crossed the river to the mills. I had the grief to find them both stand as still for the want of water, as a dead woman's tongue for want of breath. It had rained so little for many weeks above the falls, that the Naiads had hardly water enough left to wash their faces. However, as we ought all to turn our misfortunes to the best advantage, I directed Mr. Booker, my first minister there, to make use of the lowness of the water for blowing up the rocks at the mouth of the canal. *. * * The water now flowed out of the river so slowly, that the miller was obliged to pond it up in the canal, by setting open the flood-gates at the mouth, and shutting those close at the mill. By this contrivance, he was able at any time to grind two or three bushels, either for his choice customers or for the use of my plantations. Then I walked to the place where they broke the flax, which is wrought with much greater ease than the hemp, and is much better for spinning. From thence I paid a visit to the weaver, who needed a little of Minerva's inspiration to make the most of a piece of cloth. Then I looked in upon my Caledonian spinster, who was mended more in her looks, than in her humor. * On the next day, after I had swallowed a few poached eggs, we rode down to the mouth of the canal, and from thence crossed over to the broad-rock island in a canoe. Our errand was to view some iron ore, which we dug up in two places. That on the surface seemed very spongy and poor, which gave us no great encouragement to search deeper, nor did the quantity appear to be very great. However, for my greater satisfaction, I ordered a hand to dig there for some time this winter. We walked from one end of the island to the other, being about half a mile in length, and found the soil very good, and too high for any flood less than Deucalion's to do the least damage. There is a very wild prospect both upwards and downwards, the river being full of rocks, over which the stream tumbled with a murmur loud enough to drown the notes of a scolding wife. This island would make an agreeable hermitage for any good Christian, who had a mind to retire from the world."

Richmond was established a town by law in the reign of George II., May, 1742, on land belonging to Col. William Byrd, who died in 1744. The locality was anciently called Byrd's Warehouse. That gentleman, at the time, had a warehouse near where the Exchange Hotel now is. The seat of a Col. Byrd is thus described in Burnaby's Travels in North America in 1759-60. He "has a small place called Belvidere, upon a hill at the lower end of these falls, (James River,) as romantic and elegant as any thing I have ever seen. It is situated very high, and commands a fine prospect of the

*T. M.'s account of Bacon's Rebellion.

↑ From mss. of Charles Campbell, Esq.

river, which is half a mile broad, forming cataracts in the manner above described. There are several little islands scattered carelessly about, very rocky and covered with trees, and two or three villages in view at a small distance. Over all these you discover a prodigious extent of wilderness, and the river winding majestically along through the midst of it."

In 1777, the assailable situation of Williamsburg to the aggressions of the enemy, occasioned the Assembly of the state to remove the troops, arms, and ammunition, together with the public records, to Richmond; and, partially from the same cause, and the extension of the population westward, an act was passed, May, 1779, to remove the seat of government here. At this time, Richmond was an insignificant place, scarcely affording sufficient accommodations for the officers of government. The legislature bestowed upon it the name of a city; but it was then only a city in embryo, with scarcely any thing of interest except the grandeur of its natural scenery. The analogy of the situation of the place to that of Richmond-on-the-Thames, in England, suggested the name the town bears. The public buildings were temporary. The old capitol, which was private property, stood on the site now occupied by the custom-house, and some of the adjacent buildings. It was a wooden structure, long since destroyed.

Richmond was invaded by the traitor Arnold in 1781. The subjoined account is from Tucker's Life of Jefferson :

On the 3d of January the fleet came to anchor at Jamestown, and on the 4th it reached Westover, where about 900 men, but then supposed to be a much larger force, landed under the command of the notorious Arnold, and proceeded on their march towards Richmond. Until then, it was not known whether that town or Petersburg was the object of attack. The governor, [Jefferson,] on the same day, called out the whole of the militia from the adjacent counties; but having no means of present resistance, he endeavored to secure that part of the public property which could be removed, by having it transported to the south bank of James River. Such of it as had been previously sent to Westham, six miles above Richmond, was also ordered to cross the river. That night the enemy encamped at Four-mile creek, 12 miles below Richmond. At half after seven o'clock at night, the governor set out for Westham, and, having stopped to hasten the transportation of the arms and stores, he proceeded to join his family at Tuckahoe, eight miles further, which place he reached after midnight.

The next morning, having taken his family across the river, and sent them to a place of safety, he rode down to Britton's, opposite to Westham, and gave further orders concerning the public property, the transportation of which had been continued through the whole night, and part of the next day, until the approach of the enemy. He then proceeded to Manchester, from whence he had a full view of the invading force. They had reached Richmond at 1 o'clock in the afternoon of that day, at which time there were only 200 militia, including those of the town, embodied.

The governor wishing to advise with Baron Steuben, then commanding the new levies in the state intended for the south, and which then amounted to 200 recruits, went to Chetwood's, his head-quarters, a few miles from Manchester, but learning he was at Col. Fleming's, the governor proceeded to that place, where he continued that night. While there, some of the citizens of Richmond waited on him, to tender an offer from Arnold not to burn the town, provided British vessels were permitted to come to it unmolested, and take off the tobacco there deposited. The offer was unhesitatingly rejected. As soon as Arnold reached Richmond, he sent a detachment under Col. Simcoe to destroy the cannon foundry above the town-which having done, they advanced to Westham; but finding that all the public property sent thither had been transported over the river, they returned to Richmond the same day. On the 6th, the governor returned to Britton's, and having given orders respecting the public archives, rejoined his family in the evening at Fine creek. The British, after burning some public and some private buildings, as well as a large quantity of tobacco, left Richmond about 24 hours after they entered it, encamped at Four-mile creek, and on the 7th, at Berkley and Westover; having thus penetrated 33 miles into the country from the place of debarkation, and completed their incursion, without loss, in 48 hours from the time of their landing. "On the 7th, the governor went to Manchester, where he remained that night, and the next day returned to Richmond.

The bare communication of the fact, that a force of 1,000, or at most 1,500 men, was able to invade a country containing at that time a population of more than half a million, and 50,000 enrolled militia-march to its metropolis-destroy all the public and much of the private property found there, and in its neighborhood-and to leave the

country with impunity, is, at first, calculated to excite our surprise, and to involve both the people, and those who administered its affairs, in one indiscriminate reproach. But there seems to be little ground for either wonder or censure, when it is recollected that these 50,000 militia were scattered over a surface of more than as many square miles; that the metropolis, which was thus insulted, was but a village, containing scarcely 1,800 inhabitants, half of whom were slaves; and that the country itself, intersected by several navigable rivers, could not be defended against the sudden incursions of an enemy whose naval power gave it the entire command of the water, and enabled it to approach within a day's march of the point of attack.

A. Rebel Infantry.-B. Rebel Cavalry.-C. Queen's Rangers.-D. Queen's Rangers' Cavalry.-E. Yagers.-F. British Army.-W. Warehouses.

We here give a narration of the invasion of Richmond, from Simcoe's Journal. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe was the celebrated commander of a partisan corps called the Queen's Rangers. Late in life he was lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. Although a gentlemanly man, he was noted for his prejudices against the United States. The engraving given is mainly important as delineating Richmond as it then was:

On the arrival at Westover, the troops were immediately disembarked: at first, from the reports of the country of the force that was assembling to defend Richmond, Gen. Arnold hesitated whether he should proceed thither or not, his positive injunctions being not to undertake any enterprise that had much risk in it; but Lieut.-Cols. Dundas and Simcoe, concurring that one day's march might be made with perfect security, and that by this means more perfect information might be obtained, the troops were immediately put in motion, and proceeded towards Richmond, where the enemy was understood to have very considerable magazines. It was above 30 miles from Westover; several transports had not arrived, and Gen. Arnold's force did not amount to 800 men. On the second day's march, while a bridge was replacing over a creek, the advanced guard only having passed over, some of the enemy's militia, who had destroyed it the evening before, and were to assemble with others to defend it, were deceived by the dress of the Rangers, and came to Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, who immediately reprimanded them for not coming sooner, held conversation with them, and then sent them prisoners to Gen. Arnold. Within seven miles of Richmond, a patrol of the enemy appeared, who, on being discovered, fled at full speed: the Queen's Rangers, whose horses were in a miserable condition from the voyage, could not pursue them. Soon after, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe halted, having received the clearest information that a road, made passable by wood