Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-10-23
esult of the junction of the American

V len " asnlngton, however, heihu tu"t Co.nwallis was entrenching himself on the Virginia peninsula, he began to en- tertain scheme for movement soutn- ward. This scheme was adopted when t was learned that the Count De Grasse, commander of the French fleet, then in
 the West Indies, would sail no further north than Chesapeake Bay.
 IL was late in August when, by dex- terOus feint. Sir Henry Clinton was de- ceiyed about the real plans of the cam paign adopted by the allies. 1he Amer jeans and French were far on tbelr way to Virginia when the British commander discovered the truth. it WIS too late to
 pursue the allies by land, ana the only alternative was to send reinforcemcnts v CornwGilis by ssa. This would take
 tme, however.
 Washington reached Lafayette's camp at Williamsburg, on September lith. De GraSse and the French fleet, and 3,OOJ French troops that De Grasse had embarked Tn the West Indies, were there.
 N NashingtOn's arrival was made the oc- casiOn of great rejoicing, which lasted
 until late at night. The troops from the vicinity of New York arrived a few days later, being taken down tie Chesapeake
 Bay ln transports, while Washington and
 hochambeau had come overland, in or der to visit Mount Vernon, which its owner had not seen for six years.
 Cumwallis did not Erd Yorktown u
 very strong position. He threw up earth
 works, which were protected on the
 ught by deep ravine and on the left
 by NOrmsiey Creek It was on the
 morning Of Sepsembef,2S, that ;he allied
 French and Americ; re froiy moved for
 ward from Wlllamsmhlap4- the invest ment of 1cTktOx' r, SE nlght the troops
 encamPcd within a mic and a half of the eDemy's position, and the following
 morning they advanced still nearer, and had several skirmishes. COrnwallis row evacuated his Outworks, much to the surprise Of the allies, but, as he claimed, ID consequence of information from Sir Henry Clinton that endorsements would be sent on October 5-informa- ton which determined him to save all his strength until they arrived.
 Inc alned army now began a regular siege. The French took possession Of the left from the river and the Amer jeans on the left, thus forming a semi circle. The American wing consisted of three divisions of two brigades each of Continentals-about 5OO0 men altogeth- er-and of 400O Virginia militia. The division commanders were Lincoln. ta- layette and Steuben. Lafayette's diyis- ion held the extreme>flght of the line. General Nuhlenberg commanded the First Brigade, General Hagen the See Ond. SteUben's brigadiers were Wayne and Gist, and Llncoln's, James Clinton and Dayton. The French contingent consisted of seven regiments, called by the names of BourbOnpais, Deuxpouts, Soissonais, Saitogne. Agenois, Touraine and Gatenois, divided into three bri- gades, commanded by Baron NiOmeDil. Niscount Yiomenil and Marquis St. Si- mon. This, with the artillery, comprised the besieging force, numbering all told, about lGOOO men-100O French and 5000 American. The French fleet lying m the harbor numbered thirty-seyen sal.
 Washington established his headquar- ters aboat the middle of the investing lines, two and half miles back from the intreDchments. The first week of OctO- ter was taken up entirely with the mall- ing uf the necessary appliances used in siege works. On the evening of the 9th of the month the operations began in earnest, however. Digging was kept up all night, and by daylight a good sized trench had been excavated. From this time on tine life of the besleged was not pleasant one The fire of the besiegeTs was so well directed that by the 18th the British guns were nearly all silenced. Cornwallis had established his head quarters m the fine mansion of Mir. Nel- sCn, formerly Secretary of Virginia; but he left it on the l0th, and the story goes that he sought refuge in what Is still called "COrnwaliis' cave Lafayette's headquarters were on tine left of his line and not far from the road to Hampton.
 The most heroic fighting of the siege was seen on the night of October 14th. There were two outer redOubts held by the British near the river, and these 1t Was decided to take by storm. About IuO men Were told off from Lafayettr's division to take one of these, and an equal number from the French reei- ments of Gatsn0is and DeuxpOnts to take the other. It was bravely done on both sides in less than half an hour, and now tine British position was practically untenable. A sortie was made for the purpose of destroying some unfinished batteries, but 1t failed of its object, and COrnwallis realized his extreme danger. lie tried, on the night of the 10th, tO gain the opposite side of the river, but a storm which came on at midnight frus- trated his design.
 At last, at 10 o'clock on the morning of the l1th, a relocated drummer sounded a barley, and an officer who ac- cOmpanied him waved a white handker- chief. The officer was met and blind folded, and conducted to the rear of tbe American lines. His message from Corn wallis was that hostilities be suspended for twenty-four hours, and commission CTS appointed to arrange the terms of surrender. Washington's reply was, that he would rather have the British com mander's proposals in writing first, and tO secure them agreed to cease firing for two hours. Before the two hours had 1 expired COrnwallis had offered to capitu- late on condition that his troops be sent back to England under parole not to | serve again during the war against either | France or America, unless they were regularly exchanged This was rejected ! at once, and the messenger sent back 1 with WashingtOn's ultlmatum that tue | British army be surrendered as prisoners | of war on the same terms as the Ameri- l cans surrendered at Charleston, in the | previous year. Cornwallis acceded to | this, and the next day, the 18th, the com l missioners met to formally ratify the | terms. This meeting was held in the | Moore house on the bank of the York l river, short distance behind the Ameri- | can lines. The articles of surrender were | fourteen in number, and were submitted | to Cornwallis at daylight, on the 18th, | by a note from Washing ton, intimating that he expected them to | be signed before eleven o'clock, and that | the troops would march out and lay down | their arms at two in the afternoon.
 WashingtOn's request was complied l with. At two o'clock sharp the army of | Cornwallis marched out. The march | was along the Hampton road, on the | right of which they found the Ameri- | cans drawn up in their buff and blue | rather the worse for wear. and ! on the left were the French in the clean . white affected by the armies of the Bour- ! bon kings. The British had donned | their best scarlet, and their bands play ed an old march called "The World | Turned Upside Down"
 The next step was the grounding of | arms by the surrendered troops. They the entire length of the Franco American lmes-about mile-to a field on the right, where a squadron of French huzzars had formed a circle, into which each regiment marched and de- posited their guns and accoutrements. In silence they marched back to their own tents, and American independence had been achieved.
 Proposed Sale.
 The San Francisco Stock Exchange says Judge Benson has formed syndi- cate to buy the Grand Central mine. There is nothing wonderful in that. The only question Is will the Grand Central sell for the price offered. We think the I.,r-