Major-General WILLIAM PHILLIPS,
Royal Artillery
1731-81

William Phillips (1731-81)

by Robert P. Davis

Though an Artillery Officer, General Phillips is regarded as one of the most competent and resourceful commanders in America. Having attained great fame during the Seven Years War in Germany, Phillips achieved even greater accomplishments in America. He was the heroic Deputy Commander to John Burgoyne during the fateful campaign that resulted in the loss of the army at the battles of Saratoga. He was then the compassionate and articulate commander of Burgoyne's captured troops of the Convention until his exchange. After his exchange back to British service, Phillips was promptly given command of British forces in Virginia. His James River Campaign through Virginia, which included the Battle of Petersburg (25 April 1781) may have been one the British army's most successful campaigns of the entire war. Tragically, Phillips' final campaign fell into total obscurity as a result of his untimely death from fever, and the closely following surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia in October of that same year.

Jäger Captain Johann Ewald described him:

One saw in him and his precautions that he was worthy of commanding men, and one recognised in him the skillful and industrious officer. The general drove everyone zealously to his duty. But he was the most pleasant, unselfish, and courteous man in the world.

Further information: General William Phillips and the Battle of Petersburg.
General Phillips' biography was recently published by Greenwood Press (October 1999), entitled: Where a Man Can Go, Major General William Phillips, British Royal Artillery, 1731-1781, by Robert P. Davis.

Petersburg, VA

Robert P. Davis tells us:

Near the south wall of Old Blandford Church in Petersburg, Virginia, stands a Memorial to Major General William Phillips, British Royal Artillery, 1731-1781. Phillips died on 13 May 1781 of a "bilious fever", believed to have been either typhus or malaria, just a few days following the close of his James River Campaign through Virginia.

The Memorial was placed by the Francis Bland Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, near the site where Brigadier General Benedict Arnold ordered General Phillips to be buried in secret. All that is known for certain is that the actual grave is somewhere in the old cemetery in the area of the northeast angle of the outer church wall.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
MAJ. GEN. W^M PHILLIPS
OF THE BRITISH ARMY WHO
DIED AT "BOLLINGBROOK"
MAY 23, 1781
AND WHOSE REMAINS LIE
BURIED IN THIS CHURCH YARD

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