News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-10-21
SURRENDER OF CORVALLIS.
A Notable Epoch in the History of the Rev
lutiOnnry War.

The exact spot of Corvallis surrend-
er is not known. For some years it was
marked by granite stone, but IN the
troublous days of 1862, when York
town was another and vaster camp, it
disappeared. The present monument,
which was erected in 1881, is on bluff
overlooking the river, and is very noble
and imposing. Many events of the sur
render which lie buried in what Uncle
Manuel contemptuously called "dem
lyin' history books" are well. remember
ed traditions here. One is that after
the surrender Lord CORVALLIS stood un-
covered in the presence of Washington.
''Put on your hat, my lord, said Wash
| ington.
at matters little" replied Lord Corn
wallis, 'what now becomes of this gray
head"
''Not so my lord, replied Washington.
''There remain to you, l trust, many
years of honor and usefulness"
But CORVALLIS was right All of his
brilliant military achievements; his
splendid administration of India, were
forgotten, and he was disgraced man
in England, while his superior, ir
Henry Clinton, W put hiyl in the trap
where Washington caught him, went
comparatively scot free. Washington
treated him with great liberality, allow
ing him to take virtually whatever he
choose back to England, but with char
acteristic punctilio he abated no jot of
what was due to the conquering army.
Cornwallis would not personally make
the surrender, but sent his sword by
Gen. O'Hara. Gen. Washington refus-
ed to receive it, and deputed Gen. Lin
coin in his place When the English
troops marched out with colors cased
and the band playing q doleful march,
very aptly named ''The World Turned
Upside Down" the men OF Col. Aber-
crombie's regiment, which came first,
instead of stacking their arms as requir-
ed threw them angrily in heap on the
ground. Gen. Washington turned to
Col. AbercrOmbie, who had hid his face
in shame and wrath, and requested him
to order his men to stack their arms
properly. In the old order book of day
is an allowance of flour "for powdering
the mems heads" They had not had
any flour bread for weeks, but Gen.
Washington was noJ the man TO receive
the surrender of gallant foe with un-
powdered hair. 1t is an extraordinary
fact, which the writer of this has before
stated in print and which has met with
no contradiction, that at Yorktown sur
rendered the largest number of English
men who ever laid down their arms to
any foreign force-and this was not
quite 1000, all told, officers and men.
This glorious record is unparalleled in the
history of any country. England has
had no Ulm, no Metz, no Sebastopol,
but neither has she had Sadowa or a
Sedan. This was remembered when, at
the celebration at Yorktown, President
Arthur ordered the English flag to be
run up, and every gun on land and sea
thundered a salute to the colors that
were never lowered but once, and then
to men of Anglo Saxon race.
Yorktown is struggling, sleepy Vir-
ginia village, on bold bluff overlook
ing the majestic river, which there can
float the biggest snip ever built. Its
commercial importance waned nearly
century ago, but its position is such that
eventually it must become great ship
ping port The soil and climate will
admit of anything being raised that will
grow out of the ground, and the great
river is the road to market. 1t now
blossoms like the rose. But the farm
ers think, of course, that they are the
only people in the country who can't
get 81, 80 bushel for wheat and every
thing in proportion. 1t is in vain to
show them in their own garden spcts
very often the currant and gooseberry
bushes, which love a hardy climate,
fourishing along side of the pecan tree,
the fig, and the pomegranate bushes
ali growing luxuriantly. Yorktown like
other heroic things, is not beautiful. A
descendant of Lord CORVALLIS, after
viewing the spot ca efully, declared his
opinion that nobody could blame his
ancestor for surrenderlng such place.
Sydney, in Chicago Times.