Victory at Yorktown (45 page)

Johnston 111 has a complete list of regiments with a full breakdown of both armies on the next eight pages. For numbers of troops, see Doehla (a total of 7,414 British and German), Ward
The War of the Revolution
2:889 (about 6,000), and Johnston 164–65 (7,157 surrendered; he also gives the round number of 7,500 besieged plus 800 marines).

Johnston has Wayne's criticism of the British movement (127) and Clinton's reassurance of Cornwallis (121).

Lee 496 has his comment on Scammell.

More on Scammell is in Johnston 123 and appendix 174–75; Lee 406; a letter from Colonel Smith in
Magazine of American History
, Jan. 1881, 21; and my
Saratoga
148, 156–57, 395–97. With Scammell's death I felt that I had lost an old friend. I had been with him from Bunker Hill through the rest of the war and had nothing but admiration for him.

Dearborn 219 has his lament.

The Gregory diary 3 lists the size of the first parallel.

Scheer
Yankee Doodle
218–19 includes Martin's observations on fascines and gabions; more appears on 230fn and in Closen, 143fn.

The frequency of artillery fire comes from Tucker 382 (Oct. 2).

Duncan's account is in Scheer and Rankin 480.

The quotation from Wayne appears in Johnston 127.

Tucker reports on the wounded (394) and on the dead horses (382–83).

Commager and Morris 1231 has the account of Washington's visit to the trenches.

Flexner 2:454 records the Reverend Evans's high dudgeon.

Commager and Morris 1229 discusses Hamilton's maneuver.

Scheer and Rankin includes Popp's statement (484), notes Martin's pride in seeing the flag raised (233), and describes the arcing shells (484). The damage to people and the town is in several accounts in this book, especially 386–87 and 484–85, and in Doehla 41–42.

Comments on Knox are from my
Decisive Day
214–21.

Chastellux's appraisal of Knox is in Chinard 54.

Doehla 43–44 describes the British wounded.

Thacher's remark is in Commager and Morris 1232.

The actions of the French regiments appear in Rice and Brown 1:141–42, fn76 and 77.

Some events of Oct. 16 are reported by Cornwallis to Clinton, Oct. 20, in Clinton, Carrington 640, and Doehla 48.

Scheer and Rankin 488 has the Richard Butler account.

In Rice and Brown 1:60 and 143 the Clermont-Crèvecoeur and Verger accounts differ, especially as to the number of troops involved and other details, so I have tried to merge them without focusing on numbers.

Martin's exploits appear in Scheer
Yankee Doodle
234–36.

Scheer and Rankin 488 quotes Captain William Stevens on Knox. The footnote describing the demise of Cochrane is from Cummings and Rankin 325.

Clinton 580–82 prints the Cornwallis letter ending with Oct. 12. The earl's letter of Oct. 15 appears in Scheer and Rankin 488–89, and the same source, 489, reports the activities of Hamilton and Knox.

Tarleton's
History of Campaigns in the Southern Provinces,
quoted in Commager and Morris 396–400, is the source of his advice to retreat. Cornwallis's comment on the storm is in the same source, 1238.

Freeman 5:374 quotes the American soldier. Tarleton's statement that all hope is gone appears in Commager and Morris 1235–36.

Doehla 49–50 mentions the flag of truce, and Cornwallis's letter to Clinton is printed in Commager and Morris 1238.

Denny's comment on the drummer boy is in Scheer and Rankin 490.

Freeman 5:376 quotes the American officer, and Cornwallis's letter to Washington is in MA 488/1, 2.

10. The Hand of Heaven Displayed

Dearborn's 1777 diary 111 has his comment on “Mr. Burguoyn.”

Rice and Brown 1:143–44 and fn81 contains details on the surrender negotiations.

Tucker's description of the scene is in Scheer and Rankin 491.

Commager and Morris 1240 cites the honors to be granted.

The honors in the context of the Charleston surrender are discussed in Scheer and Rankin 1108–9 and 491–92. The same source, 492–93, states that Steuben planted the American flag on a British fort.

Governor Nelson's comment on his house appears in Rice and Brown 1:65, and Closen 180 cites his ownership of plundered farms and loss of hundreds of slaves. The footnote mentioning Governor Nelson's slaves is from Closen 180.

Balch 2:210–11 is a source of information on Governor Nelson.

Closen 154 and Balch 1:209 and 2:64 have information on the captured stores.

Closen 154–55 quotes the fear of pillaging.

The pitiable condition of Negroes is from Rice and Brown 1:64.

Doehla 60–64 mentions Popp's promotion.

My figures on casualties are from several sources, including Closen 154. Johnston 158 gives an entirely different count, totaling 10,069. Note the statement in Closen 154 and fn34 that Closen's figures are too high. Clinton 587 gives 6,630 surrendered, 552 killed, wounded, or missing, for a total of 7,182. To this must be added the number of Germans. Germain's letter of July 7, 1781, to Clinton states that 2,800 Germans will soon arrive. That would make the total 9,982. In his journal 393 St. George Tucker has a figure of 5,818, not counting the garrison at Gloucester.

Commager and Morris 1240–41 and Flexner 2:460–61 have information on the
Bonetta.

Greene's letter to Knox is in Scheer and Rankin 493.

Thacher 288–90 describes the surrender.

Freeman made a thorough study of what tune was played by the British band and concluded that it was almost certainly “The World Turned Upside Down.” See his 5:388 fn47.

Thacher 288–90 mentions the timbrel.

Information about the Blarenberghe paintings may be found in Rice and Brown 2:161–65, with views on 92–97.

Closen's quote is on pp. 153–54.

Commager and Morris 1239 quotes the New Jersey officer.

Doehla 57–58 gives his impressions of the size of the allied armies.

Shreve 157–58 describes the British and German reactions.

The American colonel's views of the antics of Americans appear in Scheer and Rankin 494–95.

The favors done by Rochambeau for Cornwallis are cited in Rice and Brown 1:64.

Clinton 583–87 has Cornwallis's letter to Sir Henry.

The treatment of Negroes is noted in Scheer and Rankin 241–43 and fn11.

Flood 412–13 has the Tarleton stories.

Bonsal 175–77 relates how the news reached Versailles.

Thayer 385 mentions Wayne's and St. Clair's reinforcement of Greene.

Rice and Brown 1:66 characterizes the French quarters, and the same source, 152, contains the Verger journal with its comments on American riflemen and the rebels' veneration of Washington. Clermont-Crèvecoeur's comments on American habits appear in the same source, 71–72.

Tilghman and his mission are reviewed in detail in Shreve 215, appendix 1, no. 15—Tilghman to Washington, Oct. 27, 1781, 158–66 and 168. Further details on the celebrations are in Scheer and Rankin 496 (quoted from Boudinot's journal) and Johnston 158–59.

11. I Now Take Leave of You

The letters between Mildred Smith and Betsy Ambler were published as “An Old Virginia Correspondence,”
Atlantic Monthly
34 (1899):535–39.

Mackesy 433–59 has an excellent section on the navies and their war.

George Washington to Nathanael Greene, Nov. 16, 1781, is in MA 488/1, 37.

The letter from Nathanael Greene to Thomas Nelson, Dec. 27, 1781, is in GLC 07884.09.

Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
627–30 mentions the dauphin's birth.

Closen 181–82 reports on events in the Carolinas, as does Greene 408–9.

The quotations from Walpole are in his
Letters
8:115 and 118.

Johnston 179–81 quotes from Wraxall's memoirs, describing how the cabinet received the news of Yorktown.

Mackesy 386, 435–36, 462–70 quotes Vergennes and reports on London's state of mind and the Rockingham ministry.

Flexner 2:482–84 discusses Washington's movements and the reunion with the French.

James Madison reported the critical situation in Congress to Arthur Lee, May 28, 1782, GLC 3930.

Champagne 186 describes the army's growing discontent.

Rhode Island's refusal to ratify and Virginia's about-face appear in Flexner 2:486.

Brooks 170–71 appraises Knox's role.

Flexner 2:502–4, Champagne 196, and Brooks 172–74 relate events in Newburgh, and Freeman 5:433–36 follows Washington's actions there.

Flexner 2:507–8, 512, and 514–15 discusses Washington's difficult position and the failure of Congress to honor its commitments.

Boatner 744 provides information about Morris; McCullough 300 reports the loan from Holland.

The king's proclamation of Feb. 14, 1783, is in GLC 1731.

McCullough 281, 284–85 assesses the contribution of the American delegates to the peace conference and the treaty itself.

Robson xxiii–xxvi has the British officers' observations on the mediocre caliber of their superiors.

As for the merchants and shipowners who refused to reveal their loyalties, when I was doing research for the book
Divided Loyalties: How the American Revolution Came to New York,
my initial idea was to build the story around a small town, and one I had in mind was Salem, Massachusetts. I found to my astonishment that the splendid local historical society had few of the contemporary documents I required—that is, diaries, letters, journals of the period—and I was reminded by Will LaMoy that Salem was a seafaring town, full of businessmen and traders who almost certainly concealed their loyalties as best they could so as not to upset relations with clients or trading partners.

The quotation from the New York woman who was a spectator is in Freeman 5:462–63. Tallmadge's comment is in the same source, 468.

Both Freeman 5:466–68 and Flexner 2:523–26 provide fine summaries of Washington's last day with his officers. Much of this comes from the memoir of Benjamin Tallmadge, who was an eyewitness.

The material on Washington's appearance before the Congress and his return to Mount Vernon is based on Freeman 5:472–87 and Flexner 2:526–27.

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