Charles Cornwallis

“ Charles first Marquis Cornwallis (1738-1805) . In early life Cornwallis was both a soldier and a politician. Though one of the few men opposed to the taxation of the American Colonists, he felt bound as a soldier to serve against them and was undoubtedly the most able of the English generals. In 1786, at the urgent request of Pitt, he became Governor General of India and did not return to England till 1793. In 1798 Cornwallis again entered the public service as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and occupied that position at the time of the Union. ”

“ In this interval, Cornwallis arrived with the troops under his command, thus adding to the strength of the enemy, and greatly increasing their confidence and courage.
Indeed, Cornwallis was not slow in deciding to hazard an engagement, although he knew that the contest would still be unequal. Gates had superior numbers. But a retreat would be to abandon all that he had gained in South Carolina and Georgia; and in effect would be the ruin of the royal cause. ”

“ Verses in Sylvester's ‘Lacrymæ Lacrymarum’ on the death of the Prince of Wales, and lines on the monument of Lucy, lady Latimer, in Hackney Church; this lady was the wife of Sir William Cornwallis (died 1611) , uncle of the essayist, who is therefore generally described as the younger. In the 1632 edition of the ‘Essays,’ published after the author's death, there is a print of two men sitting and writing, supposed to represent Sir Charles and Sir William Cornwallis, his son. ”

“ Young Cornwallis was a person of great distinction; at two he had become an individual with one paramount object in life—not to be treated longer as a baby. It is difficult at two years of age to overawe one's superiors. ”

“ The privy council placed Cornwallis under arrest in June 1614, and he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a year. Cornwallis, who was at one time living at Beeston, Suffolk, retired late in life to Harborne, Staffordshire, where he died on 21 Dec. 1629. He was buried in London at St. Giles's-in-the-Fields.
Cornwallis married thrice: (1) Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Farnham of Fincham, Norfolk; (2) Anne or Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Barrow, widow of Ralph Skelton (d. 30 March 1617) ”

“ On his return from France, Cornwallis retired to Culford, where he lived a peaceful life for three years until a demand was suddenly made upon him to go to India again as governor-general and commander-in-chief, he felt that it was a desperate thing for a man of sixty-six to undertake such a task, but his sense of duty forbade him to refuse, and he left England in March 1805. ”

“ On leaving Cambridge, where he apparently took no degree, Cornwallis obtained a commission in the guards, and some years later succeeded his brother Frederick in the command of the independent company in Jersey. In 1709 the system of parliamentary lotteries was introduced, and Cornwallis is credited with having been the original projector. ”

“ The action affords a remarkable proof of the moral superiority which the victory of the 1st of June, and the known efficiency of the crews, had given to the British navy. The reputation of Cornwallis was immensely raised, and the praise given him was no doubt the greater because he was personally very popular with officers and men. ”

“ But in 1805 the troubles in India seemed to call for his skilful management, and he was again sent out as governor-general, but lived only a few months after his arrival. Among English public men there have been none more high-minded, disinterested, faithful, and pure, than Lord Cornwallis. ”

“ He would cross the York River in flatboats, land at Gloucester, and march up the country through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Any one who knew the actual state of that region understood that Cornwallis's plan was crazy; but it is to be judged as the last gallantry of a brave man. During the night he put forth on his flatboats, which were driven out of their course and much dispersed by untoward winds. They had to return to Yorktown by morning, and at ten o'clock Cornwallis ordered that a parley should be beaten. ”

“ As they sat thus talking, Cornwallis passed the house. He appeared tall and sat very erect, wearing his scarlet uniform, richly trimmed with gold lace and heavy epaulets. Most of the officers, our narrator says, "were rather short, portly men, well dressed and of genteel appearance, and did not look as if they had ever been exposed to any hardship, their skins being as white and delicate as is customary for females brought up in large cities or towns." ”

“ It disclaims all idea of hostility; and a friendly correspondence had passed between them since; so that this storm is blown over, at least for the present; and in the meanwhile we are acquiring more strength every day. It is impossible to speak in terms of sufficient admiration of Lord Cornwallis's conduct. ”

“ This independence lost him his seat at the board of trade, but his influence remained so great, that he was one of the ten chief persons in Ireland to whom Cornwall is broached the first idea of a legislative union with England in 1798. Cornwallis, in his despatch of 27 Nov. 1798, writes that he had consulted seven leading peers, the attorney- and solicitor-general, and Conolly on the subject, and says that 'Mr. Conolly had always been a decided friend to an union, and was ready to give it his best assistance' (Cornwallis Correspondence ii. 450) . ”

“ One of the charms of Cornwall is that it gives one the sense of being such an old country, as if things had gone exactly as they do now, not merely since the days of King Arthur, but for ever so long before then. The Romans, the Phœnicians, nay, the heroes of pre-historic ages, such as Jack the Giantkiller and the giant Cormoran, seemed to be not impossible myths, as we gradually quitted civilisation in the shape of a village or two, and a few isolated farm-houses, and came out upon the wild district known as Goonhilly Down. ”

“ The prebendaries or some of them remained till the general dissolution, when the prebends were given or sold, and have passed through the Williams’s, by purchase to the Hawkins family, with some fairs. One fair, however, is the grant of King Charles the Second. Few gentlemen’s houses in the west of Cornwall were without the honour of receiving Prince Charles during his residence in Cornwall, about the middle part of the civil wars; and he is said to have remained for a time longer than usual with Mr. Williams, who, after the Restoration, waited on the King with congratulations from the parish ”

“ The manors of Millaton and Carnadon Prior belong to the Duchy of Cornwall; the latter had belonged to the Priory of Launceston, and is one of the manors given in exchange by King Henry the Eighth for the honour of Wallingford.
On the waste of this manor stands the lofty hill usually called Carraton Downs, supposed, with the exception of Brown Willy (which is elevated 1368 feet above the sea) to be the highest land in Cornwall. Here King Charles the First drew up his forces on the 2d of August, 1644, and was joined by Prince Maurice. ”

“ His chief dwelling and place of residence was at Jutsworth, near Saltash and Trematon, where he married and had issue one only daughter named Agnes, as some say, others Beatrix, who was married to Reginald Fitz-Harry, base son of King Henry I., by his concubine Anne Corbett, in whose right he was made Earl of Cornwall, after William Earl of Cornwall aforesaid had forfeited the same, by attainder of treason against the Conqueror and his sons, and was deprived thereof. ”

“ That evening, a wonder far greater than the coming of any mere baby took place in Cornwallis's existence—he went to Grandpapa's to sleep! He had never slept outside of his papa's house before—except at the cottage by the sea which Papa bought some summers—and so he was all excitement when Nellie told him. They had asked Nellie to come, too; Grandmamma was going to let them have the room next to the billiard-room. It was most pleasantly important to pack up, and bundle the velocipede into the tonneau of the Fearless Kerosene, and Nellie liked it, too. ”

“ Cornwallis sobbed. “I was what she wanted—I'm her baby; I always was what she wanted. I used to run away from her because she wanted me so tight always. I've thought how I used to run away every one of these days. That's why I let Elaine pull my hair. She's never had Mamma hug her—she's only just had Mrs. Tray—and I let her pull as hard as she could because I was always thinking how was she going to—to live—without any mamma{bar|2}}””
“Cornwallis, stop,” said his father, very gently but very firmly; “grown-up people make mistakes often, but we are trying to do right just as much as you are. ”

“ Raging like a wounded tiger, Cornwallis destroys all his heavy baggage, and pushes hard after Morgan. The pursuit is urged with unimaginable fury: and Cornwallis gains so fast upon the Americans, encumbered with their prisoners, that on the evening of the ninth day he came up to the banks of the Catawba, just as Morgan's rear had crossed at a deep ford. Before the wished-for morning returned, the river was so swollen by a heavy rain, that Cornwallis could not pass. Adoring the hand of Heaven, the Americans continued their flight. ”

“ With an army much smaller than Cornwallis' he divided it into thirds, plus compelling Cornwallis to divide his own army. Greene knew that Cornwallis, victorious as he might have been, was detached from Charleston and had to live off the land. He would fight a war of attrition and wear Cornwallis down. His strategy worked, although not without fateful moments. He had great faith in his command officers and gave them considerable leeway. They rewarded him with two stunning victories—King's Mountain, North Carolina in October 1780 and Cowpens, South Carolina in January 1781. ”

“ Cornwallis looked with such contempt upon the weak and scattered forces of Washington, and was so certain of an easy victory beyond the Delaware, where, rumor informed him, the people were almost unanimous in favor of the king, that he did not regard great vigilance as necessary. He had returned to head-quarters at New York; and so confident were the British generals that the contest would be ended by taking possession of Philadelphia, that Cornwallis had prepared to sail for England on leave of absence. ”

“ Both armies suffered much by the loss of many gallant officers and a considerable number of men.
Lord Cornwallis kept the field and claimed a complete victory; but the subsequent transactions discovered that the balance of real advantage lay on the other side. His Lordship, immediately after the action at Guilford, proclaimed pardon and protection to all the inhabitants of the country on proper submission; yet at the same time, he found it necessary to quit his present ground. He had previously taken the determination, to try the success of British arms in North Carolina and Virginia. ”

“ Cornwallis, confident that he could not maintain his position, determined to make a desperate effort at flight. His plan was to leave the sick and his baggage behind; cross over to Gloucester, and, with his detachment there, cut up or disperse the troops of De Choise, Weeden, and Lauzun; mount his infantry on horses taken from the duke's legion, and others that might be seized in the neighborhood; by rapid marches gain the forks of the Rappahannock and Potomac, and, forcing his way through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, form a junction with the army in New York. ”

“ They would be in better spirit on the morrow. The creek was fordable in a dozen places, but Cornwallis resisted the importunities of some of his officers, who wished to ford it and attack at once; he sent urgent messengers off to Princeton to bring up the two thousand men left there with Von Donop, and to hurry up Leslie with the rear guard, six miles away; when they arrived they could turn the right flank of the Americans, and it would be all up with them then. ”

“ It is no small proof of Cornwallis’s tact in judging of men, that whilst we find him deprecating the employment in independent commands of such generals as the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland, Dundas, Burrard (of Cintra) , Coote (of Ostend) , Pulteney (of Ferrol) , Whitelock (of Buenos Ayres) , and Lord Chatham (of Walcheren) , he had always a word of approval for Lake and Abercromby, and in an introductory letter to Sir John Shore, speaks of the lieutenant-colonel of his own regiment, the Hon. Arthur Wesley, as a “sensible man and a good officer.” ”

“ Sir Henry Clinton had just sent General Phillips down to Virginia, with a force which, if combined with that of Cornwallis, would amount to more than 5,000 men; and with this army it might prove possible to strike a heavy blow in Virginia, and afterward invade the Carolinas from the north. Influenced by such considerations, Cornwallis started from Wilmington on the 25th of April, and arrived on the 20th of May at Petersburg, in Virginia, where he effected a junction with the forces of Arnold and Phillips. This important movement was made by Cornwallis on his own responsibility. ”

“ The marquis, who had steadily pursued the earl from Richmond, but always avoiding a general engagement, now resolved to fall upon his rear, when the main body should have passed over to Jamestown Island. Cornwallis suspected this design, and prepared for the emergency. He encamped the greater portion of his army on the main land, as compactly as possible, and sheltered from view by a dense pine forest. He also cast up a fortification on the right bank of Powhatan Creek, by the Williamsburg road, the remains of which, I have just mentioned, are still very prominent. ”

“ Had Cornwallis so declared he would doubtless have had a chance to die without any objection on the part of the patriots on whose friends and relatives he had inflicted devilish cruelties. Cornwallis was obliged to choose between perishing with all his army, or accepting the terms which his conquerors saw fit to grant. Apart from the formal articles of surrender he obtained the informal consent of the allies that certain Tories most obnoxious to their countrymen should be permitted to depart to New York in the vessel which carried dispatches from the British commander to Sir Henry Clinton. ”