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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 1906 



several "Feu de Joyes" or "Vive le Roy." 

 The story of the siege has been so often 

 told that it is necessary to give only the 

 barest outline now. The first parallel be- 

 fore Yorktown was opened on October 6 

 by General Lincoln. Five days later the 

 second parallel was opened by Baron Steu- 

 ben's division, bringing the besiegers within 

 three hundred yards of the enemy's works. 

 The cannonading and firing were almost 

 continuous, and it was learned that great 

 damage was being done to the town. The 

 house of Governor Nelson, of Virginia, was 

 one of the conspicuous landmarks within 

 the enemy's lines which suffered greatly, 

 and principally through the orders of Gov- 

 ernor Nelson himself, who believed his 

 mansion to have been the headquarters of 

 Lord Cornwallis, and therefore ordered the 

 gunners to direct their fire especially to that 

 point. Governor Nelson is one of those 

 splendid patriots whose name has not been 

 sufficiently venerated by posterity. In ad- 

 dition to this evidence of unselfishness, he 

 pledged most of his private fortune, which 

 was considerable, to raise a regiment of six 

 hundred troops, which he commanded in person at the siege. 

 Perhaps the most dramatic feature of the siege was the 

 assault upon two redoubts which had proved very trouble- 

 some to the besiegers and had infiladed their intrenchments 

 and rendered part of the second parallel untenable. The 

 assault upon one of the redoubts was entrusted to the Marquis 

 de Lafayette and his American troops, while the other was 

 led by the Baron de Viomenil. The latter in his assault lost 

 about a third of his men. The American assault was led by 

 Alexander Hamilton, who was the first to mount the walls 



The Custom House in Yorktown is Claimed to be the Oldest One in the United States 



in front of the American army, and Rochambeau with his 

 suite was at the head of the French army. The sight must 

 have been an imposing one indeed. General O'Hara on 

 horseback marched at the head of the British army, consisting 

 of seven thousand two hundred and fifty men and eight hun- 

 dred and forty seamen, advanced to Washington, bowed and 

 explained that Lord Cornwallis was not able to be present on 

 account of indisposition. The Commander-in-Chief indicated 

 General Lincoln as the officer who was to receive the sub- 

 mission of the garrison. The latter were marched into a 



field where they left their arms and 

 then marched back to Yorktown, 

 where they were put under guard. 



In the evening a banquet was given, 

 to which Lord Cornwallis was invited, 

 but he excused himself on account of 

 his health. General O'Hara, how- 

 ever, dined at headquarters, and the 

 event must have proved an interesting 

 . one, as our chronicler states that it 

 was very "social and easy." 



Cornwallis's Cave, which, According to Tradition, was Used by Cornwallis 

 as a Shelter During the Bombardment ; There is No His- 

 torical Evidence in Support of This Theory 



of the parapet. The capture of these two redoubts ren- 

 dered Cornwallis's position untenable, and on October 17th 

 a white flag appeared with a letter to Washington, asking 

 for terms of capitulation. Commissioners were appointed, 

 and, after two days of negotiations, the Articles of Capitu- 

 lation were drawn up and signed, and at two o'clock on the 

 same day the proud army of Cornwallis marched out of 

 Yorktown with shouldered arms, their colors cased and 

 drums beating, between two long lines of the allied 

 armies. Washington, attended by his staff, stood mounted 



Shaft Erected to Mark the Field Where the Surrender Took Place 



