the forces there. Raiding by Phillips Phillips then advanced again against the largely undefended countryside. A militia force under Major General Baron von Steuben tried to check their progress and protect Richmond and Petersburg. Von Steuben could discern that, though the British might attack Richmond as before, they definitely considered Petersburg a prime objective, since it served as a military depot for both state and Continental forces. By 23 April, the British force had sailed up the James River to Westover; it landed there to drive off about 500 militia, and reports to von Steuben claimed the force to number between 2,500 and 3,000. On 24 April, as the afternoon progressed, about 1,000 of General Muhlenberg's Virginia militia marched into Petersburg. Other militia units were also gathering. Lafayette's force was still several days away, and another Continental Army force under General Anthony Wayne was even further off. Von Steuben and Muhlenberg, who had been avoiding conflict with the British due to their weak numbers and inexperienced troops, decided that it was time to make some sort of stand. The militia had not had any sort of victory since the British arrived in Virginia, and morale was quite low. After a council of war, they decided to establish a line in Blandford, then a separate town east of Petersburg and now a neighborhood within the city. When the time came, the colonists could retreat across the Appomattox River over the Pocahontas Bridge. That evening General von Steuben ordered Muhlenberg's corps to the north side of the Appomattox onto the peninsula known as Pocahontas Island and onto the elevated ground overlooking the river. Then, during the moonless night, von Steuben and Muhlenberg moved their forces south of the river into Blandford. Battle Shortly before sunset on 24 April, Phillips landed a force of 2,500 British and Hessian soldiers at City Point (now Hopewell), east of Petersburg. As morning dawned the next day, four regiments of Muhlenberg's Virginia militia infantry formed two lines of defense and awaited the British force. The first line was composed of the regiments of Thomas Merriweather and John Dick, with Merriweather's anchoring the left of the line at the river, and Dick's the right, extending into the hills south of Blandford. The second line, which was to form the main line of defense after the first one fell back, consisted of Ralph Faulkner's regiment on the left, and