In the summer of 1781, thousands of troops crisscrossed the James City County countryside as they foraged for food and moved strategically toward Yorktown. At Spencer's Ordinary, on Mansfield Spencer's 120-acre farm at the intersection of roads to Jamestown, Williamsburg, and points north, British troops tore down fences to create open ground for a "chicanery of action." On June 26, 1781, the rear guard of Lord Cornwallis's large British army, about 6,000 men plus camp followers, moved eastward under Lieutenant Colonel John Simcoe and the Queen's Rangers, reinforced by additional infantry, cavalry, and Hessian Jaegers. A smaller Colonial force, still several thousand strong, under the Marquis de Lafayette followed at a safe distance, and when Lafayette learned of the British foraging party near Spencer's Ordinary, he sent his forward guard, Pennsylvania Line soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Butler, to attack. Violent skirmishes followed as units collided, maneuvered, and withdrew in attempts to gain tactical advantage, and eyewitness accounts and military reports recorded bravery, confusion, and uncertainty on both sides. Neither side could overwhelm the other, casualty counts varied by the allegiance of the reporter, and after Cornwallis sent reinforcements from Williamsburg, the engagement ended with both sides withdrawing. British and Allied troops clashed again on July 6, 1781, at the Battle of Green Spring, one of the last Virginia land engagements before the British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
