CHAPTER XX.

```Again to fair Virginia's coast

```I turned, and view'd the British host

```Where Chesapeake's wide waters lave

```Her shores and join the Atlantic wave.

```There famed Cornwallis towering rose,

```And scorned, secure, his distant foes;

```His bands the haughty ramparts raise,

```And bid the royal standard blaze.

```When lo, where ocean's bounds extend,

```Behold the Gallic sails ascend,

```With fav'ring breezes steer their way,

```And crowd with ships the spacious bay.

```Lo! Washington from northern shores,

```O'er many a region wheels his force,

```And Rochambeau with legions bright

```Descends in terror to the fight.

`````John Trumbull.=

VENING was approaching when I left Williamsburg for Yorktown, twelve miles distant. It was an exceedingly pleasant afternoon, so mild, that wild flowers peeped eautiously from the hedges, and a wasp and a grasshopper alighted on the splash-board of my wagon, while stopping on the margin of a clear stream. Soon after leaving Williamsburg, the road entered a pine forest; and all the way to Yorktown these solitudes form the principal feature in the landscape. The country is quite level, and the cultivated clearings are more frequent and extensive than further up toward the Chickahominy. The green foliage of the lofty pines, of the modest holly, and the spreading laurel, made the forest journey less gloomy than it would otherwise have been; for the verdure, the balmy air, and the occasional note of a bird, made me forget that the Christmas holidays were near at hand, and that the mountains of New England were probably white with snow.

I arrived at Yorktown at twilight,[[Dec. 20, 1848]] and passed the night at the only inn in the plaee, whieh is owned by William Nelson, Esq., grandson of Governor Thomas Nelson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. To the kindness and intelligence of that gentleman, I am indebted for much of the pleasure and profit of my visit there. We supped together upon far-famed York River oysters just brought from their oozy bed, and it was near midnight before we parted company. Mr. Nelson resides in the fine old mansion which belonged to his grandfather, and which yet bears marks of the iron hail poured upon it during the siege of Yorktown.

Early the next morning I strolled over the village. It is situated upon a high bluff of concrete or stone marl, covered with a sandy soil, on the south side of the York River, about eleven miles from its mouth. The peninsula on whieh the town stands is level, and is embraced upon eaeh side by deep ravines, whieh almost meet in the rear. The ground is the highest upon either the York or James Rivers, below Richmond. Being the shire town of the county, it contains the publie buildings. * These, with about forty dwellings, some of them decaying, compose the village, which formerly was one of the most flourishing towns

* York is one of the original counties into which Virginia was divided in 1634. The village was established by law in 1705, and for a long time vied with Williamsburg, the capital. The average width of the river is here nearly two miles, but is narrowed to a mile opposite Yorktown, by the projecting cape on which Gloucester stands. The latter village was once a thriving place. It had considerable commerce, but, like Yorktown, the depreciation of the surrounding country for agricultural purposes paralyzed its enterprise, and made busy the fingers of decay.

[[[Old Church at Yorktown--The Nelson Tombs.--Cornwallis's Cave.--An Imposition]]]

{508}on the peninsula. It contained about sixty houses at the time of the siege in 1781. A fire which occurred in 1814 destroyed much property there, and from that blow the village seems never to have recovered.

At that time its old church, built a century and a half before, was destroyed; nothing but its stone-marl walls were left standing. In this picturesque condition it remained for thirty years, when it was repaired, and is now used as a place of worship. In the old burial-ground adjoining it are the tombs and monuments of the Nelson family, situated a few yards from the banks of the York. The nearer one in the engraving, which stands over the grave of the first emigrant of the family (who was called "Scotch Tom"), although mutilated, is yet highly ornamental.

It is about four feet high, three feet wide, and six feet long. Upon one end are sculptured two angel-heads breaking from the clouds.

Over the upper one are the words, "All glory be to God."

The one below it is blowing On the other end are two heads, one of which is about receiving a crown. On the side is an heraldic cloth, with the head of an angel at the center of the top; and on the top slab is the Nelson coat of arms, with an appropriate epitaph. This monument is of white marble, and was made in London. The second monument is that of president William Nelson. It is built of brick, with a handsomely wrought and inscribed marble slab on the top. In a vault at the end of the fragment of the brick wall seen beyond the monuments, rest the remains of Governor Nelson, the signer of the Declaration. There is no monument above it, and nothing marks the spot but a rough stone lying among the rank grass. Around these are strewn fragments of the stone marl of the old church wall, beautifully crystallized, and indurated by exposure. The view from this point is very charming, looking out upon the York stretching away toward the broad Chesapeake, and skirted by woodlands and cultivated fields.

After breakfast, accompanied by Mr. Nelson in his carriage, I visited the several localities which make Yorktown historically famous. We first descended the river bank and, visited the excavation in the marl bluff, known as Cornwallis's Cave.

It is square, twelve by eighteen feet in size, with a narrow passage leading to a smaller circular excavation on one side. It is almost directly beneath the termination of the trench and breastworks of the British fortifications, which are yet very prominent upon the bank above. Popular tradition says that this excavation was made by order of Cornwallis, and used by him for the purpose of holding councils with his officers in a place of safety, during the siege. Taking advantage of this tradition, cupidity has placed a door at the entrance, secured it by lock and key, and demands a Virginia ninepence (12 1/2 cents) they paid the penalty of curiosity, knowing that I was submit-

* This view is from the burial-ground looking down the York River toward Chesapeake Bay. The inscription upon the first monument is in Latin; the following is a translation of it: "Here lies, in certain hope of a resurrection in Christ, Thomas Nelson, gentleman, son of Hugo and Sarah Nelson, of Penrith, in the county of Cumberland; born February 20th, A.D. 1677, died October 7th, 1745, aged sixty-eight years." The inscription upon the second monument is much longer, and quite eulogistic. William Nelson was president of his majesty's council in Virginia, and died on the nineteenth of November, 1772, at the age of sixty-one years. No epitaph tells of the many virtues and heroic deeds of him who lies in the obscure vault beyond. History has written them upon the enduring pages of the chronicles of our republic; and in this work his biography and portrait may be found among those of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

[[[Present Appearance of the British Works.--American and French Armies--Morris and Peters.--Change in Plan of Operations,]]]

{509}ting to imposition, for I was assured, on the authority of an old lady who resided at Yorktown at the time of the siege, that this excavation was made by some of the people wherein to hide their valuables. A house stood directly in front of it, the foundation of which is yet there. The building made the spot still more secluded.

A quarter of a mile below Lord Cornwallis _did_ have an excavation in the bank, which was lined with green baize and used by the general for secret conferences during the siege. No traces of his council chamber are left.

We next visited the lines of intrenchments cast up by the British on the south side.

A letter from De Grasse announcing his intention to remain in the West Indies, and another from La Fayette from Williamsburg, informing him of the departure of Cornwallis for Portsmouth and the embarkation of a large portion of his army for New York, were the principal causes which influenced Washington in making an entire change in the programme of the operations of the combined armies during the remainder of the campaign. **

* This view is from the fields in the direction of the American works, looking north. Toward the left is seen a portion of Governor Nelson's house, and on the extreme left, a few other houses in Yorktown appear.

** It is related that when Washington received the letter from De Grasse, Robert Morris, the superintendent of finance, and Richard Peters, the secretary of the board of war, were at the head-quarters of the general in the Livingston House, printed on page 195, and were present.* Washington was bitterly disappointed, for he saw no fair hope of success without the aid of a fleet. The cloud upon his brow was but for a moment. He instantly conceived the expedition to Virginia, and, turning to Judge Peters, asked. "What can you do for me?" "With money, every thing; without it, nothing," was his brief reply, at the same time turning an anxious look toward Morris. "Let me know the sum you desire," said the patriot financier, comprehending the expression of his eye. Before noon, Washington completed his estimates, and arrangements were made with Morris for the funds. Twenty thousand hard dollars were loaned from Count De Rochambeau, which Mr. Morris agreed to replace by the first of October. The arrival of Colonel Laurens from France, on the twenty-fifth of August, with two millions and a half of livers, a part of a donation of six millions by Louis XVI. to the United States, enabled the superintendent of finance to fulfill his engagement without difficulty.

* These gentlemen were appointed commissioners by Congress to proceed to head-quarters, and consult the commander-inchief respecting the army for the ensuing campaign. The basis of a scheme which they proposed was a reduction of the army.--Sparks, viii., 142.

[[[Cornwallis ordered to the Chesapeake.--Takes Post at Yorktown and Gloucester, and Fortifies them.--Sketch of Cornwallis.]]]

{510}As we have observed (page 213), the allies crossed the Hudson and marched southward to co-operate with La Fayette in Virginia.

On the arrival of nearly three thousand troops, many of them Hessians, to re-enforce him in New York,[[Aug 11, 1781]] Sir Henry Clinton countermanded his orders in which he had directed Cornwallis to send a portion of his army northward. The letter reached the Earl at Portsmouth before the transports left Hampton Roads! It also contained exclamations of surprise that his lordship should have left the vicinity of Williamsburg without informing his commander-in-chief; and he was directed to take some strong position.

The marquis did not feel sufficiently strong to attack Cornwallis, and the tatter was unwilling to impede the progress in fortifying Yorktown, by engaging his troops in other enterprises.

While Washington was uncertain what course to pursue, he received dispatches from Count De Barras, *** the successor of Ternay at Newport, bearing the agreeable intelligence

* Charles Cornwallis, son of the first Earl of Cornwallis, was born at Culford Hall, in Suffolk, in 1738. He was educated at Westminster and St. John's College, Cambridge. He entered the army in 1759, and succeeded to the title and estates of his father in 1761. He was the most competent and energetic of all the British generals sent here during the war, but the cruelties exercised by his orders at times, during the southern campaigns, have left an indelible stain upon his character. Soon after the close of the war, he was appointed Governor General of the East Indies, which office he held six years. During that time he conquered the renowned Tippoo Sultan, for which service he was created a marquis, and made master of the ordnance. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1798 to 1801, and was instrumental in restoring peace to that country, then distracted by rebellion. He signed the treaty of Amiens in 1802, and in 1804 was again appointed Governor General of India. He died in October the succeeding year at Ghazepore, in the province of Benares, at the age of sixty-seven years.--See Georgian Era, London, 1833.

** The works, which surrounded the village, consisted of seven redoubts and six batteries on the land side, connected by intrenchments. On the river bank was also a line of batteries; one near the church was a grand battery, with eleven pieces of cannon, which commanded the passage of the river between York and Gloucester. The outworks consisted of three redoubts on the margin of the ravine, southwest of the town, one a little eastward of the road to Hampton, two on the extreme right, near the river, and the fusileers' redoubt on the extreme left, near the river. Cornwallis's head-quarters were at the house of Governor Nelson.

*** Barras, in his dispatches to Washington, said, that as the Count De Grasse did not require him to form a junction with his fleet in the Chesapeake, but left him at liberty to undertake any other enterprise, he proposed an expedition against Newfoundland, and expressed a desire to take with him the land forces which had been left at Newport under M. De Choisé. Both Washington and De Rochambeau disapproved of this proposition, and, as soon as he received their remonstrance against it, Barras resolved to proceed to the Chesapeake.

[[[Southern Campaign.--De Grasse in the Chesapeake.--Sketch of De Grasse.--Cornwallis's Attempt to Escape into Carolina.]]]

{511}that the Count De Grasse * was to sail from Cape François, in the West Indies, on the thirteenth of August for the Chesapeake, with between twenty-five and twenty-nine sail of the line, and three thousand two hundred land troops under the command of the Marquis St. Simon.

De Grasse desired every thing to be in readiness to commence operations when he should arrive, for he intended to return to the West Indies by the middle of October ** The plan of the southern campaign was, therefore,, speedily arranged, and, as we have seen, the allied armies were far on their march toward the head of Elk before Sir Henry Clinton was assured of their real destination. ***

The Count De Grasse, with twenty-eight ships and several brigades, arrived in the Chesapeake at the close of August.[[Aug. 31, 1781]]

At Cape Henry, an officer sent by La Fayette gave De Grasse full information respecting the situation of the two armies in Virginia. De Grasse immediately dispatched four ships of the line and several frigates to blockade the mouth of the York River, and to convey the land forces commanded by the Marquis De St. Simon (for portrait, see next page), who were destined to join those of La Fayette on the James River. **** Cornwallis' now perceived the imminent peril that surrounded him, and conceived a plan for escaping into North Carolina, but the vigilance of La Fayette prevented his attempting the movement. (v) He could console himself only with the hope that Sir Henry Clinton would send him timely aid.

* François Joseph Paul, Count De Grasse, a native of France, was born in 1723. He was appointed to command a French fleet, to co-operate with the Americans at the beginning of 1781. Although he was the junior in service of Count De Barras, he was made his superior in command, with the title of lieutenant general. His co-operation was much more valuable to the Americans than that of D'Estaing; and in the capture of Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown, he played a very important part. His domestic relations seem to have been very unhappy; his second wife, whom he married after leaving America, proving a very unworthy woman. His life was a burden to him, particularly after losing the favor of his king in consequence of an unfortunate military movement. He died early in 1788, at the age of sixty-five years. Alluding to the unhappiness of his latter days, Washington, in a letter to Rochambeau, April, 1778, on hearing of the death of De Grasse, said, "His frailties should now be buried in the grave with him, while his name will be long deservedly dear to this country, on account of his successful co-operation in the glorious campaign of 1781. The Cincinnati in some of the states have gone into mourning for him."

** The land troops for this expedition were borrowed from the garrison at St. Domingo, and consisted of detachments from the regiments of Gatinois, Agenois, and Tourraine. There were one hundred artillery, one hundred dragoons, ten pieces of field ordnance, and several of siege artillery and mortars. De Grasse promised to return these troops by the middle of October.

*** See page 214.

**** The distance between the York and the James River, at Yorktown, is only about six miles, and this gave the Americans a great advantage in the siege that ensued.

* (v) A Jerseyman named Morgan was for some time employed as a spy in the British camp at Yorktown, by La Fayette. He pretended to be a deserter, and enlisted in the army of Cornwallis. On one occasion that general inquired of Morgan whether La Fayette had many boats. Morgan, according to instructions, told him the marquis had enough to transport his whole army across at a moment's warning. "There!" exclaimed Cornwallis, turning to Tarleton, "I told you this would not do." That expression was an evidence that escape across the James River had been contemplated. Morgan could not be prevailed upon to accept money for his services in La Fayette's behalf, neither would he receive office. He only desired a favorite gun to be restored to him. Morgan said he believed himself to be a good soldier, but he was not certain that he would make a good officer. These circumstances were related to Mr. Sparks by La Fayette himself, fifty years after their occurrence.

[[[Admirals Hood and Graves proceed against the French Fleet.--Naval Battle off the Virginia Capes.--French Squadron.]]]

{512}Admiral Rodney, commander of the British fleet in the West Indies, at this time was aware that De Grasse had sailed for the American coast, but seems not to have suspected that his whole fleet would proceed to the Continent.

He dispatched Sir Samuel Hood after him with only fourteen sail, believing that that number would be quite sufficient to compete with the French squadron. Hood arrived at Sandy Hook on the twenty-eighth of August, and informed Admiral Graves, the successor of Arbuthnot, who was lying in New York Bay with seven ships of the line, only five of which were fit for service, that De Grasse was probably on the Virginia coast. Intelligence was received on the same day, that De Barras had sailed for the Chesapeake from Newport with a considerable squadron. Graves immediately prepared for sea, with the whole fleet, consisting of nineteen sail

of the line, proceeded in quest of the French.[[Aug. 31]]Not suspecting the strength of De Grasse, he hoped to fall in with one or the other of the French squadrons and defeat it.

The French fleet lay in Lynn Haven Bay, just within the Chesapeake, near Cape Henry, to sea, desiring more room for conflict than the waters of the Chesapeake afforded. Admiral Graves bore down upon De Grasse, and both fleets, in attempting to gain the weather gage, slowly moved eastward, clear of the Capes, upon the broad Atlantic. At four o'clock in the afternoon, a partial action commenced between the van and part of the center of the two fleets, and continued until sunset. Several ships were considerably damaged, but neither commander could claim a victory. Admiral Graves preserved the weather gage during the night, and intended to have renewed the battle on the following morning; but, having ascertained that several ships of the van division, under Admiral Drake, could not safely be brought into action again without being repaired, he deferred an attack. For five successive days the hostile fleets were in sight of each other, sometimes approaching quite near, but neither party seemed desirous of renewing the contest. At length the Count De Grasse bore away for the Chesapeake, and anchored again in Lynn Haven Bay, within the Capes.[[Sept. 10]] There he found De Barras with his squadron, and a considerable land force under M. Choise (for portrait, see opposite page), together with fourteen transports, with heavy artillery and military stores suitable for carrying on a siege. Graves approached the Capes of the Chesapeake, but, finding the entrance blocked up by a force with which he was unable to contend with a hope of success, he bore away and returned on the morning of the fifth of September.[[1781]] At sunrise the British fleet was seen off Cape Charles.

At first Count De Grasse supposed it to be the squadron of De Barras, but being soon undeceived, he prepared for battle. The wind was fair, and the British fleet sailed directly within the Capes for the purpose of attacking the French. De Grasse slipped his cables, and put

* The portraits of the French officers given in this chapter I copied from Trumbull's picture in the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, representing the surrender of Cornwallis. Trumbull painted the most of them from life in 1787, at the house of Mr. Jefferson, in Paris, when that statesman was minister there.

[[[Loss in the Naval Action.--March of the Allied Armies.--Arrival of Washington and French Officers at Williamsburg.]]]

{513}to New York, for he began to entertain greater fears of the equinoctial gales on the coast than of the guns of the French ships of the line. The French lost in the action two hundred and twenty men, including four officers killed and eighteen wounded.

The English lost ninety killed, and two hundred and forty-six wounded. The _Terrible,_ one of the English ships, was so much damaged, that, after taking out her prisoners and stores, they set fire to and burned her. *

While these events were occurring on the Virginia coast, the allied armies were making their way southward with all possible dispatch, and Sir Henry Clinton, certified of their destination, ** was trying to divert their attention from the South, and recall some of their forces by menacing movements at the North.

He sent Arnold with a strong force to attack New London, an event which we have considered on pages 42 and 45 inclusive. He also threatened New Jersey, and caused a rumor to go abroad that he was about to proceed with a strong force against the American posts in the Hudson Highlands, which Washington had left in charge of General Heath, with fourteen regiments. These movements and rumors failed to produce their desired effect; and the outrages committed by Arnold at New London and vicinity served only to heighten the exasperation of the patriot army, and nerve it to more vigorous action.

When the allied forces arrived at the head of Elk there were not vessels sufficient to transport them, and a large portion of the American troops, and all of the French, made their way to Baltimore and Annapolis by land. Washington, with Count De Rochambeau and the Marquis De Chastellux, *** reached Baltimore on the eighth,[[Sept. 1781]] Mount Vernon on the tenth, **** and Williamsburg on the evening of the fourteenth. He had ordered the troops that were embarked on the Chesapeake to halt, after learning that the fleet

* Marshall, i., 448. Stedman, ii., 398-401. Ramsay, Gordon, Rochambeau's Memoirs.

** Sir Henry seems not to have suspected the destination of the allies until the second of September, on which day he wrote to Cornwallis, and expressed his belief that they were marching toward Virginia.

*** Francis John, Marquis De Chastelieux, came to America with Rochambeau, hearing the title of major general. He traveled extensively while here, and wrote a journal of his tour. A large portion of it was printed on board one of the ships of the French fleet, before leaving America. Only twenty-four copies were printed for distribution among his most intimate friends. The complete work was translated by an English traveler from the original manuscript, and published in London, with maps and drawings, in 1787. On his return to France, the king made De Chastellux a field-marshal, and the French Academy elected him one of its members. At the close of 1787, he married an accomplished lady, a relative of the Duke of Orleans. This circumstance he communicated to Washington, who, in a playful letter (April, 1788) in reply, said, "I saw, by the eulogium you often made on the happiness of domestic life in America, that you had swallowed the bait, and that you would as surely be taken, one day or another, as that you were a philosopher and a soldier. So your day has at length come. I am glad of it, with all my heart and soul. It is quite good enough for you. Now you are well served for coming to fight in favor of the American rebels, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, by catching that terrible contagion, domestic felicity, which, like the small-pox or plague a man can have only once in his life." De Chastellux died in 1793. The fortune of himself and wife seems to have been swept away by the storm of the French Revolution, for in 1795 his widow made application to Washington, asking for an allowance from our government to her and her infant son, on account of the services of her husband. The application was unavailing.

**** This was the first time that Washington had visited his home since he left it to attend the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, in 1775, a period of six years and five months: and he now remained there only long enough to await the arrival of Count De Rochambeau, whom he left at Baltimore.

[[[Arrival of Troops at Williamsburg.--Washington's first Interview with De Grasse.--Approach of the Allied Armies.]]]

{514}of De Grasse had left the Capes to fight Graves, but when he arrived at Williamsburg and found both French fleets in the Chesapeake, * he sent Count Fersen, one of Rochambeau's aids, with ten transports from Barras's squadron, to hasten the troops forward.

This was speedily accomplished, and the forces at the head of Elk, and at Annapolis, proceeded by water to the James River.

On the seventeenth, [[Sept]]Washington, accompanied by Rochambeau, De Chastellux, and Generals Knox and Du Portail, proceeded to visit De Grasse on board of his flag-ship, the _Ville de Park_, lying off Cape Henry. They sailed in a small vessel called the _Queen Charlotte_, and arrived on the eighteenth. Satisfactory arrangements were made for an immediate attack upon Cornwallis, as soon as the American troops should reach Williamsburg. **

While awaiting their approach, information was received that Admiral Digby, with six ships of the line, had arrived at New York as a re-enforcement for Graves. Confident that nothing would be left untried in attempts to relieve Cornwallis, and thinking his situation in the Chesapeake unfavorable for an engagement with the augmented force of the English, now nearly equal to that of his own. De Grasse communicated to Washington his intention to leave a few frigates to blockade the York and James Rivers, and to put to sea with his ships of the line in quest of the British. This communication alarmed Washington, for a superior naval force might enter the Chesapeake in the mean while, and assist Cornwallis in making his escape.

He prevailed upon De Grasse to remain, and on the twenty-fifth, the last division of the allied troops having reached Williamsburg, preparations for the siege commenced.

Cornwallis, with the main division of his army, occupied Yorktown. The main body of his troops were encamped on the open grounds in the rear of the town.

Lieutenant-colonel Dundas, who did good service at Jamestown, occupied Gloucester, with about seven hundred men, and was joined by Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton and his legion when the siege commenced. The Duke De Lauzun with his legion, the marines from the squadron of Barras, and a brigade of Virginia militia under General Weeden * the whole commanded by the French General De Choisé, were sent to arrest Gloucester.

On the morning of the twenty-eighth, the combined armies, about twelve thousand strong, left Williamsburg by different roads, and marched toward Yorktown. On their approach, the British left their field-works, and withdrew to those near the town, the remains of which are mentioned on a preceding page." The American light infantry and a considerable body

* Count De Grasse, anxious to accomplish the object of his expedition, and impatient at the delay of the allied armies, had urged La Fayette to co-operate with him in an attack, by land and water, upon York and Gloucester. But the marquis, governed by more prudent counsels, unwilling to hazard the advantage he possessed, refused to make any offensive movement before the arrival of Washington.

** De Grasse refused to comply with the desire of Washington, that he should ascend the river above Yorktown with a few of his vessels. He was unwilling to risk a blockade in so narrow a space.

*** For a sketch of Lauzun, see page 34.

**** Intelligence from General Clinton at New York induced Cornwallis thus to abandon his field-works, without an attempt to defend them. In his letter, Clinton informed him of the arrival of Digby, and that at a council of officers it was determined to send at least five thousand troops with the fleet to relieve him, and that they would sail as early as the sixth. Cornwallis, therefore, withdrew within his interior works, confident that he could hold out there, and keep possession of both Yorktown and Gloucester, until the arrival of these re-enforcements. Just four years before, Burgoyne received like assurances from Clinton, but was disappointed. Had he not expected aid, he could have retreated back to Lake Champlain in time to have saved his army; had not Cornwallis expected promised aid from Clinton, he might possibly have escaped into North Carolina, notwithstanding the vigilance of La Fayette.

[[[Death of Colonel Scammell.--Yorktown and Gloucester invested.--General Arrangements of the Land and Naval Forces.]]]

{515}of French troops were ordered to take possession of these abandoned works, and to serve as a covering party for the troops while digging trenches and casting up breast-works. Cannonading from the town, and one or two sorties, occurred during the day. Colonel Alexander Scamnell, * the officer of the day, while reconnoitering near the Fusileers' redoubt (A), situated upon the river bank, at the mouth of a little stream on the extreme left, was surprised by two or three Hessian horsemen.

He surrendered, but they shot him, and left him for dead. He was carried into Yorktown, and at the request of Washington, Cornwallis allowed him to be taken to Williamsburg. This circumstance is mentioned on page 430,