Mrs. Arnold and her baggage over to the British side.

Washington, though his heart was filled with the keenest sorrow for the fate of one so universally beloved, and possessed of such noble qualities of heart and mind, refused to arrest the course of justice. As in all cases where great trouble came upon him, so in this, he said but little, but

sternly and silently wrestled with it alone. Arnold was made brigadier-general in the British service, and put on an official level with honorable men, who scorned, however, to associate with him. What golden reward he was to have received had he succeeded in delivering West Point to the enemy, is not known; £30,000, most probably.

highest pleasure and satisfaction, and had given me the happiest presages of success."

A glorious event, one eliciting the most unbounded demonstrations of joy throughout the United States, and which completely destroyed British military power at the south, thus setting the seal of American success upon the contest with the mother country,-was the capture, as announced in the above dispatch, of Lord Cornwallis and his splendid army, at Yorktown, Virginia, in October, 1781, by the combined American and French forces under General Washington and Counts de Rochambeau and Grasse.

In the summer of 1781, Cornwallis had taken possession of several places in the south, and, in the latter part of July, desirous of establishing himself firmly in Virginia, he accordingly selected Yorktown as a suitable defensive post and capable of protecting ships of the line. Little did he think, as he began leisurely to fortify the place, that it was a net which would entangle him in crushed hopes and ruined fortunes. Yorktown is situated at the narrowest part of the peninsula formed by the York and James rivers, where the distance across is but eight miles. By placing his troops, therefore, around the village, and drawing about them a range. of outer redoubts and field works calculated to command this peninsula, Cornwallis had, as he thought, established himself well.

Lafayette, with an inferior number of troops, was at this time at Williamsburg, but was unable to make successful engagements with the superior force of the British. Seeing, at once, the importance of putting some check upon the progress of Cornwallis at the south, Washington determined to unite the American and French forces, then in the neighborhood of New York, and join Lafayette at Williamsburg. This junction was effected on the fourteenth of September, Washington being at the head of the American troops, and the Count de Rochambeau at the head of the French forces. At the same time the Count de Grasse, with his fleet, entered

the Chesapeake, after a slight engagement with Admiral Graves off the capes, and was joined by the squadron of the Count de Barras from Newport. Three thousand men, under the Marquis St. Simon, were also added to the troops under Lafayette's command; and these combined forces then moved toward Yorktown and Gloucester, where Corwallis was stationed.

The British general had been expecting aid from Sir Henry Clinton at the north, but so adroitly had Washington withdrawn his troops, that Sir Henry scarcely suspected his design, till it was too late to frustrate it. On the thirteenth of September, the allied army occupied the outer lines of Cornwallis, which that general had abandoned without a struggle. Yorktown was in a short time completely invested; the American army occupying the right, and the French the left, forming a semi-circle with each wing resting upon the river. On the night of the sixth of October the besieging army broke ground within six hundred yards of the British lines; and the first parallel was completed with little loss. On the ninth and tenth, guns were mounted on the works, and the batteries began to play, with visible effect, on the lines of the enemy. Many of their guns were soon silenced, and their works damaged. By the eleventh, the enemy scarcely returned a shot. The shells and red-hot balls of the besiegers reached the shipping in the harbor, and set the Charon frigate of forty-four guns, and several large transports on fire, which were entirely consumed. On the night of the eleventh, the second parallel was begun within three hundred yards of the British lines. The working parties were not discovered until day-light, when the trenches were in a situation to cover the men.

But there were two redoubts in particular, in front of the British lines and which flanked the second parallel of the Americans, that gave great annoyance to the latter, and it was deemed necessary to carry them by storm. To prevent national jealousy, however, and to keep alive the

In the mortification and anguish of his soul, Cornwallis shed tears, and expressed his preference for death rather than the ignominy of a surrender. But there was no resource—the handwriting on the wall was against him-the fate of war must be accepted. The siege had continued close. for more than two weeks, and, notwithstanding the losses in killed, wounded, and missing, that had been sustained, the British army showed a handsome force of between seven and eight thousand trained fighting men, of unquestioned bravery, but who were soon to capitulate to the besieging forces, numbering, in all, some sixteen thousand men, less disciplined, perhaps, but determined and indomitable.

Of Washington, the central character and actor in this great drama, every American heart engrossingly thinks. Knowing that Sir Henry Clinton had written to Cornwallis, bidding him to strengthen his position at Yorktown, and promising him the immediate aid of both land and naval forces, Washington had, seasonably and with shrewd forecast, written a letter to Lafayette, then in Virginia, which he caused to be intercepted. In this letter he remarked that he was pleased with the probability that Earl Cornwallis would fortify either Portsmouth or Old Point Comfort, for, were he to fix upon Yorktown, from its great capabilities of defense, he might remain there snugly and unharmed, until a superior British fleet. would relieve him with strong re-enforcements, or embark him altogether.

This decoy letter quieted the apprehensions of the British commander-in-chief as to the danger of Cornwallis, and produced those delays in the operations of Sir Henry, which, as will have been seen, tended so materially to the success of the allies and the surrender of Yorktown. Thus it was that Washington by his pen, laid the train of success so well. Nor less so with his sword. In the simultaneous attack upon the redoubts, made by the combined American and French army, Washington was an intensely-excited spectator. He had dismounted from his horse-the mag

nificent charger, named Nelson, and put him in the care of a servant, while the general himself took his stand in the grand battery with his two chief generals, Lincoln and Knox, and their aids, and here he exposed himself to every danger.

When all was over, at this critical juncture, the redoubts being taken, and Washington's intense anxiety so happily relieved, the general drew a long breath, and looking at Knox with an expression of extreme satisfaction, remarked, briefly, "The work is done, and well done!" Motioning to his faithful servant, who was quickly in his presence, he said, "William, bring me my horse,"-mounting which, the chieftain proceeded to make sure that the success which had attended the first parallel was followed up energetically until no loop-hole was left, through which Cornwallis might escape. No such loop-hole was afforded, and Cornwallis's doom was sealed.

It was a proud day for the war-worn troops of America to see so fine an army not only within their grasp, but, to all intents and purposes, completely at their disposal,―waiting only those last formalities which give solemn dignity to the decrees already made by the sword,—and they saw, in the coming event, the final catastrophe of British rule in America,— the close of the Revolutionary drama,the establishment of a free and independent republic. As already remarked, Cornwallis had hoped for succor to the last, but the slaughter of his men became too serious to be any longer endured, and finally the loud beat of the chamade was heard in the intervals of the explosions of cannon, and the firing ceased. Cornwallis then sent a flag of truce requesting a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, to arrange the terms of capitulation. To this Washington would not consent, fearing that the arrival of the English fleet in the meantime might alter the aspect of affairs, and allowed him but two hours in which to transmit his proposals. The full surrender took place the next day, October 19, 1781, the articles of capitulation being