The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-10-18

| well understood from the beginning. But
| IL was the naval engagement OIL the
| Virginia Capes some weeks before the
| surrender that opened the way Tor the
| triumph of American arms. Had Admiral
! Graves not been beaten by De Grasse
| md compelled TO return north, he might
| have picked up CORVALLIS army and
| transported 1t to a place of safety. AS IL
was that noble lord was caught Ike
| rat in "a trap No retreat from YORKTOWN
was found possible, and equally futile
were the sorties that he made. And So,
/ on the 18th Of October articles of capt
| tulation were signed, and on the 10Th
the British and Hessians laid down their
arms.
Thus yorktown became famous. 1T was
an old settlement in ISL, though not a
very popuous one 1t Is not so aged as
Jamestown, but 1t is town" whereas
jamestown long. long ago ceased to DO
one, and is now only plantation.
Yorktown has withstood two sieges
and two commandments. Virginians
turned their own guns on their own
houses in 17s1. In 1862 Mcclellan poured
upon the place his shot and shell from
ship and shore. He was making things
very peppery there for Magruders gal
liant little army when a part of Joe john
ston's command marched in from Manas-
sas. They enabled the Confederate
forces to withdraw in good order. Then
80 10, cb, a
next the battle of Seven Pines, and the
greatest war of modern times was on.
Yorktown is in the enjoyment of
serene and dignified old age. 1t Is IN
a great fish and oyster country and Its
people live we'll. It has the appearance
of calmncss and content. STEAMBOATS,
land at its wharf, but no locomotive
lars the nerves of the community. AT
the time of the Yorktown centennial
celebration, october, 1881, when the beau
tiful monument erected by the national
government was dedicated, branch road
was run down there from the nearby
tracks of the Peninsula division of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, but, later
on, it was taken up. However, the town
Is but few miles from the railway sta
ton and steamers land there every day.
Many tourists find their way there and
view with delight the superb Yorktown
monument and the Nelson house and the
place of surrender and the Temple house,
in which the articles of capitulation were
signed.
Of Nelson urging
the Americans to fire upon his costly
dwelling, then occupied by CORVALLIS, Is
true, and so is that relating to the great
pecuniary sacrifices the Governor made
to arm and equip the Virginia militia
for service at Yorktown. Another story,
by no means SO pleasant, is that neither
the State nor the national government
compensated him, as they should have
(, done, after he had thus impoverished
himself.
Without the aid of the French fleet and
the French troops, It is difficult to see
how Washington could have trapped
| CORVALLIS Whether the French did
what they did in coming to America for
| love Of liberty or hatred of England is
! another question, but the names Of
Washington, Lafayette, Rochambeau and
| De Grasse always should be linked to-
getller when one refers to the makers Of
victory at Yorktown.
En- route from the Hudson to Yorktown
Washington stopped at Mount Vernon;
returning, he stayed In Richmond short
time, and we are not sure he was in
Richmond at any other time during the
war.