New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-09-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

1t is natural TO characterize this work first OF all
rs timely. coming it does just public interest
is centrng upon the celebration Mt lorktowh'
where the Nation at last rs to erect monument
which voted by the Continental Congress one
hundred years ago. 1t is by no means however, a
piece of centennial literature thrown together TO
meet the spasnodc demand of festal occasion,
but n work of serious research and permanent
value Ii is interesting not only because it is the
first complete and consecutive narrative OF the
operations which eliminated in the surrender of
CORVALLIS but because it is full clear and even
vivid in the light thrown upon il by freshly gath
cred and carefully sifted material at the very points
where heretofore the accounts have been disap-
pOintingly meagre. The browning victory of the
struggle which gave this country government OF
its own is certainly theme of sufficient dignity 30
justify the most thorough and clrcumstantia treat
meut and although it presents few incidents of in
tensely dramatic character the story OF the cam
paign and siege the coils frightened about the
doomed invaders is one of constant and unilagging
interest.
The British attempt to subiugate the North had
been failure. disastrous and admitted. Hence the
determination to strike the rebellion in a vul-
neraole point, and cut it in two leaving the isolated
North to be reduced at leisure But CORVALLIS, the
ablest of the British leaders. had met at last n
worthy antagonist i'll Greene, and after the costly
victory at Guillord Court House In March, ISL he
compelled to withdraw to the scaboard eav-
ing his cautious antagonist practically master of
the Carolinas. The retreat of Corvallis t. Will
mington was confessed failure But he could not
remain there and leave Greene to fall upon Lord
Rawdon, who had been left in South Carolina, and
there were obvious moral reasons why he should
not retreat still further southwark to Charleston
A sufficient answer, then, to the question why he
went to Virginia seems &c be that he had nowhere
else to CO. Mr.. Johnston contents himself with Civ
ing the reasons assigned by Lord CORVALLIS him.
self for his march to MISUNDERSTANDING what he
hoped to accomplish in the way of " solid opera
tiors" in conjunction with General Phillips. But
by his admission he was in tight spot. and
the road to Virs ma all appearance the
safest well the most creditable way out of it.
lie only extracted himself from difficulty,
however. to fluid himself in Il more serious entangle
ment. Clinton could not come to his ali he
hoped, for the force at New-York was inadeouate
The fleet upon which he relied for cooperation was
for once out-manmuvrcd by the dcspised French
sailors. and he finally found himself shut up by
and land in the historic town where he was made a
prisoner OF war.
With CORVALLIS in Virginia and Lafayette con-
fronting him, Mr.. Johnston's circumstantal mar
rative begins. This portion of the campaign has
never been fully ard accurately written the
letters of Lafayette, fortunately preserved among
the Gates Manuscripts of our Historical Society.
and much other unpublished material being drawn
upon to give life movement and reality to these
preliminary scenes of the great drama. The Amer-
can force opposed to the British veterans of Camden
and Guilford was mcagre, and the militia were
and unframed But the Light Infantry-hs {" dear
Light Infantry" as Lafayette called them in 1924
In his speech on the site of the Rock Redoubt
which they had stOrmei-was u corps of which any
leader might be proud. Detached from New
England regiments mainly-men who would
naturally shrink from service in the distant South
they nevertheless whom Lafayette
dared to address in general order setting forth
the hazardous nature of the campaign against a
superior force. These difficulties the General de-
clared he was determined to encounter, but if they
were inclined to abandon him they need not fear the
punishment of deserters, everyone who shoud
apply at headquarters for rass to join his corps in
the North could obtain it Immediately. Not a
man left him. Nor did the Boy" as CORVALLIS
styled hun, fail to prove his sOldiership 1t soon
became apparent that he was no less discreet and
patient than he was dashing and impetuous In
open battle his little force would have been cut to
pieces at once. To decline fighting would dis
hcarten his troops and the country. a am not
strong enough" he wrote, even to get beaten"
So he kept skrinshing on the enemy's nanks and
worrying his rear. l had eye" he wrote again.
upon European negotiations, and made it q point
to give his lordshp the disgrace of a retreat" at
last CORVALLIS, after much marching with little
gain or glory, turned to Yorktown to hold a
harbor for the feet. He went there in good faith
Obeying the spirit of Clintons orders for although
there was plainly some GOODNESS between the geu-
erals it never had the slightest influence upon the
military movements of the campaign. The dispute
grew to be acrimonious enough but this was
after the disaster.
1t is the singular merit Of Washington that his
eye was quick to discover every ripening oppor-
tunity, and that he never hesitated to make the
bodest change of front to meet it. There is nothing
better in Mr.. JohnstOn's book than the discussion
of the reasons which determined Washington's
course as events developed, and the purposes of
DE Grasse were manifested. A clear account of tie
rapidly matured plans for cooperation by land and
sea, and of the sudden withdrawal of the army of
the Hudson from before powerful enemy follows
until this situation at the end of August is pre-
sented: CORVALLIS fortifying leisurely at York
town Lafayette in camp of observation on the
Pamunky; Wayne on the James about opposlte
Harrisons Landing; Washington marching down
through Trenton; De Grasse sailing into the
Chesapeake, and CORVALLIS ignorant both of the
movements of Washington and the French
Admiral" The British fleet as plainly appears in
the narrative, fails for in a capt. al crisis and
swiftly the grand surprise of the Revolution is
accomplished. Clinton is quietly left to his own
reflections in New-YorS. and Mr." Washington, as
he takes pains invariably to call him. falls upon
his illustrious and hopelessly ensnared lieutenant
four hundred miles away. 1t was a brilliant niece
OF strategy involving widely separate and critical
movements which carried out with singular
precision. The plan was scientific as it was bold
and 1T deserved the triumphant end which crowned
the work.
OF course the details Of the siege and surrender
are given with a completeness and accuracy never
before attempted an entire chapter being devoted