quiring into the claim, decided in favor of Hamilton, much to the latter's gratification. Gimat's battalion, however, as the oldest and one of the three that had been in Virginia from the first, retained the post of honor in the van of the assaulting party. It had been drawn from the Eastern lines. John P. Wyllys, of Hartford, was its major, and its original captains were Richards, Douglass, Heart, Welles, and Barker from Connecticut, Hunt and another from Massachusetts, and Olney from Rhode Island. Hamilton's battal-panies with his usual skill and nerve, and ion was composed of two New York and two Connecticut companies; and of Laurens's two companies, which were part of Scammell's old corps, one was from Connecticut, under Captain Stephen Betts, of Stamford, and the other probably from New Hampshire. With this detachment went also a party of sappers and miners under Captains Gilliland and Kirkpatrick. For a reserve corps, La Fayette drew up the remainder of the Light Division, under Generals Muhlenberg and Hazen, and in their rear Wayne posted two Pennsylvania battalions. thought him entitled to "peculiar applause." Captain Hunt was also wounded, as well as Kirkpatrick, of the sappers. Hamilton himself was accompanied by Colonel Armand and three officers of his troop, as volunteers, who behaved with conspicuous gallantry, all climbing the parapet under fire to stimulate the courage of the rank and file. Gimat was wounded in the foot just as the obstructions were reached, and retired. Laurens meanwhile conducted his two com succeeded in coming in at the right moment to make Major Campbell, the commandant of the garrison, his prisoner. With him was Captain Betts, who also was honored with a wound. In ten minutes the work was over, and so well timed was every movement, that Major Fish's battalion, which followed Gimat's, inclining to the right, participated in the assault, and Lieutenant-Colonel Barber's battalion, which La Fayette sent forward at the last moment to support Hamilton, was on hand after the assault to help hold the position in case of a counter-attack by At the given signal-the six shells- the enemy. The American loss in the Hamilton and his column advanced rap-assault was nine killed and twenty-five idly with unloaded muskets, Laurens having first been detached to take the redoubt in reverse, and prevent the escape of the garrison. Under the almost perfect discipline of these troops every order was executed with precision. As they neared the work, they rushed to the charge without waiting for the sappers to remove the abatis, and thereby saved themselves the delay and loss which befell the French. Climbing over or breaking through the obstructions, they reached the ditch, enveloped the work, and scaling the parapet, were quickly in possession. The forlorn hope of twenty men, under Lieutenant John Mansfield, of the Fourth Connecticut, led the column without wavering. Mansfield, who entered the work among the first, receiving a bayonet wound, was reported by Hamilton as deserving particular commendation for his "coolness, firmness, and punctuality." Stephen Olney, of Rhode Island, perhaps the oldest captain in the service, marched with his company at the head of the detachment, but in attempting to climb into the fort two of the enemy struck at him with their bayonets, which slid down his spontoon or spear, and wounded him severely in the side and arm. Hamilton wounded. Washington could not conceal his enthusiasm over the success of these brilliant feats, and in general orders he praised the troops unstintedly-officers and men alike. A Sergeant Brown, of the Fifth Connecticut, was subsequently awarded a special "badge of merit" for his coolness and gallant conduct as one of Hamilton's forlorn hope. No sooner were the redoubts taken than the supports fell to digging, and by morning both works were included in the second parallel, which thus became complete, and unpleasantly menacing to the besieged. It would have been quite contrary to the custom of a besieged force, and rather a reflection upon the British troops in particular, had no sortie been made by them upon the besiegers; and accordingly on the night of the 16th we find them dashing out at the second parallel with their usual courage, and repeating what the French and Americans had done two nights before. Cornwallis's object was to cripple some unfinished batteries whose fire, when opened, would prove too destructive, and thus gain a little more time for still possible relief. The party, which was led by Colonel Abercrombie, numbered about imagined that he never before heard music so delightful as the sound of that drum. No one could have misunderstood its meaning. In fact, the drummer in that particular rôle was somewhat of a momentous figure. He seemed to publicly confess the end of British domination in | America, and proclaim the success of the "rebel" Revolution. four hundred men, half of them light-in- | stopped. An ensign at the American lines fantry, under Major Armstrong, and the other half the grenadiers of the FootGuards and Captain Murray's company of the Eightieth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Lake. Moving forward about three o'clock in the morning, they rushed upon a French battery, drove off the guards, spiked four cannon, and then attacked Captain Savage's Massachusetts battery to its right. Entering it, they quickly spiked his three guns with bayonet points, and challenged, "What troops?" "French," came the answer, on which Abercrombie shouted, "Push on, my brave boys, and skin the hounds!" But just then the Count de Noailles, who had command of the supports that night, distinctly hearing Abercrombie's cry, ordered his grenadiers to the charge, when they instantly met the British with the shout of "Vive le roi!" killed eight of them, took twelve prisoners, with the loss of twenty officers and men on their part, and one American sergeant, and prevented the assailants from doing further mischief. It was altogether a gallant sortie, but it proved of no avail, and in six hours the spiked guns were playing upon Yorktown. When some British officers visited the spot after the surrender, the French feelingly showed them the grave of a brave sergeant of the Guards whom they had buried in the parapet where he fell. With the drummer appeared an officer waving a white handkerchief. He was met and blindfolded by an American officer, and conducted to the rear of our lines. The message Cornwallis had sent by him to Washington was to the effect that hostilities be suspended for twenty-four hours, and joint commissioners appointed to determine the terms of surrender. To this Washington replied that he should prefer, before the meeting of commissioners, to have his lordship's proposals submitted to him in writing, and that for the purpose he would grant a suspension of hostilities for two hours. Cornwallis complied, and sent in the terms on which he proposed to capitulate. Among his demands he included the inadmissible condition that his troops should be sent to England upon a parole not to serve against either France or America during the continuance of the war unless regularly exchanged. Again the flag returned, and this time with an ultimatum from Washington, who had good reasons for wasting as little time as possible in the negotiations. There existed all through the siege the possibility of the British fleet's appearance off the Capes, and the breaking up of De Grasse's blockade of the York, which might prove fatal to the success of the siege operations. Every day's delay increased the danger. The situation might change any hour, and Cornwallis be encouraged to hold out in the hope of immediate relief. Washington's terms included the surrender of the British army as prisoners of war, upon the basis of the Charleston capitulation in 1780, to which Cornwallis yielded. This result was effected by the night of the Finally, on the 17th of October-a date 17th, and on the 18th commissioners met vividly remembered by our soldiers as the to digest and embody the articles. On the anniversary of Burgoyne's surrender-the part of the British appeared Lieutenantend came. At ten o'clock that morning Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, and for a drummer in red mounted the enemy's the French and Americans the Viscount parapet on the left, and began to beat a de Noailles and Lieutenant-Colonel Lau"parley." As for being heard, he might rens. They met at the Moore house, on have drummed till doomsday; but he could the bank of the York (now a rickety ruin), readily be seen, and the cannonading | a short distance in the rear of the Ameri Cornwallis now thoroughly appreciated his critical position, but determined to make a desperate effort to escape before surrendering. On the night of the 16th he began to transfer his troops to the opposite side, at Gloucester Point, with the design of breaking through the besiegers there with his whole force, and by rapid marches push northward for New York. It is scarcely possible that he could have succeeded; and the elements interposed to stop him. At midnight a storm arose, preventing the crossing of all the troops, and at dawn those who had already crossed returned to their old stations at the works. can lines, and drew up fourteen articles, providing for the surrender of the garrison, and the disposition of the ordnance, stores, ships, and loyalists. On the morning of the 19th these were submitted to Cornwallis, accompanied by a note from Washington intimating his expectation that the terms would be signed by eleven o'clock that morning, and that the troops would march out to surrender their arms at two in the afternoon. At eleven o'clock the articles were signed "in the trenches," and Cornwallis and his army, which had been the scourge and danger of the South for fourteen months, were prisoners of war. A great result, from every point of view! Although peace was not to come for many months, the blow struck here was felt to be effective and final. The British Hannibal had found a sort of Zama in Yorktown, and the new commonwealth, freed of his dangerous presence, could now confidently indulge in visions of unlimited power and empire. At noon of the 19th we have the first act of surrender. Yorktown changed hands. Two redoubts on the left of the enemy's works were at that hour taken possession of by detachments from the allied army. Colonel Richard Butler commanded the American and the Marquis Laval the French party, each of one hundred men. At two o'clock we reach the closing scene. The army of Cornwallis marched out as prisoners of war, grounded their arms, and then marched back. Accounts agree in describing the display and ceremony on the occasion as quite imposing. The British appeared in new uniforms, distributed among them a few days before, and it only required the flying of their standards to give their march the effect of a holiday parade. But their colors were cased, and they were prohibited from playing either a French or an American tune. This was the return of a compliment, a piece of justifiable as well as poetic retaliation on the part of the Americans for what the enemy were pleased to command when General Lincoln was compelled to surrender at Charleston the year before. The matter came up at the meeting of the commissioners. "This is a harsh article," said Ross to Laurens. "Which article?" answered the latter. "The troops shall march out, with colors cased, and drums beating a British or a German march." "Yes, sir," returned Laurens, with a touch of sang froid, "it is a harsh article." "Then," said Ross, "if that is your opinion, why is it here?" Whereupon Laurens, who had been made prisoner at Charleston with Lincoln's army, proceeded to remind Ross that the Americans on that occasion had made a brave defense, but were ungallantly refused any honors of surrender, other than to march out with colors cased and drums not beating a British or a German march. "But," rejoined Ross, "my Lord Cornwallis did not command at Charleston." "There, sir," said Laurens, "you extort another observation. It is not the individual that is here considered; it is the nation. This remains an article, or I cease to be a commissioner." Nothing more was to be said; the article stood, and the enemy marched out with colors cased, while the tune they chose to follow was an old British march with the quite appropriate title of "The World Turned Upside Down." As the prisoners moved out of their works along the Hampton road, they found the French and American armies drawn up on either side of the way, the Americans on their right, and extending for more than a mile toward the field of surrender. The French troops presented a brilliant spectacle in their white uni forms, with plumed and decorated officers | ington. As O'Hara advanced to the at their head, and gorgeous standards of chief, he was referred to Lincoln, who, white silk, embroidered with golden upon receiving the sword as a token of fleurs-de-lis, floating along the line. The the enemy's submission, immediately reAmericans were less of an attraction in turned it to the British general, whose outward appearance, but not the less eagerly eyed by their late antagonists. Among the war-worn Continentals there was variety of dress, poor at the best, distinguishing the men of the different lines; but, to compensate for lack of show, there was a soldierly bearing about them which commanded attention. The militia formed in their rear presented a less martial sight, so far as clothing and order were concerned. But all these men were conquerors, and their very appearance bespoke the hardships and privation they and their States had undergone to win in the struggle. At the head of the respective lines were the commanding generals, nobly mounted-Washington, Rochambeau, La Fayette, Lincoln, Steuben, Knox, and the rest. Leading the British came General O'Hara instead of Cornwallis. The latter pleaded illness, but he sent his sword by O'Hara to be given up to Wash troops then marched between the two lines to a field on the right, where they grounded their arms. For the proud and veteran soldiers, who were the heroes of repeated Southern victories, this was a humiliating ceremony, but it was done in good order. In the field a squadron of French hussars had formed a circle, and within it each regiment marched and deposited their arms. There were sad hearts in the column. The colonel of the Bayreuthian regiment, Von Seybothen, led his men into the circle, and gave the commands: "Present arms! Lay down arms! Put off swords and cartridge-boxes!" his cheeks wet with tears. A corporal in the Seventy-sixth feelingly clasped his musket to his breast, and then threw it down, with the words, "May you never get so good a master!" Writes a captain, "We marched out reluctantly enough." Trumbull's painting in the Ro tunda at the Capitol represents the render of the enemy's standards. sur-onel Mercer (who was General Charles Lee's aide at Monmouth), together with the French Legion of cavalry under the Duc de Lauzun. De Grasse also lent eight hundred marines, under De Choisé, as a re-enforcement for that side. Nothing of importance occurred there after the 3d of October, when Tarleton attempted to forage beyond his lines, and was driven back by Lauzun with some loss. Returning to their tents through the same lines, the British were permitted a few days of rest, when the rank and file, with a number of officers, were marched off to prison-camps at Winchester, Virginia, and Frederick, Maryland, guarded chiefly by militiamen. Their route lay through Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Red House, and Ashby's Gap, into the Shenandoah Valley. When they passed through the Gap, two or three of the English officers rode up to Mrs. Ashley's tavern, and asked if she could get them up a dinner. She stared at their uniform, and ejaculated at the spokesman, "A militiaman, I guess." "No," said the officer. "Oho!" she exclaimed again, "I see; As to the assistance rendered by De Grasse and his thirty-six ships of the line in this brilliant and decisive campaign, its value can be measured only by the results achieved. Not only was Cornwallis effectually blockaded, but the British fleet under Admiral Graves, which attempted to break up the blockade, was defeated, and Clinton's expectations and plans of relief disappointed. He did finally sail down with troops in the hope of reaching Cornwallis through some loop-hole, but he arrived off the Capes only in time to hear of the surrender. Nor are the services of La Fayette and his handful of Continentals to be forgotten in this connection, for he managed well both in avoiding his much stronger antagonist in Virginia, and in subsequently making it difficult for Cornwallis to retreat into North Carolina, had he attempted such a movement, on learning of Washington's approach. Rarely have complex combinations worked so harmoniously and successfully as in this famous Yorktown cam The prisoners were soon removed to York, Pennsylvania, and from there exchanged at the peace. The entire number surrendered, both officers and men, was 7247, or 1500 more than were included in Burgoyne's capitulation. Of the artil-paign. lery corps there were 233; King's Guards, 527; Light-Infantry, 671; Seventeenth Foot, 245; Twenty-third, 233; Thirty-third, 260; Forty-third, 359; Seventy-first, 300; Seventy-sixth, 715; Eightieth, 689; Tarleton's British Legion, 241; Simcoe's Queen's Rangers, 320; Anspach and Bayreuthian regiments, 1077; Prince Hereditary, 484; De Bose, 349; Yagers, 74; North Carolina Volunteers, 142; pioneers and engineers, 67; and the remainder, staff departments. The casualties of the enemy during the siege were 156 killed and 326 wounded; the American loss, 20 killed, 56 wounded; French loss, 52 killed, 134 wounded. Of the operations on the Gloucester side of York River during the siege it is hardly necessary to say more than that the enemy fortified themselves around the village, and were hemmed in by Brigadier-General Weedon with twelve hundred Virginia militia, including about a hundred horsemen under Lieutenant-Col Finally, in America the news of the surrender was everywhere received with the deepest joy. Lieutenant-Colonel Tilghman, Washington's aide, who had been with him since the battle of Long Island, rode with the official dispatches for Congress as fast as horse could carry him, reaching Philadelphia soon after midnight of the 24th. He roused the President, Thomas McKean, and the great news was soon spread through the city by the watchmen. Congress met in the morning, and after hearing the dispatches read, proceeded in a body, at two o'clock in the afternoon, to the Lutheran church, where services were held by the Rev. Mr. Duffield, one of the chaplains of the body. Later they passed resolutions of thanks to the army, and for the erection of a monument at Yorktown in memory of the event. A grand illumination of the city in the evening ended the day's rejoicings, which were then continued through |