“ The captive troops are to march out with shouldered arms, colors cased, and drums beating a British or German march, and to ground their arms at a place assigned for the purpose. The officers are allowed their side arms and private property, and the generals and such officers as desire it, are to go on parole to England or New York. The marines and seamen of the king’s ships are prisoners of war to the navy of France, and the land forces to the United States. All military and artillery stores to be delivered up unimpaired. ”

“ The siege of Yorktown now settled into deadly earnest, with a heavy and continuous bombardment of the British position. Additional batteries took up the chorus on the following morning. Surgeon Thacher, of the American Army, in the intervals of caring for the wounded, watched the terrible spectacle.
From the 10th to the 15th, a tremendous and incessant firing from the American and French batteries is kept up, and the enemy return the fire, but with little effect. ”

“ While the events commemorated in other national parks are well worth the expense to the Government in commemorating them, and they all recall to the minds of the citizens important events in our history, as well as the heroism and devotion of our soldiers, they are at best only events, although important ones, in our history, while Yorktown marks the consummation of our national independence. ”

“ They are clearly visible in the form of a black ball in the day, but in the night, they appear like fiery meteors with blazing tails, most beautifully brilliant, ascending majestically from the mortar to a certain altitude, and gradually descending to the spot where they are destined to execute their work of destruction. ”

“ Cornwallis moved his whole army to Yorktown, on the York River, in August and began leisurely fortifying that position and Gloucester Point opposite. Meanwhile the French West Indies fleet, under Comte de Grasse, evaded its British opponent and moved north to cooperate with the French and American land forces under Washington and Rochambeau. De Grasse sailed for the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to blockade Cornwallis by sea, while the [2] allied armies prepared to leave the Hudson River, where they had been threatening Clinton, and close in by land. ”

“ In the evening, Earl Cornwallis sent Lord Chewton to Gloucester, with explicit directions for Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton to prepare some artillery and other requisites from his garrison to accompany the British troops with which his lordship designed to attack Brigadier de Choisy before daybreak, and afterwards retreat through the country. The guards of cavalry and infantry at Tarleton’s post were immediately augmented, and many officers were advanced as sentries, to prevent any intelligence being conveyed to the enemy. ”

“ The news of Yorktown brought the defeat of Lord North’s war ministry in England. Negotiations ending in a treaty of peace, with recognition of the independence of the United States, soon followed. The succeeding century brought out in stronger relief the significance of this decisive victory in the struggle for American self-government. ”

“ At this period, the sea officers imagined that the British fleet from the West Indies would be discovered off the capes by the frigate, and the land officers expected that a considerable body of troops would soon arrive from New York to strengthen the King’s forces for solid operations in Virginia, and likewise to garrison the works which were constructing for the advantage and protection of both army and navy. ”

“ A number of sailors and soldiers were dispatched with boats from Gloucester, to assist the troops in passing the river. Earl Cornwallis sent off the first embarkation before eleven o’clock that night, consisting of the light infantry, great part of the brigade of guards, and the 23d regiment, and purposed himself to pass with the second, when he had finished a letter to General Washington, calculated to excite the humanity of that officer towards the sick, the wounded, and the detachment that would be left to capitulate. Much of the small craft had been damaged during the siege ”

“ With the approach of the 150th anniversary of the Yorktown victory, there was renewed realization of the meaning of the event and of the debt which the people of the United States owed to the men who, by that victory, made the Declaration of Independence a living thing. ”

“ Intelligence soon after reached York town, that Count de Grasse had repulsed the British fleet, and was returning to the bay. Before this period accounts were brought to Earl Cornwallis that General Washington, with a large body of continentals, and Count Rochambeau, with the French army, were preparing to form a junction with LaFayette, by descending in transports from the head of Elk river in Maryland, under the convoy of the French ships. ”

“ The reconnoissance completed, the artillery disembarked, and the necessary supplies arranged, the establishment of the first parallel was begun.
The strength and reputation of the Garrison were the reason for the decision to establish it at the usual distance, and to fortify it by redoubts against sorties. The advanced works on the enemy’s left made it necessary even to increase the distance of the right of the attacks from the body of the place. The lay of the ground determined its outline; the right resting on the steep bank of the river, on the left of the great ravine. ”

“ It is astonishing with what accuracy an experienced gunner will make his calculations, that a shell shall fall within a few feet of a given point, and burst at the precise time, though at a great distance. ”

“ Sept. 15th.—An officer arrived from Count de Grasse’s fleet, with certain account of the arrival of his and Count de Barras’ fleet, from Rhode Island, with the French troops on board, and heavy artillery and large mortars, also of the capture of the famous Iris frigate, and the Richmond frigate, which with the Romulus of 44 guns, are sent to Baltimore, and head of Elk, to bring down all our troops and apparatus for a siege; the storm seems to thicken fast about Lord Cornwallis, whose people desert fast, which is a certain symptom of despondency in all armies. ”

“ About twelve or fourteen men have been killed or wounded within twenty-four hours; I attended at the hospital, amputated a man’s arm, and assisted in dressing a number of wounds.
James Thacher,
A Military Journal during the American Revolutionary War.
8. Storming the Redoubts
Under cover of the fire of their heavy guns, the allies moved forward on the night of October 11 to a second parallel, halfway to the main British line. At the right, nearest the river, the completion of this entrenchment was delayed by the fire of two advanced redoubts held by the British. ”

“ We have now made further approaches to the town, by throwing up a second parallel line, and batteries within about three hundred yards; this was effected in the night, and at daylight the enemy were roused to the greatest exertions, the engines of war have raged with redoubled fury and destruction on both sides, no cessation day or night. The French had two officers wounded, and fifteen men killed or wounded, and among the Americans, two or three were wounded. I assisted in amputating a man’s thigh. ”

“ It depicts the British army marching out of Yorktown between the French and American troops to surrender its arms and flags.
[1]
1. Cornwallis Goes to Yorktown
In the spring of 1781, the seventh year of the struggle for American independence, Lord Cornwallis, commanding a British Army, marched from North Carolina into Virginia, in an attempt to conquer the State and restore it to allegiance to Great Britain. The Marquis de Lafayette, sent to Virginia with a small American force, was unable to meet him in open battle but did his best to hamper the movements of the British. ”

“ The redoubt was commanded by Major Campbell, with a detachment of British and German troops, and was completely in a state of defence.
The rapidity and immediate success of the assault, are the best comment on the behaviour of the troops. Lieutenant-colonel Laurens distinguished himself by an exact and vigourous execution of his part of the plan, by entering the enemy’s work with his corps among the foremost, and making prisoner of the commanding officer of the redoubt. ”

“ The sketch of which this is a reproduction was made about 1843 by Henry Howe, for his Historical Collections of Virginia. It is a rear view of the house. The room in which the allied and British commissioners met to discuss the terms of surrender is at the lower left. In the sketch the window of this “Surrender Room” is half hidden by the chimney.
13. The Surrender
The terms settled, the victorious allies prepared to receive the surrender of the British Army, while Cornwallis’s men made ready for the humiliating ordeal with which they were faced. ”

“ Cornwallis now “sent out a flag, proposing a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, ... and that commissioners might be appointed to meet at Mr. Moore’s house, to settle the terms upon which the garrisons of York and Gloucester should surrender. General Washington would only grant a cessation for two hours; previously to the expiration of which, his lordship, by another flag, sent the following terms, viz: The troops to be prisoners of war; the British to be sent to Great Britain, and not to act against America, France, or their allies, until exchanged ”

“ At 4, P. M., the guns fired a royal salute as the General approached the camp, on which the two armies turned out on their battalion parades;—his Excellency and the Count De Rochambeau, with their suites, attended by the Marquis de Lafayette, Maj. Gen. and commander of the American, and Maj. Gen. Marquis de St. Simon, commander of the allied army (lately arrived) , and all their suites, visited the allied army first, and then the American army, and were saluted according to custom; these ceremonies finished, the whole of the officers of the French army attended at the Marquis de St. ”

“ All the commanding officers of regiments were afterwards acquainted with the intended project, that their corps might be completely assembled and equipped. The spare horses of the garrison were ordered to parade for the benefit of the infantry, and the necessary artillery and waggons were prepared. ”