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. 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 returned to the earl.

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.' 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.

'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.

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.

Washington's expressed Approbation of Officers.

Laying down of Arms. Loss of both Armies.

Disposition of Prisoners

When Wilson gave the order for the British captains to advance two paces, to deliver up their colors, and the American sergeants to advance two paces to receive them, the former hesitated, and gave as a reason that they were unwilling to surrender their flags to noncommissioned officers. Hamilton, who was at a distance, observed this hesitation, and rode up to inquire the cause. On being informed, he willingly spared the feelings of the British captains, and ordered Ensign Wilson to receive them himself, and hand them to the American sergeants. This scene is depicted in the engraving.

When the colors were surrendered, the whole royal army laid down their arms. It was an exceedingly humiliating task for the captives, for they had been for months enjoying victories under their able commander, and had learned to look upon the rebels with profound contempt.' After grounding their arms and laying off their accoutrements, they were conducted back to their lines, and guarded by a sufficient force until they commenced their march for permanent quarters in the interior of Virginia and Maryland.'

The loss of the British on this occasion was one hundred and fifty-six killed, three hundred and twenty-six wounded, and seventy missing. The whole number surrendered by capitulation was a little more than seven thousand,' according to the most reliable authorities, making the total loss between seventy-five and seventy-eight hundred. The combined army employed in the siege consisted of about seven thousand regular American troops, more than five thousand French, and four thousand militia; a total of over sixteen thousand men. Their loss during the siege, of killed and wounded, was only about three hundred. The artillery, and military stores and provisions surrendered, were very considerable. There were seventy-five brass, and one hundred and sixty iron cannons; seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-four muskets; twenty-eight regimental standards (ten of them English, and eighteen German); a large quantity of cannon and musket-balls, bombs, carriages, &c., &c. The military chest contained nearly eleven thousand dollars in specie.*

■ Oct. 20,

On the day succeeding the surrender, a Washington, in general orders, expressed 1771. his great approbation of the conduct of both armies. Among the generals whom the commander-in-chief particularly named were Count De Rochambeau, and other distinguished French officers; and Generals Lincoln, Knox, La Fayette, Du Portail, and Steuben, of the American army. He also spoke warmly of Governor Nelson, and expressed his gratitude to him for his essential aid. Joy pervaded all hearts, and that there might be none

known in the history of the Mohawk Valley. One of his exploits I have related on page 252, volume i. Young Wilson became attached to the army at the age of twelve years. His commission as ensign (which I have seen) is dated June 9th, 1781, four months previous to the surrender at Yorktown. At the close of the war, he became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and from his certificate I made the copy printed on page 696, vol. i. He settled in Central New York when it was a wilderness; was magistrate many years; and for some time was postmaster at Manlius, in Onondago county. He died in the year 1811, leaving a widow, who still survives him, and four children, all of whom are now dead. The late James Gregg Wilson, one of the proprietors of the Brother Jonathan newspaper, was his last surviving child. The statement in the text respecting his participation in the surrender of the colors at Yorktown I received from his relatives, and have no reason to doubt its truth. It is also corroborated by an eye-witness who lived to the age of ninety-eight, and knew Wilson from his boyhood until his death.

1 Dr. Thatcher, who was present, says that he saw many of the soldiers, with sullen countenances, throw down their guns on the pile with violence, as if determined to render them unfit for further service. By order of General Lincoln, this conduct was checked, and they were made to lay them down in an orderly

manner.

2 The British prisoners were marched, some to Winchester, in Virginia, and some to Fort Frederick, and Fredericktown, in Maryland. The latter portion were guarded by militia, commanded by General Philip Van Cortlandt, and many serious quarrels between them and their custodians occurred. They were finally removed to Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, and guarded by Continental troops. Cornwallis and other British officers went by sea to New York on parole. Arrangements were finally made for the exchange of most of them.

3 An estimate made soon after the surrender, made the total loss of the British eleven thousand eight hundred. In that estimate was included two thousand sailors, one thousand eight hundred negroes, and one thousand five hundred Tories. 4 Ramsay, Gordon, Marshall, Stedman, Robin, Thacher, Botta, Sparks. 5 Brigadiers Du Portail and Knox were each promoted to the rank of major general; and Colonel Govion, and Captain Rochefontain, of the corps of engineers, were each advanced a grade, by brevet.

A Jubilee for Prisoners.

Intelligence of the Surrender at Philadelphia.

Proceedings of Congress.

Rochambeau.

excluded from a participation in the general thanksgiving, the commander-in-chief ordered that all those who were under arrest or confinement should be immediately set at liberty; and as the next day was the Sabbath, he closed his orders by directing divine service to be performed in the several brigades on the morrow.

ROCHAMBEAU.2

The surrender of Cornwallis with so large a portion of the British army in America secured the Independence of the United States. The strong arm of military oppression, moved by governmental power, was paralyzed, and the king and his ministers, from the hour when intelligence of the event reached them, abandoned all hopes of subduing the rebellion and preserving the integrity of the realm. The blow of disseverance had fallen; war could no longer subserve a useful purpose; humanity and sound policy counseled peace. Great was the exultation and joy of the Americans as the intelligence went from lip to lip throughout the confedera

tion. Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman, one of Washington's aids-de-camp, rode express to Philadelphia to carry the dispatches of the chief announcing the joyful tidings to Congress. It was midnight when he entered the city. a Thomas M'Kean was then presi- a Oct. 23, dent of the Continental Congress, and resided in High Street, near Second. Tilgh- 1781. man knocked at his door so vehemently, that a watchman was disposed to arrest him as a disturber of the peace. M Kean arose, and presently the glad tidings were made known. The watchmen throughout the city proclaimed the hour, adding "and Cornwallis is taken!" That annunciation, ringing out upon the frosty night air, aroused thousands from their beds. Lights were seen moving in almost every house; and soon the streets were thronged with men and women all eager to hear the details. It was a night of great joy in Philadelphia, for the people had anxiously awaited intelligence from Yorktown. The old State House bell rang out its notes of gladness, and the first blush of morning was greeted with the booming of cannons.

b Oct. 24.

Congress assembled at an early hour, and the grave orators of that august body could hardly repress huzzas while Secretary Thompson read the letter from Washington announcing the capitulation of Cornwallis. On motion of Edmund Randolph, Congress resolved to go in procession at two o'clock the same dayb to the Dutch Lutheran Church, "and return thanks to Almighty God for crowning the allied armies of the United States and France with success." A committee was appointed,' to whom were referred the letters of Washington, and who were instructed to report resolutions of thanks to the armies and their officers, and to recommend appropriate honors. The committee reported on the twenty-ninth, and Congress resolved that their thanks should be presented to Washington, Rochambeau, and De Grasse, and the officers and soldiers under their respective commands; that a marble column should be erected at Yorktown in commemoration of the

'Thatcher, 281.

2 JEAN BAPTISTE DONATIEN DE VIMEUR, the Count De Rochambeau, was born at Vendôme in 1725, and entered the army at the age of sixteen years. In 1746 he became aid-de-camp to Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, and was afterward appointed to the command of the regiment of La Marche. He was wounded at the battle of Lafeldt, where he distinguished himself. He fought bravely at Creveldt, Minden, Corbach, and Clostercamp. He was made lieutenant general in 1779, and in 1780 came to America with a strong force. After assisting in the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and remaining several months in America, he returned to France, and was raised to the rank of field-marshal by Louis XVI. During the French Revolution, he was appointed to the command of the army of the North. He was superseded, and suffered the persecutions of calumny, but a decree of approbation was passed in 1792. He then retired to his estate near Vendôme. Under the tyranny of Robespierre, he was arrested, and narrowly escaped death. In 1803 Bonaparte granted him a pension, and the cross of grand officer of the Legion of Honor. He died in 1807, at the age of eighty-two. His Memoirs were published in 1809.

The committee consisted of Edmund Randolph, Elias Boudinot, Joseph Varnum, and Charles Carroll. Journals of Congress, vii., 162.

Awards of Congress to Officers.

General Rejoicings.

Proceedings in Parliament.

Lord North's Agitation.

event; that two stands of colors taken from Cornwallis should be presented to Washington in the name of the United States; that two pieces of the field ordnance captured at York should be presented to each of the French commanders, Rochambeau and De Grasse; and that the Board of War should present to Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman, in the name of the United States, a horse properly caparisoned, and an elegant sword. Congress also issued a proclamation appointing the thirteenth day of December for a general thanksgiving and prayer throughout the confederacy, on account of this signal mark of Divine favor. Legislative bodies, executive councils, city corporations, and many private societies, presented congratulatory addresses to the commanding generals and their officers; and from almost every pulpit in the land arose the voice of thanksgiving and praise, accompanied

BRITISH FLAG.2

the alleluiahs of thousands of worshipers at the altar of the Lord of Hosts.

The king and his ministers were sorely perplexed when the intelligence reached them." Parliament assembled on the twenty-seventh of November; its first business was a consideration of the news of the disasters in America, which reached ministers officially on Sun

a Nov., 1781.

day, the twenty-fifth.a Violent debates ensued, and Fox even went so far as to intimate that Lord North was in the pay of the French. The minister indignantly repelled the insinuation, and justified the war on the ground of its justice, and the proper maintenance of British rights. Upon this point he was violently assailed by Burke, who exclaimed, "Good God! are we yet to be told of the rights for which we went to war! Oh, excellent rights! Oh, valuable rights! Valuable you should be, for we have paid dear at parting with you. Oh, valuable rights! that have cost Britain thirteen provinces, four islands, one hundred thousand men, and more than seventy millions [three hundred and fifty millions of dollars] of money!" The younger Pitt distinguished himself in this debate, and was a powerful aid to the opposition. On the thirtieth of November, that party proposed the bold measure (last adopted during the Revolution of 1688) of not granting supplies until the ministers should give a pledge to the people that the war in America should cease. This motion, however, was lost by a vote of nearly two to one. Several conflicting propositions were made by both parties, but without any definite result,

The marble for this column, like many other monuments ordered by the Continental Congress, is yet in the quarry. It was proposed to have it "ornamented with emblems of the alliance between the United States and his most Christian majesty, and inscribed with a succinct narrative of the surrender of Earl Cornwallis," to Washington, Rochambeau, and De Grasse.-Journals, vii., 166.

2 This is a representation of one of the flags surrendered at Yorktown, and presented to Washington. I made this sketch of the flag itself, then in the Museum at Alexandria, in Virginia. It belonged to the seventh regiment. The size of the flag is six feet long, and five feet four inches wide. The ground is blue; the central stripe of the cross red; the marginal ones white. In the center is a crown, and beneath it a garter with its inscription, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," inclosing a full-blown rose. These are neatly embroidered with silk. The fabric of the flag is heavy twilled silk.

3 Sir N. W. Wraxall, in his Historical Memoirs of his Own Times (page 246), has left an interesting record of the effect of the news of the surrender of Cornwallis upon the minds of Lord North and the king. The intelligence reached the cabinet on Sunday, the twenty-fifth of November, at noon. Wraxall asked Lord George Germain how North "took the communication ?" "As he would have taken a cannon-ball in his breast," replied Lord George; "for he opened his arms, exclaiming wildly, as he paced up and down the apartment during a few minutes, 'Oh! God, it is all over!' words which he repeated many times, under emotions of the deepest consternation and distress." Lord George Germain sent off a dispatch to the king, who was then at Kew. The king wrote a calm letter in reply, but it was remarked, as evidence of unusual emotion, that he had omitted to mark the hour and minute of his writing, which he was always accustomed to do with scrupulous precision. Yet the handwriting evinced composure of mind.

4 He referred to disasters in the West Indies, and the loss of Minorca in the Mediterranean.