Patriotism of Gov. Nelson. Bombardment of his Mansion. Cornwallis's Proposition to Surrender. Destruction in Yorktown. head of the Virginia militia, commanded the first battery that opened upon the British works that morning. His fine stone mansion, the most commodious in the place, was a prominent object within the British lines. He knew that Cornwallis and his staff occupied it, and was probably in it when he began the cannonade. Regardless of the personal loss that must ensue, he pointed one of his heaviest guns directly toward his house, and ordered the gunner, and also a bombardier, to play upon it with the greatest vigor. The desired effect was accomplished. Upon the heights of Saratoga, Burgoyne found no place secure from the cannon-balls of the besiegers; in Yorktown there was like insecurity; and before ten o'clock in the morning, Cornwallis beat a parley, and proposed a cessation of hostilities. The house of Governor Nelson, I have already mentioned, still bears many scars received during the bombardment; and in the yard attached to the dwelling, I saw a huge unexploded bomb-shell which was cast there by order of the patriot owner. Cornwallis, despairing of victory or escape, sent a flag to Washington with a request that hostilities should be suspended for twenty-four hours, and that commissioners should be appointed to meet at Mrs. Moore's house on the right of the American lines, and just in the rear of the first parellel, to arrange terms for the surrender of his army. Washington was unwilling to waste precious time in negotiations, for, in the mean while, the augmented British fleet might arrive, and give the earl an opportunity to escape. In his reply to 2 4 THE NELSON MANSION,3 5 1 Never did a man display more lofty patriotism than Governor Nelson on this occasion. He was the chief magistrate of the state, and by virtue of his office was commander-in-chief of its militia. At that time the treasury of Virginia was empty, and there was great apprehension that the militia would disband for want of pay. Governor Nelson applied to a wealthy citizen to borrow money on the credit of the state. The security was not considered safe, and the patriot pledged his private property as collateral. The money was obtained and used for the public service. Because Governor Nelson exercised his prerogative as chief magistrate of the state in impressing men into the military service on the occasion of the siege of Yorktown, many influential men were offended, and many mortal enemies appeared. But he outlived all the wounds of malice, and posterity does honor to his name. 2 Dr. Thatcher says: "I have this day visited the town of York, to witness the destructive effects of the siege. It contains about sixty houses; some of them are elegant, many of them are greatly damaged, and some totally ruined, being shot through in a thousand places, and honey-combed, ready to crumble to pieces. Rich furniture and books were scattered over the ground, and the carcasses of men and horses, half covered with earth, exhibited a scene of ruin and horror beyond description. The earth in many places is thrown up into mounds by the force of our shells, and it is difficult to point to a spot where a man could have resorted for safety. 3 This view is from the street looking northwest. A long wooden building, with steep roof and dormer windows, a portion of which is seen on the left, is also a relic of the Revolutionary era. It, too, was much damaged by the bombardment. A few feet from the door of Mr. Nelson's dwelling is a fine laurel-tree. On the occasion of La Fayette's visit to Yorktown in 1824, a large concourse of people were assembled; branches were taken from this laurel-tree, woven into a civic crown, and placed upon the head of the venerable marquis. He took it from his brow, and placing it upon that of Preserved Fish, who accompanied him, remarked that none in all that company was better entitled to wear the mark of honor than he. 4 See the map on page 518. 5 Delay on that occasion would, indeed, have been dangerous, perhaps fatal to the hopes of the Americans. Admiral Digby hastened the repairs of his vessels with all possible dispatch, and on the very day when the capitulation was signed, Sir Henry Clinton, with seven thousand of his best troops, sailed for the Chesapeake to aid Cornwallis, under a convoy of twenty-five ships of the line. This armament appeared off the Capes of Virginia on the twenty-fourth; but, receiving unquestionable intelligence of the capitulation at Yorktown, the British general returned to New York. Thomas Anburey, a British officer in Burgoyne's army, and who served in America until near the close of 1781, published two interesting volumes, called Travels in America. Alluding to the capture of Cornwallis, which occurred three or four weeks previous to his sailing for Europe, he says: When the British fleet left Sandy Hook, General Washington had certain intelligence of it, within forty-eight hours after it sailed, although at such a considerable distance as near six hundred miles, by means of signal guns and Terms of Capitulation proposed. Jee Noailles де The Commissioners. 3 Synopsis of Articles of Capitulation. Cornwallis's letter, Washington desired him to transmit his proposals in writing previous to the meeting of the commissioners, for which purpose he would order a cessation of hostilities for two hours. To this the earl consented, and within the stipulated time he sent a rough draft of the general basis of his proposals. Washington, perceiving that there would probably be no serious disagreement finally, also sent Cornwallis a general basis of terms upon which he should expect him to surrender.2 Commissioners were appointed to meet in conference at Moore's house, and hostilities were suspended for the night. The American commissioners were Colonel Laurens, and Viscount De Noailles, a relative of La Fayette's wife; the British commissioners were Lieutenant-colonel Dundas and Major Ross. The commissioners met early on the morning of the eighteenth ;a but, being unable 1781. to adjust the terms. of capitulation* definitively, only a rough draft of them could be alarms. A very notorious rebel in New York, from the top of his house, hung out the signal of a white flag the moment the fleet got under way, which was immediately answered by the firing of a gun at a small village about a mile from our post at Paulus' Hook (now Jersey City); after that a continual firing of cannon was heard on the opposite shore; and about two days after the fleet sailed, was the period in which General Washington was so pressing for the army to surrender."-Volume ii., page 481. There is no evidence that Washington was informed of the departure of the fleet previous to the surrender. Although Digby did not leave Sandy Hook until the nineteenth, on account of unfavorable winds and other causes of delay, he left the harbor of New York on the seventeenth. a Oct., 1 He proposed that the garrisons at York and Gloucester should be prisoners of war, with the customary honors; that the British soldiers should be sent to Great Britain, and the Germans to Germany, under an engagement not to serve against France, America, or their allies, until released or regularly exchanged; that all arms and public stores should be delivered to the conqueror, reserving the usual indulgence of sidearms to officers, and of retaining private property by the officers and soldiers; and that the interests of several individuals (Tories) in civil capacities, and connected with the British, should be attended to, and their persons respected. Washington declared that a general basis for a definitive treaty should be the reception of the two garrisons as prisoners of war, with the same honors as were granted to the American prisoners at Charleston; but he would not agree to send the prisoners out of the country. They were to be marched to some convenient place, where they could be sustained and treated kindly. The shipping and boats in the harbor of Yorktown and Gloucester, with all their guns, stores, tackling, apparel, and furniture, to be delivered to a naval officer appointed to receive them. The artillery, arms, munitions, and public stores to be delivered up, and the sick and wounded to be supplied with the British hospital stores, and attended by the hospital surgeons. Cornwallis, in reply, asked the privilege of retaining the Bonetta sloop of war, and sufficient officers and men, to carry his dispatches to Sir Henry Clinton, pledging her safe delivery to the conqueror subsequently, if she escaped the dangers of the sea. This was granted. 3 At that very time, Colonel Laurens's father, who had been president of Congress, was confined in the Tower of London on a charge of high treason. He had been captured at sea while on his way to Holland to solicit a loan. This circumstance will be more fully noticed hereafter. Brit 4 The following is an abstract of the Articles of Capitulation: I. The garrisons at York and Gloucester to surrender themselves prisoners of war; the land troops to remain prisoners to the United States; the naval forces to the naval army of the French king. II. The artillery, munitions, stores, &c., to be delivered to proper officers appointed to receive them. III. The two redoubts captured on the sixteenth to be surrendered, one to the Americans, the other to the French troops. The garrison at York to march out at two o'clock, with shouldered arms, colors cased,* and drums beating; there to lay down their arms and return to their encampment. The works on the Gloucester side to be delivered to the Americans and French; the garrison to lay down their arms at three o'clock. IV. The officers to retain their side-arms, papers, and private property. Also, the property of Loyalists found in the garrison to be retained. V. The soldiers to be kept in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and to be subsisted by the Americans. ish, Anspach, and Hessian officers allowed to be quartered near them, and supply them with clothing and necessities. VI. The officers allowed to go on parole to Europe, or to any part of the American confederacy; proper vessels to be granted by Count De Grasse to convey them, under flags of truce, to New York, within ten days, if they choose. Passports to be granted to those who go by land. VII. Officers allowed to keep soldiers as servants, and servants, not soldiers, not to be considered prisoners. VIII. The Bonetta to be under the entire control of Cornwallis, to go to New York with dispatches, and then to be delivered to Count De Grasse.† IX. Traders not considered close prisoners of war but on parole, and allowed three * This disposition of colors is considered degrading. Lincoln was obliged to submit to it at Charleston, where the British general intended it as an insult. As Washington made the terms of surrender "those of Charleston," Cornwallis was obliged to submit. † As Washington refused to agree to any stipulations respecting the Tories in the British camp, many of them sailed in the Bonetta for New York, unwilling to brave the ire of their offended countrymen. Fac Simile of the Fourteenth Article of the Capitulation. prepared, which was submitted to the consideration of Cornwallis. Washington would not Article 145 No Wirtele of the Capitula how to be infringed on pres text of Repsival, & if there he any doubtfull Expressions are to be intere In it, they тот of the Words . Done at York this 5th day permit the delay that might ensue by leaving these open to further negotiation; he, therefore, had the rough articles fairly transcribed, and sent them to his lordship early on the morning of the nineteenth, with a letter expressing his expectation that they would be signed by eleven o'clock, and that the Virginia betober 1781 Cornwallis той Jhi : Symonds : FAC SIMILE OF THE LAST ARTICLE OF THE CAPITULATION. months to dispose of their property, or remove it. X. Loyalists not to be punished on account of having joined the British army. Considering this matter to be of a civil character, Washington would not assent to the article. XI. Proper hospitals to be furnished for the sick and wounded, they to be attended by the Delivery of the Colors. Ceremonies at the Surrender of the British Army. Conduct of Cornwallis in the Carolinas. garrison would march out by two in the afternoon. Cornwallis was obliged to submit, and at the appointed hour the garrisons at York and Gloucester, the shipping in the harbor, and all the ammunition, stores, &c., were surrendered, after a siege of thirteen days, to the land and naval forces of America and France. The ceremony, on the occasion of the surrender, was exceedingly imposing. The American army was drawn up on the right side of the road leading from Yorktown to Hampton (see map), and the French army on the left. Their lines extended more than a mile in length. Washington, upon his white charger, was at the head of the American column; and Rochambeau, upon a powerful bay horse, was at the head of the French column. A vast concourse of people, equal in number, according to eye-witnesses, to the military, was also assembled from the surrounding country to participate in the joy of the event. Universal silence prevailed as the vanquished troops slowly marched out of their intrenchments, with their colors cased and their drums beating a British tune, and passed between the columns of the combined armies.1 All were eager to look upon Cornwallis, the terror of the South, in the hour of his adversity. They were disappointed; he had given himself up to vexation and despair, and, feigning illness, he sent General O'Hara with his sword, to lead the vanquished army to the field of humiliation. Having arrived at the head of the line, General O'Hara advanced toward Washington, and, taking off his hat, apologized for the absence of Earl Cornwallis. The commander-in-chief pointed him to General Lincoln for directions. It must have been a proud moment for Lincoln, for only the year before he was obliged to make a humiliating surrender of his army to British conquerors at Charleston. Lincoln conducted the royal troops to the field selected for laying down their arms, and there General O'Hara delivered to him the sword of Cornwallis; Lincoln received it, and then politely handed it back to O'Hara, to be return ed to the earl. 2 The delivery of the colors of the several regiments, twenty-eight in number, was next performed. For this purpose, twenty-eight British captains, each bearing a flag in a case, were drawn up in line. Opposite to them, at a distance of six paces, twenty-eight American sergeants were placed in line to receive the colors. Ensign Wilson of Clinton's brigade, the youngest commissioned officer in the army (being then only eighteen years of age), was appointed by Colonel Hamilton, the officer of the day, to conduct this interesting ceremony. 3 British surgeons. XII. Wagons to be furnished, if possible, for carrying the baggage of officers attending the soldiers, and of the hospital surgeons when traveling on account of the sick. XIII. The shipping and boats in the two harbors, with all their appendages, arms, and stores, to be delivered up, unimpaired, after the private property was unloaded.* XIV. This article is given entire in the preceding fac simile, which, with the signatures, I copied from the original document, now in possession of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City. These articles were signed, on the part of the British, by Lord Cornwallis, and by Thomas Symonds, the naval commander in York River; on the part of the allied armies, by Washington, Rochambeau, Barras, and De Grasse. 1 The Abbé Robin, chaplain to the French army, wrote an interesting account of this siege and surrender. He says, "We were all surprised at the good condition of the English troops, as well as their cleanliness of dress. To account for their good appearance, Cornwallis had opened all the stores (about to be surrendered) to the soldiers before the capitulation took place. Each had on a complete new suit, but all their finery seemed to humble them the more, when contrasted with the miserable appearance of the Americans." New Travels in North America in the year 1781, and Campaigns of the Army of Count De Rochambeau. 2 The conduct of Lord Cornwallis during his march of over fifteen hundred miles through the Southern States was often disgraceful to the British name. He suffered dwelling-houses to be plundered of every thing that could be carried off; and it was well known that his lordship's table was furnished with plate thus obtained from private families. His march was more frequently that of a marauder than an honorable general. It is estimated that Virginia alone lost, during Cornwallis's attempt to reduce it, thirty thousand slaves. It was also estimated, at the time, from the best information that could be obtained, that, during the six months previous to the surrender at Yorktown, the whole devastations of his army amounted in value to about fifteen millions of dollars. 3 Robert Wilson, the honored ensign on this occasion, was a native of New York. He had been early trained in the duties and hardships of military life, by his maternal uncle, the famous Captain Gregg well * Considerable private property of the loyal citizens had been placed on board the vessels for security during the siege. This was included in the terms of the article. |