[Footnote 2: Read by the Secretary of State before the people assembled
to celebrate the Yorktown Centennial.]
YORKTOWN, VA., _October 19, 1881_.
In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily
subsisting between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust and
confidence of peace and good will between the two countries for all the
centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound respect
entertained by the American people for the illustrious sovereign and
gracious lady who sits upon the British throne
_It is hereby ordered_, That at the close of the ceremonies
commemorative of the valor and success of our forefathers in their
patriotic struggle for independence the British flag shall be saluted by
the forces of the Army and Navy of the United States now at Yorktown.
The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy will give orders
accordingly.