Latest / The American Revolution A Historical Overview Vol. 3 / 051 - Appendix 1 - Earl Cornwallis to Henry Clinton

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051 - Appendix 1 - Earl Cornwallis to Henry Clinton · The American Revolution A Historical Overview Vol. 3

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  Speaker 1: Section fifty one of History of the Rise, Progress and
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  Speaker 1: Termination of the American Revolution, Volume three by Mercy Otis Warren.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Mark Desanzo. History of
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  Speaker 1: the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Volume
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  Speaker 1: three by Mercy ODIs Warren. Appendix to volume third, Note
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  Speaker 1: number one, Earl Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton K B.
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  Speaker 1: Dated Yorktown, Virginia, October twenty one, seventeen eighty one. Sir,
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  Speaker 1: I have the mortification to inform your Excellency that I
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  Speaker 1: have been forced to give up the posts of York
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  Speaker 1: and Gloucester, and to surrender the troops under my command
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  Speaker 1: by capitulation on the nineteenth instant as prisoners of war
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  Speaker 1: to the combined forces of America and France. I ever
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  Speaker 1: saw this post in a very favorable light. But when
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  Speaker 1: I found I was to be attacked in it in
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  Speaker 1: so unprepared a state, by so powerful an army and artillery,
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  Speaker 1: nothing but the hopes of relief would have induced me
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  Speaker 1: to attempt its defense, For I would either have endeavored
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  Speaker 1: to go to New York by rapid marches from the
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  Speaker 1: Gloucester side, immediately on the arrival of General Washington's troops
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  Speaker 1: at Williamsburg, where I would, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers,
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  Speaker 1: have attacked them in the open field, where it might
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  Speaker 1: have been just possible that fortune would have favored the
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  Speaker 1: gallantry of the handful of troops under my command. But
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  Speaker 1: being assured by Your Excellency's letters that every possible means
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  Speaker 1: would be tried by the Navy and Army to relieve us,
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  Speaker 1: I could not think myself at liberty to venture upon
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  Speaker 1: either of those desperate attempts. Therefore, after remaining for two
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  Speaker 1: days in a strong position in front of the place
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  Speaker 1: in hopes of being attacked, upon observing that the enemy
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  Speaker 1: were taking measures which could not fail, of turning my
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  Speaker 1: left flank in a short time, and receiving on the
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  Speaker 1: second evening yard letter of the twenty fourth of September,
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  Speaker 1: informing that the relief would sail about the fifth of October,
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  Speaker 1: I withdrew within the works on the night of the
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  Speaker 1: twenty ninth of September, hoping by the labor and firmness
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  Speaker 1: of the soldiers to protract the defense until you could arrive.
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  Speaker 1: Everything was to be expected from the spirit of the troops,
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  Speaker 1: but every disadvantage attended their labor, as the works were
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  Speaker 1: to be continued under the enemy's fire, and our stock
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  Speaker 1: of entrenching tools, which did not much exceed four hundred
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  Speaker 1: when we began to work in the latter end of August,
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  Speaker 1: was now much diminished. The enemy broke ground on the
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  Speaker 1: night of the thirtieth, and constructed on that night and
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  Speaker 1: on the two following days and nights, two redoubts, which,
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  Speaker 1: with some works that had belonged to our outward position,
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  Speaker 1: occupied a gorge between two creeks or ravines, which come
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  Speaker 1: from the river on each side of the town. On
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  Speaker 1: the night of the sixth of October, they made their
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  Speaker 1: first parallel, extending from its right on the river to
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  Speaker 1: a deep ravine on the left, nearly opposite to the
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  Speaker 1: center of this place, and embracing our whole lefts at
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  Speaker 1: the distance of six hundred yards. Having proferet did this parallel,
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  Speaker 1: their batteries opened on the evening of the ninth against
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  Speaker 1: our left, and other batteries fired at the same time
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  Speaker 1: against a re doubt advanced over the creek upon our right,
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  Speaker 1: and defended by about one hundred and twenty men of
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  Speaker 1: the twenty third Regiment and marines, who maintained that post
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  Speaker 1: with uncommon gallantry. The fire continued incessant, from heavy cannon
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  Speaker 1: and from mortars and howitzers, throwing shells from eight to
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  Speaker 1: sixteen inches, until all our guns on the left were silence,
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  Speaker 1: our work much damaged, and our loss of men considerable.
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  Speaker 1: On the night of the eleventh they began their second
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  Speaker 1: parallel about three hundred yards nearer to us, the troops
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  Speaker 1: being much weakened by sickness as well as by the
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  Speaker 1: fire of the besiegers, and observing that the enemy had
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  Speaker 1: not only secured their flanks, but proceeded in every respect
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  Speaker 1: to the utmost regularity and caution, I could not venture
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  Speaker 1: so large sorties as to hope from them any considerable effect.
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  Speaker 1: But otherwise I did everything in my power to interrupt
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  Speaker 1: this work, by opening new embrasiers for guns us and
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  Speaker 1: keeping up a constant fire with all the howitzers and
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  Speaker 1: small mortars that we could man. On the evening of
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  Speaker 1: the fourteenth, they assaulted and carried two redoubts that had
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  Speaker 1: been advanced about three hundred yards for the purpose of
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  Speaker 1: delaying their approaches and covering our left flank, and during
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  Speaker 1: the night enclosed them in their second parallel, on which
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  Speaker 1: they continued to work with the utmost exertion, being perfectly
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  Speaker 1: sensible that our work could not stand. Many hours after
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  Speaker 1: the opening of the batteries of that parallel, we not
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  Speaker 1: only continued a constant fire with all our mortars and
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  Speaker 1: every gun that could be brought to bear upon it.
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  Speaker 1: But a little before daybreak on the morning of the
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  Speaker 1: sixteenth I ordered a sortie of about three hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty men under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Abercrombie, to
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  Speaker 1: attack two batteries which appeared to be in the greatest forwardness,
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  Speaker 1: and to spike the guns. A detachment of guards with
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  Speaker 1: the eightieth Company of Grenadiers under the command of Lieutenant
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  Speaker 1: Colonel Lake attacked the one, and one of the light
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  Speaker 1: infantry under the command of Major Armstrong attacked the other,
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  Speaker 1: and both succeeded by forcing the redoubts that covered them,
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  Speaker 1: spiking eleven guns and killing or wounding about one hundred
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  Speaker 1: of the French troops who had the guard of that
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  Speaker 1: part of the trenches, and with little loss on our side,
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  Speaker 1: this action though extremely honorable to the officers and soldiers
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  Speaker 1: who executed it, proved of little public advantage, for the cannon,
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  Speaker 1: having been spiked in a hurry, were soon rendered fit
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  Speaker 1: for service again, and before dark the whole parallel and
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  Speaker 1: batteries appeared to be nearly complete. At this time we
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  Speaker 1: knew there was no part of the whole front attacked
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  Speaker 1: on which we could show a single gun, and our
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  Speaker 1: shells were nearly expended. I therefore had only to choose
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  Speaker 1: between preparing to surrender next day or endeavoring to get
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  Speaker 1: off with the greatest part of the troops, and I
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  Speaker 1: determined to attempt the latter, reflecting that though it should
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  Speaker 1: prove unsuccessful in its immediate object, it might at least
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  Speaker 1: delay the enemy in the prosecution of farther enterprises. Sixteen
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  Speaker 1: large boats were prepared, and upon other pretexts were ordered
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  Speaker 1: to be in readiness to receive troops precisely at ten o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: With these I hoped to pass the infantry during the night,
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  Speaker 1: abandoning our baggage and leaving a detachment to capitulate for
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  Speaker 1: the townspeople and the sick and wounded, on which subject
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  Speaker 1: a letter was ready to be delivered to General Washington.
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  Speaker 1: After making my arrangements with the utmost secrecy, the light infantry,
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  Speaker 1: greatest part of the Guards, and part of the twenty
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  Speaker 1: third Regiment, landed at Gloucester. But at this critical moment
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  Speaker 1: the weather, from being moderate and calm, changed to a
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  Speaker 1: most violent storm of wind and rain, and drove all
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  Speaker 1: the boats, some of which had troops on board, down
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  Speaker 1: the river. It was soon evident that the intended passage
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  Speaker 1: was impracticable, and the absence of the boats rendered it
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  Speaker 1: equally impossible to bring back the troops that had passed,
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  Speaker 1: which I had ordered about two in the morning. In
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  Speaker 1: this situation, with my little force divided, the enemy's batteries
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  Speaker 1: opened at daybreak. The passage between this place and Gloucester
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  Speaker 1: was much exposed, but the boats having now returned, they
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  Speaker 1: were ordered to bring back the troops that had passed
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  Speaker 1: during the night, and they joined us in the forenoon
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  Speaker 1: without much loss. Our works were in the meantime going
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  Speaker 1: to ruin, and not having been able to strengthen them
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  Speaker 1: by abatis nor in any other manner, but by a
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  Speaker 1: slight phrasing, which the enemy's artillery were demolishing wherever they fired.
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  Speaker 1: My opinion entirely coincided with that of the engineer and
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  Speaker 1: principal officers of the army, that they were in many
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  Speaker 1: places assailable in the forenoon, and that by the continuance
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  Speaker 1: of the same fire for a few hours longer, they
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  Speaker 1: would be in such a state as to render it
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  Speaker 1: desperate with our numbers to attempt to maintain them. We
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  Speaker 1: at that time could not fire a single gun, only
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  Speaker 1: one eight inch and little more than a hundred cohorn
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  Speaker 1: shells remained. A diversion by the French ships of war
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  Speaker 1: that lay at the mouth of York River was to
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  Speaker 1: be expected. Our numbers had been diminished by the enemy's fire,
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  Speaker 1: but particularly by sickness, and the strength and spirits of
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  Speaker 1: those in the works were much exhausted by the fatigue
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  Speaker 1: of constant watching and unremitting duty. Under all these circumstances,
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  Speaker 1: I thought that it would have been wanton and inhuman
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  Speaker 1: to the last degree to sacrifice the lives of this
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  Speaker 1: small body of gallant soldiers, who had ever behaved with
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  Speaker 1: so much fidelity and courage, by exposing them to an
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  Speaker 1: assault which, from the numbers and precautions of the enemy,
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  Speaker 1: could not fail to succeed. I therefore proposed to capitulate,
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  Speaker 1: and I have the honor to enclose to your Excellency
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  Speaker 1: the copy of the correspondence between General Washington and me
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  Speaker 1: on that subject, and the terms of capitulation agreed upon.
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  Speaker 1: I sincerely lament that better could not be obtained, but
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  Speaker 1: I have neglected nothing in my power to alleviate the
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  Speaker 1: misfortunes and distresses of both officers and soldiers. The men
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  Speaker 1: are well clothed and provided with necessaries, and I trust
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  Speaker 1: will be regularly supplied by the means of the officers
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  Speaker 1: that are permitted to remain with them. End of Section
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  Speaker 1: fifty one.