Cornwallis's Route O13
Gen. Charles Cornwallis and his British forces left Petersburg on 24 May 1781 to attack the Marquis de Lafayette and his troops stationed in Richmond. Learning of Cornwallis’s movements, Lafayette abandoned the city on 27 May and moved north throuh Hanover County to the North Anna River. After bivouacking at White Oak Swap on 27 May, Cornwallis pursued Lafayette through Hanover County until 1 June, when the British troops reached the North Anna River. There Cornwallis sent his forces west in a two-pronged attack to destroy colonial storehouses and attempt to capture the governor and the General Assembly in Charlottesville.

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Campaign of 1781 V20
Here Lafayette, moving west to protect a supply depot in Albermarle from Cornwallis, entered this road, June 13, 1781.

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Cornwallis's Route ND9
Lord Cornwallis, marching northward in pursuit of Lafayette’s American Force, camped near here, May 30, 1781. He entered this road from the east on his way from Hanover Twon to the North Anna at Chesterfield Ford (Telegraph Bridge).

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Old Halifax Road UM14
Here the highway merges with the Halifax Road, the ancient road from Petersburg to Halifax, North Carolina.  Over this road Cornwallis marched in May, 1781, from Halifax to Petersburg in his invasion of Virginia. Over this road the Confederates hauled supplies during the siege of Petersburg, 1864-65, and over it parts of the Union and Confederate armies constantly passed.

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Sussex County Z236
Area 575 Square Miles

Formed in 1753 from Surry, and named for an English County, Cornwallis passed through this county in 1781.

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Lafayette and Cornwallis E22
The Marquis de Lafayette and his outnumbered colonial troops abandoned Richmond on 27 May 1781 to avoid Gen. Charles Cornwallis’s approaching forces. Lafayette marched north from Richmond through Hanover County and likely crossed the nearby North Anna river by 31 May. Cornwallis pursued Lafayette to the North Anna River the next day. There Cornwallis sent the British troops west in a two-pronged attack to destroy storehouses and attempt to caputure the governor and the General Assembly in Charlottesville. Lafayette continued northward to the Rapidan River to await reinforcements.

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Green Spring W36
On this road, five miles south, is Green Spring, home of Governor Sir William Berkeley. Bacon, the Rebel, occupied it in 1676. Cornwallis, after moving from Williamsburg by this road on July 4, 1781, was attacked by Lafayette at Green Spring on July 6, 1781. Anthony Wayne was the hero of this fight.

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Spencer's Ordinary W35
On this road, four miles south, the action of Spencer’s Ordinary was fought , June 24, 1781, between detachments from Lafayette’s and Cornwallis’s armies.

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New Kent Road W26
By the 1720s, several taverns stood on New Kent Road (also called the Old Stage Road) between Williamsburg and New Kent Court House. During two wars, the road served opposing armies as well as travelers. In June 1781, near the end of the Revolution, British commander Gen. Charles Cornwallis marched his army from Richmond to Williamsburg on the road, with the Marquis de Lafayette and his army in cautious pursuit. During the Civil War, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate army withdrew west on the road toward Richmond after the Battle of Williamsburg on 5 May 1862; Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac slowly followed.

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Washington-Rochambeau Route W41
Generals Washington and Rochambeau and their staffs arrived in Williamsburg on September 14, 1781. Here they gathered their troops and supplies prior to laying siege to Cornwallis at Yorktown 12 miles away on September 28, 1781. The marking of this route is a gift from the French Government Committee of the Bicentennial 1776-1976. (Original sign destroyed in 2000. Replaced by

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