Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-08-03

was driven back by Lauzun with some
loss.
AS to the assistance rendered by De
Grasse and his thirty-six ships of the
line in this brilliant and decisive cam
paign, its value can be measured only
by the results achieved Not only was
Cornwallis effectually blockaded, but
the British feet under Admiral Graves,
which attempted to break up the block
ade, was defeated, and Clinton's expec-
tations 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 sur
render Nor are the services of La
Fayette and his handful of Continen-
tails to be forgotten in this connection,
for he managed well, both in avoiding
his much stronger antagonist in Vir-
ginia, and in subsequently making it
difficult for CORVALLIS to retreat into
North Carolina, had he attempted
such movement, on learning of Wash
ington's approach. Rarely have COM
plex combinations worked so harmoni-
ously and successfully as in this famous
Yorktown campaign.
Finally, in America the news of the
surrender was everywhere received
with the deepest joy. Lieutenant-Col-
onel Tilghman, Washington's aide,
who had been with him since the bat
tie of Long Island, rode with the of
fetal dispatches for Congress as fast as
horse could carry him, reaching Phila-
delphia soon after midnight of the Gath.
He reused the President, Thomas Nc
Kean, and the great news was soon
spread through the city by the watch
man. Congress met in the morning,
and after hearing the dispatches read,
proceeded in body, at two O'Clock in
the afternoon, to the Luthern church,
where services were held by the Rev.
Mr.. Dufield, one of the chaplains of
the body. Later they passed resolu-
tions of thanks to the army, and for
the erection of a monument at York
town in memory of the event. A
grand illumination of the city in the
evening ended the days rejoicings,
which were then continued throughout
the country. The army in the High
lands, under Heath, devoted nearly
week to salutes and camp banquets,
with Continental menu, and at Harvard
and Yale there were orations and bon
fires. The students of the latter college
sang "a triumphal hymn" and its pres
ident, DIR. Stiles, was afterward moved
to write to Washington In terms like
these: eve rejoice that the Sover-
eign of the Universe hath hitherto sup
ported you as the delivcrer of your
Country, the Defender of the Liberty
and Rights of Humanity, and the
Macenas of Science and Literature.
We share the public joy, and congratu-
late our Country on the glory of your
arms, and that eminence to which you
have ascended in the recent victory
over the Earl of CORVALLIS and his
army in Virginia" Nor are we to for
get that our generous ally Louis XVI.
of France, upon hearing of the sur
render, ordered "Te Deum' to be
sung in the Metropolitan church in
Paris on the 9th of November, while
the Bureau de la Ville issued an ordi-
nance directing "all the bourgeois and
of the city to illuminate
the fronts of their houses, sin order to
celebrate with due respect great vic
tory gained in America, both by land
and sea, over the English, by the ar
mics of the king combined with those
by General Washington"
Even in Great Britain the disappoint-
mcnt was not universal Bancroft
tells us that "Fox-to whom, in read
ing history, the defeats of armies of in
vaders, from Xerxes's time downward,
gave the greatest satisfaction-heard of
The capitulation of Yorktown with wild
delight" The king, of course, was
still firm and uncompromising, and de-
,lared that he should never be "in the
smallest degree an instrument" in max
ng peace at the expense of separation
rom America. To Lord North he
wrote, November %: II have no
loubt when men are little recovered
Of the shock felt by the bad news, and
eel that if we recede no one can tell
% what degree the consequence of
his country will be diminished, that
hey will then find the necessity of
carrying on the war, though the mode |
If it may require alterations" Many |
rood Englishmen believed as the king
lid, and the gentle poet Cowper was
,nly avowing his loyalty to his sover-
ign and his nation when he inserted |
his passage in letter to his friend the
Rev. John Newton: at appears to
ne that the king is bound, both by the
luty he owes to himself and his people,
o consider himself with respect to
very inch of his territory as trustee.
his interest in them from God,
md invested with them by Divine au-
hority for the benefit of his subjects.
As he may not sell them or waste
hem, so he may not resign them to an
nemy, or transfer his right to govern
hem to any, not even to themselves, so
ong as it is possible for him to keep
t If he does, he betrays at once his
wn interest and that of his other do ,
ninions. Viewing the thing in this
ight, if I sat on his Majesty's throne,
should be as obstinate as he." Opin-
on in Parliament rapidly changed af-
cr the disaster, and in March, 1882,
be Commons voted to authorize the
ing to make peace with America. On
he 18th of April, 1888, eight years to
day after the war broke out, the good
ews that it was over was announced
0 the army by its beloved chief.
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