Led by American defector Benedict Arnold, the Richmond campaign is considered one of his greatest successes while serving under the British Army.

The following day, Arnold's force of Loyalist "greencoats",[citation needed] consisting of infantry, dragoons, and artillery, arrived at Richmond, which was defended by approximately 200 militiamen.

His timing was excellent; most of the defenders were nearing the end of their enlistment periods and were so confident that Richmond was safe from attack that they had not bothered to establish defenses or post sentries.

Jefferson, seeing his militiamen dispersed and no other plausible way to defend Richmond, quickly ordered the mass evacuation of most military supplies from the city.

Mathews built up a force of around 200 militiamen and embarked hastily to catch and damage Arnold's slow-moving army near Richmond.

Using nimble tactics popularized by American commander Nathanael Greene, the militiamen easily outfought the exhausted Loyalists, and over the following days, the British ranks were thinned by multiple skirmishes around Richmond and the James River.

On the same day, Major General William Phillips arrived to relieve Arnold with 2,000 fresh troops, and to assume command over Portsmouth's defenses.

The British, on the other hand saw Arnold's victory at Richmond as a turning point, and gave them hopes that Loyalists could rise up with them, and quell the Patriot presence in the South.

British commanders like William Phillips and Banastre Tarleton followed in Arnold's example, raiding and burning more outlying towns and preying on Continental troops.