 The young Frenchman had 3,200 men at his command, but British troops in the state now totalled 7,200 and they soon quickly brushed aside the militia of the Bermuda Hundreds.Lafayette skirmished with Cornwallis, avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements.It was during this period that Cornwallis received orders from Clinton to choose a position on the Virginia Peninsula—referred to in contemporary letters as the "Williamsburg Neck"—and construct a fortified naval post to shelter ships of the line.