Show a W ilk A here th the e world wo yr I 1 d was waft 4 turned T upside its ps I 1 ift aa down abdal 64 t VAI r ri ll 11 0 r W f by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HEN the british army commanded by lord cornwallis marched out of yorktown Tork town va on october 19 1781 to surrender to the combined french and american forces tinder bocham beau and IN washington ashington the tune to which they marched was an old eng lish song the world turned up side down and in that fact there was more significance than any of the participants in that historic scene could possibly have realized at the time and more signi significance fleance than most americans realize now it lg Is probable that to the average american today the phrase surrender of cornwallis at yorktown means the end of the revolution he ile has a vague recollection of a picture of a man on foot cornwallis handing his sword to a man on horseback washington while two lines of mounted officers those in one line wear ing funny looking hats those were the french look proudly on then he thinks that meant the war was over the rest of the british in america sailed for england washington and his soldiers went home and the united states of america went into operation immediately as a free and independent nation it was far from being as simple as all that As a matter of fact yorktown important a allene though it was in the revolution was tar far from being the end of the journey there could be no doubt that the news of cornwallis surrender would mould be a crushing blow to british hopes of subduing her rebellious colonies but that did not lot mean that king george and his ministry would not keep on trying the british still held new york charleston and savannah and no sooner was ras washington through at lork lorl town than he had to march his army back to new york to face sir henry cl CI anton and his army once more true there ras as no more im campaigning after october 1781 but it was not until more than a year later november 30 1782 that articles of peace between great britain and the united states were signed it was ras not until december 23 1782 that washing ton resigned his commission as commander in chief it was not until september 3 almost two u yearb after yorktown that the final treaty of peace was signed it was not until november v ember 25 1783 that the continentals staged their nic ic tory march through new york and it was not until early in 1784 that all of them were mere finally disbanded except for an army of 80 men with officers in proportion 1 I so when the sun went down on the surrender field at yorktown that october day IZO bears ears ago it was far from being the final curtain of a mighty drama what then is the significance of yorktown in history briefly it Is this it blazed I 1 ke a bea con light of hope to a people who rho were begin ning to despair for 1780 and had been dark years for the patriots and more than once in those years the revolution seemed near col lapse so the news of yorktown gave them cour age to struggle on and seemed to promise an earlier end to a war which had bad dragged on for six years it weakened the power of the tories in parliament who had supported the king and his ministers in prosecuting the war and strengthened the hands of edmund burke and the whigs who had been denouncing the at tempt to subdue the americans as a shameful misuse of royal power yorito was not an end but it was mas the beginning of an end the end of autocratic rule by hereditary monarchs and of a new era of freedom for mankind began there so the importance of the sesquicentennial eel cei ebrat eb ration lon which lueb Is to be held at lor yorktown lork town kown on october 16 17 18 and 19 of this year not only to america but to all nations Is one which can hardly be overestimated probably more amer leans are aware that such a celebration Is to be held because of a controversy over whether or not the actual surrender scene should be reproduced as a part of the yorktown lork town pageant than they are because of an understanding understand ng of the significance of tl it e event itself but since it was ras finally decided that such a surrender scene would not wound round british sens b gitles and therefore might properly be included in the ses qui centennial program the ultimate result of the dispute has probably been a good one in that it has focused the attention of the whole coun try on this celebration more than any other al at event et held since so much has been made of this sur render scene it should be of interest to recall just what actually took place then and there but first a brief review of the events leading up to yorktown after cornwall s unsatisfactory campaign in the carolinas he retired to york town where be he awaited reinforcements from sir henry clinton the british commander in anew ew york but there was ras a in the brit ish plans and a lack of co ord nation which were to prove fatal to the british leader in vir ginia ginta continental forces under lafayette wayne and steuben invested yorktown by land and a french fleet under de grasse and de bar i T ras bottled it up from the sea then washing ton having deceived clinton as to his real pur pose made a rapid march south to join in the siege the actual investment of yorktown began on september 28 on october 6 the americans and french advanced their trenches to within yards of the british lines and three days later opened fire on the town on october 14 tw two outlying british redoubts were captured one by by the french and one by a party of americans brilliantly led by capt alexander hamilton later destined for fame as washington s secre tary of the treasury by this time cornwallis realized that he was in a tight place on octo her 16 he made a desperate attempt to cut his way through the lines and falling in this he hile kaev v that the game was up the bombardment of the allies had been so fierce that his defenses were crumbling about him and he realized that he could not hope to hold out against a determined assault under all these circumstances I 1 thought it would have been wanton and inhuman to the last degree to sacrifice the lives of this small body of gallant wid old ert ers who had ever behaved with so much fidelity and courage by exposing them to an assault which from the numbers and eions of the enemy could not fall to succeed he wrote after bards 0 so on october 17 cornwallis beat a parley and proposed a cessation of bostil ties for 24 hours so that terms of surrender might be dis cussed to tl ti is IN ashington agreed and appoint ed colonel laurens and viscount noailles No allIes to meet two british officers at the moore house to discuss the proposal through colonel dundas and major poss ross who met laurens and noailles on the cornwallis tried to make mak e the best bargain possible he ile asked that his british and german soldiers both privates and officers be allowed to return to their homes and th that at no punishment be meted out to the tories who rh 0 had taken refuge in his lines finally he asked to be allowed to march out with all honors of war the latter request agton was ras not dis posed to giant when the british captured charleston they had denied such honors of war to general lincoln who was compelled to march arch out not with colors flying but with his flags furled so ington laid down these terms the garrison of york will march out to a place to be appointed in front of the posts at 2 clock precisely with shouldered arms colors cased eased drums beating a british or ger man march they are then to ground the r arms and return to their encampments where they will remain until they are to the places of the ther r destination deRti nation the works on the gloucester side will be delivered at 1 0 clock to a detachment of french and american troops appointed to possess them the garrison will march out at 3 clock in the afternoon the cavalry with their drawn trumpets sound ng and the infantry in the manner pre bed for tl ti e garrison of york they are 1 ile ke wise to return to the r encampments until they can be finally marched off the surrender took place on october 19 and several eyewitness accounts of it have been preserved one of them is by the famous light horse harry lee father of the general who was to participate in another famous surrender some 84 deais later not many miles from this spot lee w rites tie tl e road through which they marched was ras I 1 ned tied with spectators french and american on one side the commander in chief surrounded by bis his suit sic and the american staff took his station on the other side opposite him was the count de bocham beau in I 1 ke manner attended the head of the column approached the corn com mander in chief 0 hara in staking the circle turned to that on his ills left for the purpose of paying his respects to the Comman commander derin in chief and requesting further orders when qu cily discovering I 1 alls Is error and with ith much embarrass embair rass ass ment in his countenance he flew across the road and advanced up to washington asked pardon for his mistake apologized for the absence of lord cornwall s and begged to know his fur ther pleasure the general feeling his embar ras relieved it by referring him to gen eral lincoln for his government returning to the head of the column it again moved under the guidance of lincoln to the field selected for the conclusion of the ceremony every eye was turned in search of the british commander in clauff TAT 7 r 1 chief anxious to look at that man heretofore so much the object of their dread all were disappointed another account differs slightly from this according to it comte du dumas the french adjutant general rode out to meet 0 hara to lead the british to their place where Is general rochambeau asked 0 ohara hara on our left responded dumas at the head of the french line allara then started toward rochambeau but dumas galloped ahead and placing himself in front of the british general pointed to wash ington sitting on his horse opposite and said you deceive yourself the commander in chief of our army is to your right so m with ith dumas leading the way ray 0 ailara rode up to Iv washington ashington and offered his sword but washington checked him saving never from such a good hand then he motioned him toward general lincoln who took the sword held it for a moment and then handed it back to 0 iiara hara dimmed abely so the picture which lingers vaguely in most americans minds is far from the actual occurrence cornwallis Cornwall ls was not on the surrender field and did not hand his sword to washington dubord nates of both gen brals were the actors in this historic scene not only Is yorktown symbolical of an event of world wide historic significance but the story of it adds further to the greatness that was george washington s his ills was mas the master stroke of strategy which deceived sir henry clinton into believing that an attack on new york was imminent then he literally hurled his army southward to aid in cr crushing cornwallis before clinton could discover his real purpose and go to the aid of that hapless commander it was ras washington s graciousness and tact which led him to write to de grasse the admiral of the french fleet thus I 1 should be anxious to have the honor of your excellency s participation in the treaty which will according to present ap bearance pe arance shortly take place I 1 need not add how happy it will make me to welcome bour our excel lency in the name of america on this shore and embrace you upon an occasion so advantageous to the interests of the common cause and arid on which it is so much indebted to you should reasons deprive me of this happiness by requiring your excellency s presence on board I 1 entreat that you will be pleased to appoint an officer to represent you and take charge of the capitulation to be signed by your excellency and if he could be thus unselfish in sharing with an ally the honor of a great moment he could also make another supremely graceful ture in behalf of a dubord nate yorktown lork town was one of the greatest moments in his life comin coming 9 as it d d after years of bitter struggle through endless disappointments and quite as many fail ures as suc successes cesse s how kneet s beet alen tl en the taste of victory in his mouth but in the words of rupert hughes his b ogra pher he was ing to claim the center of the stage or to strut or even take his manifest rights so he waved aside the british sword of surrender in order that general lincoln who hid had surrendered his sword to the british might take it if there is further need of evidence of the simple greatness gle gie atness of the victor at yorktown it Is to be found in the entry in his d ary on the day of the surrender it reads as follows in the morning early I 1 had them the articles of surrender copied and sent word to lord corn rallis that I 1 expected to have them signed at 11 II 0 clock and tl at the garrison would march out at two tw 0 clock both of which were accord angly done here he stood at the peak of his military career here was ras an event which was to change the course of history and of it george washington wrote both of which were accordingly done I 1 Q by western newspaper union |