Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-10-23

Description Of the scene Of fhe
Surrender of Lord Corn
wallis I'm I7S3.

prescription u tnc ncCN" 1A the
Surrender of Lord Corn
wallis I'm I7S3.
By CAPTAIN Luther 9. RlEEs. Editor Chicago
telegram.
yorktown. in Virginia, tho histori.
cal scene Of the surrender Of Lord
CORVALLIS and the British army to
Washington aud the colonial forces,
in the war Of the Revolution, an event
which closed the conflict between
the mother country and the infant
American dependencies, has long been
q much neglected spot. yorktown Is
not reached BY railway, and is of the
line Of progress. II is on the james
river, some twenty miles from Fortress
Monroe at Old Point Comfort, the
southern terminus OF the peninsula,
and has always maintained some small
whaTves. at which river boats and
sloops make periodical landings.
There is also a good travelled corduroy
road from Fortress Monroe, originally
built by General Mcclellan in the
peninsular campaign, and lying for q
long distance through dense pine
forests. Some day Yorktown may re-
siye all its old time prosperity; at least
it ought to become more accessible asa
point for future pilgrimage. Before
the Revolution the town was quite en-
emporium, the only port from which
the Virginia planters shipped their
tobacco to England. Baltimore and
Norfolk gradually reduced il by CON-
petition. Some two centuries or more
ago we first hear Of il as one Of the
few outposts or forts in the colony.
In l725 it WIS the center Of thriving
oounH-an Episcopal parish Of sixty
communicate, with a onurch. vii
liamsburg.the capita, with it's house Of
burgesses and William and Mary s
college, attracting thither the wisdom
and fashion Of the dominion, is some
eight miles away, on the northeast
About mile south Of the town are
the immense earthworks, Fort Ma
gTuder, and before it an open plain, o
mile in expanse, fauked on the lett by
a wide stretch Of dense woods. ItWas
here that the memorable battle o.
Williamsburg was fought, with such
terrible havoc and loss of life TO the
federal troops, who were moved down
by the thousands, by murderous ma.
chine gus brought by the rebels from
the Harper's Ferry arsenal.
After the battle, the dead
we're buried iu long trenches,
the grim monuments OF carnage re-
naming till this day. The Union
troops, under the gallant General
Hooker won the day, though at fearl
full cost and ere nightfall had marched
upon Williamsburg, where vandalism
fred and destroyed the ancient ana
revered college buildings. Until
CORVALLIS stationed himself on the
peninsula Yorktown had escaped the
rayages Of war on the Virginia coast,
and after its surrender il still CON
tanned about seventy houses, not more
than two or three having been wholly
destroyed. Fifteen years later il had
not extended its limits, and We End its
population, more than half Of which
was composed Of negroes, numbering
about eight hundred souls. The wal
Of the rebellion, it need hardly be
said, left the venerable town with it,
old fashioned houses 10 depressed
condition; almost beyond recovery and
to.dsy it contains not more than three
hundred inhabitants, among whom
are to DO found but few descend.
ants Of the ancient proprietors. In
fact, it seems TO be the lot Of York
town that the more ii becomes q bis.
torical spot, the less it becomes any.
thing else.
Here and there on the south, at .
dist ,nce OF a mile from the tovr
(which is built on a side hill, over.
looking the james river, and is wholly
enclosed in high wooden stockade)
are the ruins Of the ea'thWorks thrown
up by McClellan's army, the principA
Notifications being built aud oecu-
/ pied by the Connecticut heavy artil-
lery. The monument erected By thu
State Of Virginia to commemorate The
Revolutionary surrender, was enclosed
by . wooden fence, and stood half I
mile southeast OF the town At the
first approach OF McClellan's troops
the monument was taken down by tho
Southern army and removed to Rich,
mond. When the place was occupied
by the Federal troops, every vestige q
the fence was hacked down, cut up
into splinters, and sent home in let,
ters, as souvenirs. Even the butts o.
the cedar posts, which we're first sawed
of even with the ground, were dug IN
aud whitfield into relics, the write
carefully cherishing q charm carved
in the form Of a book. The site OF thu
monument is now marked by a nationa
cemetery, in which the dead Of Nc
Clellan's army in the peninsula cam,
paigu, and those who died at q subse
quent period during the war, wert
buried. The last military occupation
Of the peninsula, during the recen,
war, was oontemporansous with tbs
battle Of Gettysburg, when Genera
Gordon's division occupied the his.
torical field for q period Of three Of
four weeks, advanced az far east az
Diascomb bridge extending the picket
| line to within q few miles Of Rich.
mond, making a point of attack upon
the Federal capital, 10 order to direcl
attention from the real point Of attack
on the Maryland frontier.
Should you bea sufferer from dyspop