CHAPTER XXXV.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 thatofficer 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 GeneralDu Portail upon the frigateQueen Charlotte; and on the eighteenth, visited the Count de Grasse upon his flag-ship, theVille 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.
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 particularsof the previous week’s operations were communicated to General Washington and his party, on theVille 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.
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 theRegiment 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 tothe 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’clockA.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 trucebore to the headquarters of the American Commander-in-Chief, the following note:
York, 17th October, 1781.
York, 17th October, 1781.
York, 17th October, 1781.
York, 17th October, 1781.
Earl CornwallisTo General Washington:
Earl CornwallisTo General Washington:
Earl CornwallisTo General Washington:
Earl CornwallisTo 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.
I have the honor to be, etc.,Cornwallis.
I have the honor to be, etc.,Cornwallis.
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.
I have the honor to be, etc.,George Washington.
I have the honor to be, etc.,George Washington.
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 thetrenches, 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 suchreiterated 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 theVille 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 fromBoston on the frigateAlliance, 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 asthat 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.”