Point of Fork Arsenal was an arsenal established in the 18th century located near what is now Columbia,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. It was raided and destroyed on June 5, 1781, by Col.

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...

of the

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen ...

. It was rebuilt and used for the manufacture and repair of arms and supplied material to combat the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

and to aid the

Battle of Fallen Timbers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their British allies, against the nascent United State ...

. an
''Accompanying five photos''
/ref> The arsenal remained in service until 1801, when it was abandoned in favor of a more centralized arsenal at Richmond, the Virginia Manufactory of Arms. Today Point of Fork is a historic

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1969.

History

The arsenal was located at Point of Fork, a point where the Fluvanna River (the name of the James River west of the Point of Fork) and Rivanna River meet. Stationed at Point of Fork were elements of the 5th Virginia (Gaskins' Battalion) as well as elements of the local Fluvanna County militia. In May 1781, Baron von Steuben relocated to the arsenal. Von Steuben complained of the status of the militia found at Point of Fork, stating that there were few men and fewer provisions. Immediately, von Steuben set about refitting the 5th Virginia for deployment south with

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Greene in South Carolina, this despite some controversy with the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

after von Steuben's plan to reinforce the American armies in South Carolina was rejected for fear of leaving Virginia's rivers undefended.

Raid and destruction

By May 1781,

General Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

was determined to break the back of the Virginians and sent Lt. Col. Simcoe and a detachment of rangers to capture Point of Fork. Alongside this effort was a force under Col. Tarleton's cavalry, seeking to sack the Virginia General Assembly, capture Governor

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, and burn out any warehouses or potential stores for the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

and his army to use in pursuit of Cornwallis. When Simcoe reached the arsenal, he expected to surprise the American forces and seize the stores. Von Steuben, believing that Simcoe's detachment was a sign that the entire British army under Cornwallis was nearby, abandoned Point of Fork Arsenal, leaving it to the British detachment as they made their way towards

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

and Governor Jefferson. Tarleton, after failing in his mission of capturing Jefferson and the Virginia General Assembly, "destroying one thousand new muskets, four hundred barrels of powder, several hogsheads of tobacco, and a quantity of soldier's clothing" returned to Point of Fork to Elk's Hill, a plantation owned by Jefferson, thoroughly destroying the stores and wares, even to the point of slitting the throats of the horses on the plantation. Von Steuben carried the large part of the blame for the abandonment of Point of Fork arsenal, to the point Virginia's General Assembly ordered an investigation into von Steuben's conduct. Von Steuben was adamant that the provisions and men were not as stated by the legislature, and given both the condition of his hurried preparations, the sudden arrival of Cornwallis, and his belief that the entire British army was nearby, von Steuben exasperation was summarized; "Every farmer is a general … but nobody wishes to be a soldier." Further rising to the defense of von Steuben is the notable action of the 5th Virginia Regiment during the 1781 Virginia Campaign, despite the notable lack of clothing, muskets, bayonets/forks, and other equipment. Despite this, the 5th Virginia pushed to within 350 yards of the British lines at Yorktown before Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781.Fluvanna County, Virginia Order Book, 1779-1782

References

{{Virginia in the American Revolution Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fluvanna County, Virginia Virginia in the American Revolution American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places