Battle of Spencer ' s Ordinary The Battle of Spencer ' s Ordinary was an inconclusive skirmish that took place on 26 June 1781 , late in the American Revolutionary War . British forces under Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe and American forces under Colonel Richard Butler , light detachments from the armies of General Lord Cornwallis and the Marquis de Lafayette respectively , clashed near a tavern ( the " ordinary " ) at a road intersection not far from Williamsburg , Virginia . Lafayette had been shadowing Cornwallis as he moved his army toward Williamsburg from central Virginia . Aware that Simcoe had become separated from Cornwallis , he sent Butler out in an attempt to cut Simcoe off . Both sides , concerned that the other might be reinforced by its main army , eventually broke off the battle . Background . In May 1781 , Lord Charles Cornwallis arrived in Petersburg , Virginia after a lengthy campaign through North and South Carolina . In addition to his 1 , 400 troops , he assumed command of another 3 , 600 troops that had been under the command of the turncoat Benedict Arnold , and was soon thereafter further reinforced by about 2 , 000 more troops sent from New York . These forces were opposed by a much smaller Continental Army force led by the Marquis de Lafayette , then located at Richmond . Following orders originally given to Arnold ' s predecessor in command , William Phillips ( who died a week before Cornwallis ' arrival ) , Cornwallis worked to eliminate Virginia ' s ability to support the revolutionary cause , and gave chase to Lafayette ' s army , which numbered barely 3 , 000 and included a large number of inexperienced militia . Lafayette successfully eluded engaging Cornwallis for about one month , who used his numerical advantage to detach forces for raids against economic , military , and political targets in central Virginia . Cornwallis then turned back to the east , marching for Williamsburg . Lafayette , whose force grew to number about 4 , 000 with the arrival of Continental Army reinforcements under General Anthony Wayne and additional experienced militiamen under William Campbell , followed Cornwallis . Buoyed by the increase in his troop strength , Lafayette also became more aggressive in his tactics , sending out detachments of his force to counteract those that Cornwallis sent on forage and raiding expeditions . These detachments were composed of select units taken from a variety of regiments . Among those that were commonly in the army ' s advance guard were a combined cavalry and infantry unit from Pennsylvania under Captain William McPherson , and companies of Virginia riflemen under Majors Richard Call and John Willis . Lafayette , once he was joined by Wayne and Campbell , wanted to engage elements of Cornwallis ' army without necessarily facing its full strength . As Cornwallis approached Williamsburg , Lafayette and Wayne received word that Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe and his Loyalist regiment of Queen ' s Rangers were returning from a raid to destroy boats and forage for supplies on the Chickahominy River . Simcoe ' s full force included , in addition to the Rangers , a few companies of Hessian jäger s led by Captains Johann Ewald and Johann Althaus . On the night of 25 June , Wayne sent most of the advance guard under Colonel Richard Butler , including McPherson , Call , and Willis , to intercept Simcoe ' s force . A forward party of about 50 dragoon s and 50 light infantry under McPherson caught up with advance companies of Simcoe ' s force near Spencer ' s Ordinary , a tavern at a road intersection about north of Williamsburg . Battle . Simcoe ' s troops were moving down the road toward Williamsburg , convoying some cattle with the infantry and jägers in the lead under Major Richard Armstrong , with Simcoe and the cavalry about an hour behind them . At Spencer ' s Ordinary ( " ordinary " meaning tavern at the time ) , the troops rejoined and paused to rest . Simcoe ordered fences in the area torn down since " it was an admirable place for the chicanery of action " . While they rested , some of the Loyalists went out to round up more cattle found in the area , and the cavalry went to a nearby farm to feed their horses . McPherson ' s men encountered the latter , whose sentries raised the alarm to the main body . Simcoe ' s cavalry charged McPherson ' s formation , breaking it up . McPherson and a number of his men were unhorsed in the melee , and several were taken prisoner before the leading edge of Butler ' s main force began to arrive . Simcoe ordered most of the infantry up to support his cavalry , and sent the jägers and light infantry into the woods on the right to flank the arriving enemy column . By questioning the prisoners , Simcoe learned that Lafayette was not far off . He sent word to Cornwallis , dispatched the cattle convoy toward Williamsburg , and ordered trees to be felled to make a barricade across the road as a point of defense . He then arrayed his troops in a way calculated to mislead the Americans into believing that more troops were in formation just over a rise . When Butler ' s force arrived , Simcoe ordered an infantry charge . This scattered the first wave of Butler ' s men into the nearby woods , where the jägers then pushed them back . However , Butler ' s men continued to advance . Simcoe ordered a cavalry charge and fired a field cannon to give the impression that a larger force was arriving . The charge forced Butler ' s men back , at which point the two forces disengaged , Simcoe because he was concerned that Lafayette was approaching , and Butler because his men were fooled by Simcoe ' s stratagem . Aftermath . Simcoe left his wounded men at the tavern under a truce flag , and withdrew down the Williamsburg road , joining with forces Cornwallis sent about two miles ( 3 . 2 km ) down the road . The Americans retreated to Lafayette ' s camp at Tyre ' s Plantation , and Simcoe was able to return to the tavern and recover his wounded . Simcoe reported his losses at 11 killed and 25 wounded , and the American loss at 9 killed , 14 wounded , and 32 captured . Lafayette claimed the Americans had killed 60 and wounded 100 , while Cornwallis claimed the British had 33 killed and wounded . ( The latter number agrees with that provided by Fryer and Dracott if Hessian casualties are excluded . ) The location of the battle is now within the grounds of James City County ' s Freedom Park in Williamsburg . Published park materials do not indicate if the exact location is marked in any way . Butler ' s identity . Sources disagree on the name of the Butler who commanded the American force . In early histories , Benson Lossing claims that one Percival Butler was in command , who had also served under Daniel Morgan in earlier campaigns , while Henry Johnston identifies the commander as Richard Butler , a hero of Stony Point . In modern histories , Fryer and Dracott also identify him as Richard , while Brendan Morrissey apparently misidentifies him as John Butler .