THE ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE VINDICATED.—WASHINGTON’S MAGNANIMITY.—HIS
BENEDICTION.
The story of the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Earl Cornwallis,
Lieutenant-General in command, has been so fully detailed by many
writers that only a few features of the general conduct of that
campaign, and some special incidents not so frequently noticed, are
within the province of this narrative.
While the control of Chesapeake Bay and of Virginia was essential to
British success, Sir Henry Clinton deliberately proposed to couple with
that general design another invasion of Pennsylvania, but from the
south. When Cornwallis moved northward from his useless position at
Wilmington, he was advised by General Clinton to make a movement upon
Philadelphia. General Clinton must have very feebly remembered the
circumstances of his hasty departure from that city in 1778, or have
overlooked Washington’s strategic control of that entire region. The
movement of Lafayette southward, and the energy with which that officer
rallied Virginians to his support, were not appreciated by either of the
British Generals in time to be of benefit to either.
Clinton and Cornwallis alike failed to comprehend that when the American
Commander-in-Chief parted with Lafayette, and afterwards gave him so
large a command, he must have had in view some special service which
that officer could perform with credit as a significant factor in the
entire campaign. Cornwallis knew, however, that unless he could destroy
Lafayette’s army, the British cause in Virginia would certainly be lost.
But the same profound strategy which had inclosed Clinton at New York,
isolated Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Washington was well aware, that neither Louis XVI. nor Rochambeau wholly
favored an attack upon New York. Their objections were substantial. Such
a movement involved the presence of enormous naval forces, which once
within the harbor, might be easily captured or destroyed, whenever Great
Britain could seriously concentrate ships for that purpose. Neither
could a French fleet secure supplies of any kind, so long as Clinton
controlled the city. It was the natural naval depot of Great Britain for
the American coast, and convenient for her West India dependencies.
France, ever willing to aid America, must, however, always have her
naval base in the West Indies, which wholly depended upon her naval
supremacy for immunity from British aggression. Notwithstanding these
considerations, the harmony of the French and American alliance was
never interrupted, and mutual confidence was invariably enjoyed.
It is never to be overlooked that Washington cared more for his position
in New Jersey than for the possession of New York. Its occupation
without a controlling fleet, would be as fatal as the presence of a
fleet without control of the city.
On the day after his arrival at Lafayette’s headquarters, he requested
the Count de Grasse to hasten the transportation of the American troops
from Baltimore; and yet, added a postscript that “Lafayette already
anticipated” his request. On the seventeenth, he embarked with Count
Rochambeau, General Knox and General Du Portail upon the frigate _Queen
Charlotte_; and on the eighteenth, visited the Count de Grasse upon his
flag-ship, the _Ville de Paris_. The distinguished visitors were
received with appropriate honors, and at once took under consideration
the plan for the most speedy prosecution of the siege.
During that interview, Washington was advised of an immediately
preceding event which must interest the modern reader, at a time when
all maritime nations are interested in naval development and ships of
great power. Just before his visit, there had been concentrated, about
the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, one of the heaviest armaments known to
maritime warfare. Fifty-two ships-of-the-line—each with three, or even
four gun-decks, and ranging from sixty-four to one hundred and twenty
guns, besides frigates—constituted that imposing battle array. It has
already been noticed that Admiral Barras sailed from Newport in convoy
of transports which carried heavy guns for siege use before Yorktown.
When Lafayette first moved southward, Washington supplied his detachment
with twelve heavy guns, including two eight-inch mortars, one
twenty-four and two eighteen-pounder guns, for use in arming small
vessels, or assailing Arnold’s defences. These were difficult of
transportation, but no less indispensable as a contingent part of his
outfit. The wisdom of these provisions had a twofold fruition. A British
fleet had been detached from the West India station for the purpose of
supplementing the New York and Newport squadrons. Admiral Hood, in
command, crossed the mouth of Chesapeake Bay just before the arrival of
the Count de Grasse; looked into Delaware Bay, and reported to Admiral
Graves at Sandy Hook on the twenty-fourth day of August. That officer
had but five ships-of-the-line ready for sea. Upon receiving advices
from Gardiner’s Bay that Admiral de Barras had actually sailed southward
from Newport, he incurred no delay, but on the thirty-first of August
sailed, with nineteen ships, in pursuit of the French. On the fifth of
September, he passed within the Delaware Capes without having
encountered Admiral Barras at sea, and without the slightest intimation
that he was soon to be in the presence of a superior naval adversary.
The Count de Grasse, when notified of the appearance of so many large
ships, supposed at first that the fleet of Admiral Barras, already due,
was at hand. Seventeen hundred of his seamen were on the James River,
planting heavy batteries; but so soon as the British flag revealed the
hostile character of the ships, he moved his first division at once,
seaward and southward, ordering the second division to follow
immediately. By this prompt and judicious manœuvre he not only left the
northern channel open for the admission of De Barras from the north, but
secured the weather-gauge of the British fleet; and this he maintained
with equal skill and intrepidity. These great fleets manœuvered for five
days without a general action, but with several sharp encounters in
which several vessels suffered severely. The French casualties were two
hundred and twenty, and the British three hundred and thirty-six.
[Illustration: Operations in Chesapeake Bay.]
During this exchange of hostilities, Admiral Barras safely entered the
bay with seven ships-of-the-line and fourteen large transports, bringing
heavy guns for the siege. (See map.) The Count de Grasse slowly retired,
followed by Admiral Graves; but when the latter realized that Admiral de
Barras had indeed arrived, and that his own fleet was now greatly
inferior in force to that of his adversary, he returned promptly to New
York. The Count de Grasse at the same time knew that Admiral Digby had
arrived at New York from the West Indies with three line-of-battle ships
(reported as six). All these particulars of the previous week’s
operations were communicated to General Washington and his party, on the
_Ville de Paris_. These officers at once started for their respective
camps. Owing to severe and contrary winds, Washington did not reach
Williamsburg until the twenty-second. All at once, a very grave
question, and one which threatened to defeat his carefully matured
plans, confronted the American Commander-in-Chief. The Count de Grasse
outlined his purpose as follows: “To detach two ships for the mouth of
James River; to leave four frigates and several corvettes, in the James;
then, to sail for New York, and either intercept or fight the British
fleet, before it could receive further reënforcements from England or
the West Indies; then, to return and act in concert, each on his own
side.”
Against this departure from the concerted plans of Washington and
Rochambeau, Lafayette protested in vigorous terms. His influence at that
time with the French Court was paramount as to American affairs, and
Queen Marie Antoinette was even a greater enthusiast in behalf of
American liberty than Louis XVI. The instructions of the King to
Rochambeau, already cited, which made Rochambeau subordinate to
Washington in the use of French auxiliary forces, were produced; and the
Count de Grasse gracefully withdrew his suggestion and accepted the
judgment of the generals in command of the land forces, as his rule of
action respecting his fleet.
On the twenty-fifth, the remaining troops en route from the north
reached Williamsburg, making a total of twelve thousand regular troops,
besides more than four thousand militia. On the twenty-eighth, the
entire army advanced and took position within two miles of the British
works. On the twenty-ninth, after a thorough reconnoissance, the
movement began for the complete investment of Yorktown, and all its
approaches. From the opening of the first parallel of approach until
October seventeenth, the activity of the allied forces, the spirited and
generous emulation of Frenchmen and Americans in repulsing sorties, in
storming redoubts, in bombardment, or silencing the enemy’s guns, was
incessant by night and day.
[Illustration: Siege of Yorktown.]
A careful inspection of the map will disclose the relations of the
allied forces, and the completeness of the investment. Washington opened
the fire in person. The rivalry of the American and French troops became
intense. Generals Lincoln, Wayne, Knox, Du Portail, Steuben, Nelson,
Weedon, Clinton, St. Clair, Lawson, and Muhlenburg, with Colonels
Hamilton, Stevens, Lamb, Carrington, Scammel, and Laurens, were among
the American leaders. Generals de Boville, de Vioménil, Chastellux, de
Choisy, de Lauzun, de St. Simon, and Colonels de Dumas, de Deux Pont,
and Gimât, were as active, on the part of the French.
The line of redoubts and batteries marked F (French) had been completed,
and it was deemed necessary to storm two British redoubts and take them
into the parallel. Famous soldiers and corps took part in simultaneous
assault, upon rocket signals, at night. Lafayette, with Gimât, Hamilton,
Laurens, and Barber, was assigned to the redoubt nearest the river. The
Baron de Vioménil with the Count Deux Pont, supported by the grenadiers
of Gatinais, attacked the other. This regiment had been formed out of
that of Auvergne, once commanded by Rochambeau, and long known as the
_Regiment d’Auvergne, sans tache_. When drawn up in line, Rochambeau
promised that if they did well, he would ask the King to restore their
old name; and this was afterwards done by Louis XVI.
Before the signal of attack was given, some light words passed between
the Baron de Vioménil and Lafayette as to the superiority of the French
Grenadiers for these attacks. Lafayette’s column succeeded first, and he
promptly despatched Major Barber to the Baron, with a tender of
assistance. Hamilton and Laurens were conspicuous for gallantry, moving
over the abatis with unloaded muskets; and the French officers were
equally complimented for daring and disregard of British resistance.
Clinton, at his New York headquarters, was in the fullest possible
possession of the record of events then occurring in and about Yorktown.
Space cannot be given, even to a glance over his shoulder, as he reads,
day by day, repeated messages and short postscripts from Cornwallis
indicating the grave peril of his position, and the conviction that
protracted resistance is not to be looked for. An attempt by Cornwallis,
to cross the river and gain New York by land, was a failure. On the
sixteenth, when he ordered these detachments to return, he closed his
correspondence with Clinton in this sad and desperate paragraph: “Our
works are going to ruin. The boats are now being returned. We cannot
fire a single gun. Only one eight-inch, and a little more than a hundred
cohorn shells remain. I therefore propose to capitulate.”
The seventeenth day of October, 1781, dawned, and at 10 o’clock A.M. two
concurrent events occurred,—one at New York, and its contrary, in
Virginia. Sir Henry Clinton, accompanied by a command of seven thousand
choice troops, under convoy of the magnificent squadron of twenty-five
battleships, two fifty-gun ships, and eight frigates, sailed past Staten
Island, for the rescue of the worn-out garrison of Yorktown. He had
previously sailed past Sandy Hook, and the reader will appreciate the
involuntary contrast with a similar departure southward, in the year
1776.
At the same hour, ten o’clock, A.M., a flag of truce bore to the
headquarters of the American Commander-in-Chief, the following note:
YORK, 17th October, 1781.
EARL CORNWALLIS _To General Washington_:
SIR: I propose a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, and
that two officers be appointed by each side, to meet at Moore’s house,
to settle terms for the surrender of the posts of York and Gloucester.
I have the honor to be, etc.,
CORNWALLIS.
The following reply partakes of the dignity, wisdom, and appreciation of
existing conditions which have characterized all letters of Washington
previously cited. It reads as follows:
MY LORD: I have the honor to receive your Lordship’s letter of this
date.
An ardent desire to spare the further effusion of blood will readily
incline me to such terms for the surrender of your posts of York and
Gloucester as are admissible.
I wish, previously to the meeting of the Commissioners, that your
lordship’s proposals, in writing, may be sent to the American lines;
for which purpose, a suspension of hostilities during two hours from
the delivery of this letter will be granted.
I have the honor to be, etc.,
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
At half-past four in the afternoon, the proposals of Cornwallis were
received; but they were so general in their nature, that the Viscount de
Noailles and Colonel Laurens, on the part of the allied armies, and
Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, of the British army, were charged with
preparing other terms of capitulation, for official signature. These
were completed on the eighteenth. On the nineteenth they were signed at
Yorktown, by Cornwallis and Thomas Symonds of the Royal Navy, who led
the attack upon Fort Sullivan (Moultrie) in 1776; and, “In the trenches,
before Yorktown, in Virginia,” by George Washington and Le Compte de
Rochambeau, and by Le Compte de Barras for himself and Le Compte de
Grasse.
At twelve o’clock, noon, the two redoubts on the left flank of Yorktown
were delivered, one to American infantry, and the other to French
Grenadiers. At one o’clock, two works on the Gloucester side of the
river were respectively delivered to French and American troops. At two
o’clock, P.M., the garrison of York marched to the appointed place of
surrender in front of the post, with shouldered arms, colors cased, and
drums beating a British march; grounded their arms, and returned to
their encampments to await a temporary location in the States of
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. At three o’clock, P.M., the
Gloucester garrison also marched forth—the cavalry with drawn swords and
trumpets sounding, and the infantry as prescribed for the garrison of
York.
The terms of surrender were the same as those observed when General
Lincoln surrendered Charleston to Cornwallis, in 1780; and when General
O’Hara, on account of the illness of General Cornwallis, tendered the
sword of that officer to General Washington, as the pledge of surrender,
he was graciously referred to General Lincoln as its recipient, and that
officer as graciously returned it. The land forces became prisoners to
the United States, and the marine forces to the naval army of France.
(See Appendix F.)
On the twentieth, Washington issued an order of congratulation to the
allied army, in the following words:
“Divine service is to be performed to-morrow in the several brigades and
divisions. The Commander-in-Chief earnestly recommends that the troops
not on duty should universally attend, with that seriousness of
deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such
reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.”
The American army which paraded on that Thanksgiving Day was not the
same army that began the war. The one central figure, Washington, the
Commander-in-Chief, is present. Some, crowned with well-deserved honors,
are serving in the Halls of Congress. Some, worn out in service, have
retired from active duty. All who had inordinate ambition, and cared
more for self than country, have dropped from the Army Roster.
After the surrender of Cornwallis, American and French officers vied in
extending courtesies to the British officers, as Lafayette describes
their visits, “with every sort of politeness, especially toward Lord
Cornwallis, one of the men of the highest character in England, who was
considered to be their foremost general.” In a parting interview,
Cornwallis replied to Lafayette: “I am aware of your humanity toward
prisoners of war, and I commend to you my unfortunate army.” Lafayette,
calling attention to the earlier surrender of Burgoyne’s army, answered:
“Your lordship knows that the Americans have always been humane towards
captured armies.” In recalling the incident in his “Mémoires
Historiques,” Lafayette says: “In truth, the English army was treated
with every possible consideration.”
Washington designated Lafayette as commander of an expedition to
Wilmington and Charleston, with the brigades of Wayne and Gist. In his
journal he says: “It was to be entrusted to the Marq’s de la Fayette, in
case he could engage the Admiral to convey it & secure the debarkation.
I left him on board the _Ville de Paris_, to try the force of his
influence to obtain these.” Although fixed for November 1st, it was
dropped, and the French feet sailed for the West Indies.
Lafayette obtained leave of absence, and sailed from Boston on the
frigate _Alliance_, December 23rd, having affectionately parted with
Washington; and after a passage of twenty-three days, landed at
L’Orient, where he was cordially welcomed home by his family and the
entire French people.
Washington’s faithful friend, Rochambeau, remained with him, under his
command, when the troops of the Marquis de St. Simon and the fleet of
the Count de Grasse sailed for the West Indies. Rochambeau wintered at
Williamsburg; in the summer of 1782, returned through Philadelphia, to
the Hudson; thence to New England in the autumn, and sailed for the West
Indies during December, 1782. The American Congress did not fail to
appreciate the services of this distinguished French officer. A “stand
of colors” (ever since appreciated by his family), and a piece of
ordnance, were gifts; and it was decreed that a marble monument should
be erected at Yorktown, “to commemorate the alliance between France and
the United States, and the victory achieved by their associated arms.”
Even before the departure of Rochambeau from America, the crowning event
of the fraternal alliance between France and the United States had been
realized, and Independence was no longer a matter of doubt. On the
seventh day of May, 1782, Sir Henry Clinton was relieved of all further
responsibility in command of New York, by Sir Guy Carleton; who assumed
command, and immediately announced to the American Commander-in-Chief
that he had been appointed as a Commissioner to consider the terms of a
permanent peace between Great Britain and the United States of America.
If the reader will recall the antecedents of this officer and the spirit
with which he paroled the American troops, after the disastrous assault
upon Quebec in the winter of 1775, he will appreciate the fitness of his
taking part in the final negotiations for fraternity and peace.
The negotiations between these officers brought into striking relief
certain qualities of Washington as a soldier which have had too slight
recognition. The terms “tory” and “royalist” have been used in this
narrative as they were specially in vogue at the different times and
places where they occur. It has been too often assumed by youth who
study Revolutionary history, that Hessian soldiers were always brutal,
that Tarleton and Simcoe, and especially the Queen’s Rangers, were
irresponsible marauders, and that the tories generally were cruel, and
deserving no quarter.
As a fact, the Revolutionary War had, at its start, many of those
painful antagonisms among neighborhoods and families which always attach
to civil conflicts under the best possible conditions. Among the
thousands who adhered to the British cause, and especially among the
royalist “Provincial Corps,” there were eminent divines, physicians,
lawyers, and scholars. All they had in the world was involved in the
struggle. Many of these sympathized with the best British statesmen, and
longed for some adjustment of differences which would not require
abandonment of their homes in America. By a grave oversight on the part
of Great Britain, no adequate provision was made by her ministry for
this class of Americans who had fought to the last for the Crown. The
action of Washington in coöperation with Sir Guy Carleton, respecting
these men, disbanded as soldiers, but cast upon the world with no
provision for their relief, was so marked by generosity, active aid, and
wise relief, that until this day their descendants in Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick pay glad tribute to his memory. Through the joint efforts
of these two officers, five thousand were sent to St. John, New
Brunswick. The seventeenth day of May, 1783, when the first large
detachment of the Queen’s Rangers landed, is honored as the Natal Day of
that Province. Simcoe, their old commander, became the first Governor of
Upper Canada. In 1792, he organized a miniature Parliament of two
Houses. He founded the City of Toronto; and in 1796, governed the Island
of San Domingo.
Professor Roberts, in his “History of Canada,” already cited, represents
the migration of thirty thousand Americans to that country immediately
after the Revolutionary War, as “no less far-reaching and significant in
its results than the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.”
There have been those who regarded as the most noble and unselfish act
of Washington’s public career, his patriotic protest against the demands
of his unpaid, starving, and self-sacrificing comrades, that he accept
royal dignity or else become the Oliver Cromwell of his generation. But
the consideration, firmness, and justice with which he dismissed these
mustered-out, disbanded royalists, and, in spite of abuse and outcry,
assisted them to independence in a land of their own choice, adds
another laurel to his chaplet as the magnanimous, no less than the
great, soldier. The subsequent triumphal entry of Washington into the
City of New York, on the twenty-fifth day of November, 1783, was the
crowning military incident of the war.
The numerous Centennial observances in honor of events of the
Revolution, since the second century of American Independence began,
have helped to bring to light many family and other historical data
which otherwise would have been lost; and all of these relating to the
American Commander-in-Chief have only confirmed the world’s estimate of
Washington the Soldier.
Words, at best, are feeble exponents of principles which actions so much
better reveal; and battles on paper, however minutely described, can
never expose the brain processes through which military orders are
matured; nor can the pen portray the experiences of the “rank and file”
of a suffering army, during such an ordeal of war as that in which
George Washington was both the centra executive force and the
sympathetic guardian of the rights of all, of whatever grade of service
or duty. Stupidity, jealousy, self-sufficiency, personal ambition, and
treason, could not survive their impact upon Washington. His mastery of
every antagonistic force, whether professedly military or distinctly
political, was due to that unsought but real supremacy which incarnated
unselfish patriotism, and made American Independence the sole objective
of a righteous judgment and an irresistible will.
On the eighth anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1783,
the American Commander-in-Chief proclaimed a formal “Cessation of
hostilities between the United States and Great Britain,” as the result
of negotiations concluded with Sir Guy Carleton on the previous day.
This Proclamation, like the Letter of Louis XVI., received at Valley
Forge on the seventh day of May, 1778, was ordered to be read at the
head of every regiment and corps of the army; after which, as the order
reads:
“The chaplains with the several brigades will render thanks to Almighty
God for all His mercies; particularly, for overruling the wrath of man
to His own glory, and causing the rage of War to cease among the
nations.
“On such a happy day, which is the harbinger of peace—a day which
completes the eighth year of the war, it would be ingratitude not to
rejoice; it would be insensibility not to participate in the general
felicity.
“Happy, happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced, hereafter, who
have contributed anything, who have performed the meanest office, in
erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom and empire on the broad basis
of independency; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human
nature, and in establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all
nations and religions.”