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September-October 1777

french and British Armies at Yorktown

The siege at Chesapeake Bay

Lt. General Comte de Rochambeau was comprised of four 900-man regiments that had come from Newport, Rhode Island and three 1000-man regiments that Admiral de Grasse had brought from the West Indies for a total of 6600 infantry. He also had 600 artillerymen, 600 horse and foot from Lauzun's Legion and 600 marines for operations against Gloucester. British Lt. General Charles Cornwallis had the 1,500 men that had been with him in the Carolinas, which included infantry under Brig. General Charles O'Hara and Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton's British Legion. His remaining troops and come south with Benedict Arnold and Maj. General William Phillips, which numbered about 5,500 men. They included the Queen's Rangers commanded by Lt. Colonel John Simcoe, Captain John Ewald's Jäger Company, 200 artillerymen and 800 marines.

The Allied Army Arrives and Action At Gloucester

As late as September 5, 1781, General Cornwallis still had a chance to retreat to Richmond and then south back into the Carolinas, but Cornwallis did little more than probe the Marquis de Lafayette's blocking forces. He was still expecting Lt. General Henry Clinton to send his reinforcements, so he was content to continue to fortify his positions at Yorktown and Gloucester. On September 28, the combined Continental and french allied force left Williamsburg, Virginia at around 5:00 A.M. and moved to with a mile of Cornwallis' Yorktown defenses by dark. On the British right, Lt. Colonel Robert Abercromby withdrew as the french Wing adavnced there, while Lt. Colonel Tarleton withdrew as the American Wing moved to the southeast of Yorktown.

During the Yorktown campaign, Lamb continued to command the Second Regiment of the Continental Artillery. On October 9th, Lamb was the Officer of the Day when General Washington fired the first American cannon to open the siege. During the siege, the artillery served with distinction

On September 29, General Washington inspected the British position while the army continued to surround Yorktown. Artillery and siege equipment and stores were also brought to the front. On September 30, the allies discovered that the British had abandoned three outposts that had covered the southwest approach to Yorktown. General Cornwallis had chosen to withdraw from those positions to maximize defenses with his limited forces after he had received word from General Clinton that a relief fleet would be departing New York on October 5.

Across the York River at Gloucester, Virginia, General George Weedon and his 1,500 Virginia militia had been opposing the British garrison commanded by Lt. Colonel Thomas Dundas. On September 28, 1781, Weedon was reinforced by 600 men of the french Lauzun's Legion. On October 1, General de Choisy assumed allied command of these operations while 800 marines were detached to Gloucester as well. On October 2, Lt. Colonel Tarleton's British Legion arrived to support Dundas bringing the British garrison's strength to nearly 1,000 men.

Colonel John Lamb

On October 3, 1781, Lt. Colonel Dundas was returning to camp after leading a foraging expedition when General de Choisy pushed forward. Dragoons from Lauzun's Legion formed an advance for de Choisy, while Lt. Colonel Tarleton's cavarly formed a rear screen for the British. Tarleton was nearly captured by Lauzun when he was pinned under his horse, but some of his men rode in and saved him. Tarleton reassembled his men, but John Mercer held the allied line and Tarleton withdrew. He would not see any more action on the American continent. For the remainder of the campaign, Choisy kept the British garrison at Gloucester pinned.

The Siege Begins: October 1781

On October 6, 1781, the allied force commanded by General George Washington and Lt. General Comte de Rochambeau was ready to begin formal siege operations. While Comte de Saint-Simon's troops began efforts toward Fusilier's Redoubt on the north side of Yorktown in the evening, engineers staked out the main operations. After dark, work parties began building trenches and redoubts. While Saint-Simon was shelled during the evening, Cornwallis did not even know that the main siege operation had begun until after daylight on October 7th.

Washington firing the first gun at Yorktown, 1781

After the completions of the first parallel, the bombardment of Yorktown began on October 9, 1781 with Saint-Simon firing the first shots at 3:00 P.M. By October 10, forty-six guns were in place and inflicted so much damage that Lt. General Charles Cornwallis was only able to return about six round an hour. A flag of truce appeared at noon on the 10th. That evening three or four ships were destroyed by the allied fire. After dusk on October 11, digging was begun in preparation for an assault on British Redoubts Nos 9 and 10 on the southeast side of Yorktown, which was necessary to complete the second tighter parallel.

Capture of Yorktown

After concentrating artillery fire on those positions, General Washington was notified at about 2:00 P.M. on October 14, 1781, that an assault was now possible. Marquis de Lafayette was given responsibility for the capture of Redoubt No. 10 and he selected Jean-Joseph de Gimat to lead the assault, but Alexander Hamilton protested. Washington ruled in Hamilton's favor and Hamilton was to lead 400 men against Redoubt No. 10. Colonel William Deux-Ponts led the assault on Redoubt No. 9 with 400 french grenadiers and chasseurs.

Saint-Simon and General de Choisy began diversionary attacks on the Fuselier Redoubt and Gloucester. at 6:30 P.M. Hamilton and Deux-Ponts moved forward at 7:00 P.M. After taking heavy losses, Deux-Ponts secured Redoubt No. 9 as the British and Hessian defenders surrendered. Meanwhile, Hamilton had quickly overrun Redoubt No. 10 with few casualties. The allies immediately consolidated their positions in anticipation of a British counterattack. However, Cornwallis did not counterattack, but massed all his artillery against the newly captured position.

On October 16, 1781, at about 4:00 A.M. Lt. Colonel Robert Abercromby led 350 British troops on a sortie to spike allied guns now in position on the second parallel. Abercromby was able to spike four guns after pretending to be an American detachment. Moving to another position along the parallel, the British were this time driven back to their lines by a french covering party. However, they had managed to spike two more guns, but the allies were able to get all the spiked guns back into action within six hours.

On the evening of October 16, 1781, General Cornwallis attempted to ferry across the York River to see about fighting his way out by way of Gloucester, but a storm frustrated these efforts. On October 17, the allies brought more than 100 guns into action for their heaviest bombardment yet. Cornwallis could no longer hold for reinforcements from Lt. General Henry Clinton and around 10:00 A.M. on October 17, 1781, a parley was called for by the British. General Washington gave Cornwallis two hours to submit his proposals, which were received by 4:30 P.M. that afternoon.

Cornwallis' Surrender: October 1781

On the morning of October 18, 1781, terms of surrender were negotiated with Lt. Colonel Thomas Dundas and Major Alexander Ross represented Lt. General Charles Cornwallis and Lt. Colonel John Laurens and Noailles represented the allies. On October 20, the surrender document was delivered to Cornwallis. He was to sign and return it by 11:00 A.M. and the garrison was to march out at 2:00 P.M. to surrender. Sometime before noon, the document returned with Cornwallis' signature as well as Captain Thomas Symonds, the highest ranking British naval officer present. Generals George Washington and Rochambeau as well as Admiral de Barras signed for the allies.

The terms of the surrender were honorable. The British were to march out with colors cased and drums playing a British or German march. The principal officers could return to Europe or go to a British-occupied American port city on parole. Officers were allowed to retain their side arms and all personnel kept their personal effects. Infantry at Gloucester could ground their arms there, while the cavalry including Lt. Colonels John Simcoe and Banastre Tarleton were to proceed to the surrender field outside Yorktown. All troops would be marched to camps in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

At 12:00 P.M., two detachments of 100 men each, one American and one french, occupied two British redoubts to the southeast of Yorktown, while the rest of the victorious army formed along both sides of the Hampton road where the British Army would march to the surrender field, which was located about a mile and a half south of Yorktown. At 2:00 P.M. the defeated British troops marched down the road, supposedly to the tune of "The World Turned Upside."

Yorktown Victory Monument

The formal surrender ceremony has become a legend unto itself. General Cornwallis was not present, but had remained at Yorktown claiming illness. He was represented by his second-in-command, Brig. General Charles O'Hara. He first attempted to surrender to french General Comte de Rochambeau, but Rochambeau refused and pointed him to General Washington. Washington's only reaction was to ask him to surrender to his own second-in-command, Maj. General Benjamin Lincoln. The British and German troops grounded their arms with some of the British soldiers obviously drunk. Washington did not witness the surrender proceedings, but remained at his post along the road a few hundred yards away.

Additional Sources:

www.elisabethmorrow.org
members.aol.com/spursfan50
www.mrsedivy.com
www.mccordfamilyassn.com
www.lastsquare.com
vm.tigtail.org
theamericanrevolution.org
earlyamerica.com
tennessee84.tripod.com
gwpapers.virginia.edu
www.americanrevolution.com
www.aoc.gov
www.army.mil
teachpol.tcnj.edu
www.virginiagarden.com
xenophongroup.com
www.nps.gov

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 18:
1684 Johann Gottfried Walther Erfurt Germany, composer/Musicographer
1709 Dr Samuel Johnson writer (Boswell's tour guide)
1733 George Read lawyer/signed Declaration of Independence
1752 Adrien-Marie Legendre mathematician, worked on elliptic integrals
1779 Joseph Story Mass, US Supreme Court justice (1812-45)
1819 Jean-Bernard-L‚on Foucault his pendulum proved Earth rotates
1870 Clark Wissler anthropologist (American Indian)
1883 Lord Berners (Gerald Tyrwhitt) England, composer (1st Childhood)
1893 Arthur Benjamin Sydney Australia, composer (Jamaican Rumba)
1895 John G Diefenbaker Neustadt Ontario, 13th Canadian PM (C) (1957-63)
1901 Harold Clurman producer/director (Deadline at Dawn)
1905 Agnes De Mille NYC, choreographer (Oklahoma)
1905 Claudette Colbert Paris, actress (Lily Chauchoin, Arise My Love)
1905 Eddie "Rochester" Anderson Oakland Calif, actor (Jack Benny Show)
1905 Greta Garbo Stockholm (Ninotchka, Grand Hotel, Camille)
1916 John J Rhodes (Rep-R-Az)
1916 Rossano Brazzi Bologna Italy, actor (Antaeus-Survivors)
1920 Jack Warden Newark NJ, actor (NYPD, Crazy Like a Fox, Norby)
1924 Zelda Fichandler Boston, theater director/producer (Raisin, K2)
1925 Harvey Haddix baseball pitcher (pitched perfect game into 12th)
1928 Phyllis Kirk Syracuse NY, actress (Thin Man, Red Button's Show)
1932 Jack Mullaney Pitts Pa, actor (My Living Doll, It's About Time)
1932 Nikolai N Rukavishnikov cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33)
1933 Jimmie Rodgers Wash, country singer (Honeycomb)
1933 Robert Blake Nutley NJ, (Baretta, Little Rascals, Coast to Coast)
1933 Roman Polanski Paris France, director (Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown)
1939 Fred Willard Ohio, comedian (Fernwood 2 Night, Real People)
1940 Frankie Avalon Phila, actor (Beach movies)/singer (Venus)
1941 Mariangela Melato Milan Italy, actress (Flash Gordon, Summer Night)
1944 Charles Lacy Veach Chicago Illinois, astronaut (STS 39)
1955 Jeana Tomasino Milwaukee Wis, playmate (Nov, 1980)
1964 Holly Robinson Phila, actress (21 Jump Street)
1966 Spike vocal/guitar (Ian Spice Breathe, Flash Cadillac-R&R Forever)

Deaths which occurred on September 18:
0031 Sejanus, Roman head of praetorian guard, executed
0096 Domitian, Roman emperor, dies
1426 Hubert [Huybrecht] van Eyck, painter, dies
1949 Frank Morgan actor (Annie Get Your Gun), dies at 59
1959 Serial killer Harvey Glatman is executed in a California gas chamber
1961 Dag Hammarskjold UN Sect General, dies in an air crash over the Congo
1964 Sean O'Casey, Irish playwright (Playboy of Western World), dies at 84
1968 Francis McDonald Bowling Green Ky, actor (Will-Adv of Champion)
1970 Jimi Hendrix rock guitarist, dies at 27 in London
1979 Gene Kelly sportscaster (Sportsreel), dies at 60
1996 Spiro Theodore Agnew, US VP (1969-73), dies at 77

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 BARBER ROBERT FRANKLIN SEATTLE WA.
[CRASH EXPLODE AT SEA NO SURV]
1965 VOGT LEONARD F. JR. CINCINNATI OH.
[CRASH EXPLODE AT SEA NO SURV]
1968 WOODS BRIAN D. SAN DIEGO CA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV,ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 CLINE CURTIS R. BURLINGTON MI.
1970 KEESEE BOBBY JOE
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1739 Treaty of Belgrade-Austria cedes Belgrade to Turks
1755 Fort Ticonderoga, NY opens
1758 James Abercromby is replaced as supreme commander of British forces after his defeat by French commander the Marquis of Montcalm at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War
1759 British capture Quebec during the French & Indian War
1769 Boston Gazette reports 1st US piano (a spinet)
1793 Washington lays cornerstone of Capitol building
1810 Chile declares independence from Spain (National Day)
1830 A horse beats the 1st US made locomotive (near Baltimore)
1850 Congress passes the second Fugitive Slave Bill into law (the first was enacted in 1793), requiring the return of escaped slaves to their owners.
1851 NY Times starts publishing, at 2 cents a copy
1874 The Nebraska Relief and Aid Society is formed to help farmers whose crops were destroyed by grasshoppers swarming throughout the American West
1881 Chicago Tribune reports on a televide experiment
1882 Pacific Stock Exchange opens (as the Local Security Board)
1888 Start of the Sherlock Holmes adventure "The Sign of Four" (BG)
1891 Harriet Maxwell Converse is became the first white woman to be made a Native-American chief.
1895 Booker T Washington delivers "Atlanta Compromise" address
1895 D.D. Palmer of Davenport, Iowa, becomes 1st chiropractor
1903 Phillie's Chick Fraser no-hits Chic Cubs, 10-0
1908 Cleve Indian Bob "Dusty" Rhoades no-hits Boston, 2-1
1911 Britain's 1st twin-engine airplane (Short S.39) test flown
1914 The Irish Home Rule Bill becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I
1914 Battle of Aisne ends with Germans beating French during WW I
1915 Boston Braves trounce St Louis Cardinals 20-1
1919 Hurricane tides 16 feet above normal drown 280 along Gulf Coast
1926 Hurricane hits Miami, kills 250
1927 Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air (16 radio stations)
1928 Cards beat Phillies for 20th of 22 games in 1928
1930 Enterprise (US) beats Shamrock V (England) in 15th America's Cup
1930 NY Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing hits 2 HRs to beat St Louis Browns, 7-6
1934 St Louis Brown Bobo Newsom loses no-hitter to Boston in 10, 2-1
1938 Chicago Bears beat Green Bay Packers 2-0
1938 Despite losing a double header, Yanks clinch pennant #10
1942 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation authorized for radio service
1945 1000 whites walk out of Gary Ind schools to protest integration
1947 USAF (US Air Force) forms
1947 The National Security Act, which unified the Army, Navy and newly formed Air Force into a National Military Establishment, went into effect.
1948 Ralph J Bunche confirmed as acting UN mediator in Palestine
1948 Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to the Senate without completing another senator's term when she defeats Democratic opponent Adrian Scolten. Smith is also the only woman to be elected to and serve in both houses of Congress.
1949 Baseball major league record 4 grand slams hit
1954 Cleveland Indians clinch AL pennant, beat Tigers (3-2)
1957 "Wagon Train" premiers
1959 Vanguard 3 launched into Earth orbit
1959 Serial killer Harvey Glatman is executed in a California gas chamber for murdering three young women in Los Angeles.
1960 Two thousand cheer Castro's arrival in New York for the United Nations session.
1962 Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica & Trinidad admitted (105th-108th) to the UN
1963 Final game at Polo Grounds, 1,752 see Phillies beat Mets 5-1
1965 "Get Smart" premiers
1967 Intrepid (US) beats Dame Pattie (Aust) in 21st America's Cup
1968 Ray Washburn (Cards) no-hits SF Giants 2-0
1969 Tiny Tim & Miss Vicky get engaged
1972 1st black NL umpire (Art Williams-Los Angeles vs San Diego)
1974 Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, 5,000 die
1975 Heiress/bank robber Patricia Campbell Hearst captured by FBI in SF
1977 Courageous (US) sweeps Australia (Aust) in 24th America's Cup
1977 US Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth & Moon together
1979 Bolshoi Ballet dancers Leonid & Valentina Kozlov defect
1979 Steven Lachs, appointed Calif's 1st admittedly gay judge
1980 Soyuz 38 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Cuban) to Salyut 6 space station
1982 Christian militia begin massacre of 600 Palestinians in Lebanon
1983 George Meegen completes 2,426d (19K mi) walk across Western Hemisphere
1983 New Orleans Saints 1st OT victory; beating Chic Bears 34-31
1984 Joe Kittinger completes 1st solo balloon crossing of Atlantic
1984 Tigers become 4th team to stay in 1st place from opening day
1987 Detroit Tiger Darrell Evans is 1st 40 year old to hit 30 HRs
1989 Hurricane Hugo causes extensive damage in Puerto Rico
1990 A 500 lb 6' Hershey Kiss is displayed at 1 Times Square, NYC
1990 Atlanta is chosen to host the 1996 (centennial) Summer Olympics
1991 Saying he was "pretty fed up," President Bush said he would send warplanes to escort U.N. helicopters searching for hidden Iraqi weapons if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein continued to impede weapons inspectors.
1991 Space shuttle STS 48 (Discovery 14) lands
1996 The O.J. Simpson civil trial opened in Santa Monica, Calif.
2001 Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat and Prime Minister
Arial Sharon of Israel both ordered a halt of offensive actions and Israeli troops and tanks began pulling out of the areas around Jericho and Jenin.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Chile : Independence Day (1818)
UN observance : Intl Day of Peace (Tuesday)
US : Constitution Week
National Coasts Week (Day 5)
National Cholestrol Education and Awareness Month

Religious Observances
Unification Church : Foundation Day
RC : Commemoration of St Joseph of Cupertino, confessor, patron saint of aviators.
Ang : Feast of Edward Bouverie Pusey, priest
Luth : Commemoration of Dag Hammarskj”ld, peacemaker

Religious History
52 Birth of Marcus Ulpius Trajan, Emperor of Rome from AD 98-117. He was the third Roman emperor to rule, after Nero (54-68) and Domitian (81-96), who persecuted the Early Church. During Trajan's reign, the apostolic father Ignatius of Antioch was martyred, in AD 117.
1765 Birth of Oliver Holden, early Puritan pastor and statesman. His love for music is demonstrated in the hymn tune CORONATION ("All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"), which he composed in 1792 at the age of 27.
1924 A complete Bible translation of the Old and New Testaments was published by American Bible scholar and historian James Moffatt, 54. Moffatt's intention was to make available to the lay reader, in simple language, a current scholarly understanding of the biblical text.
1930 Death of New England music evangelist Carrie E. Rounsefell, 69. It was Rounsefell who composed the hymn tune MANCHESTER, to which we sing today, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go."
1962 The Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers International was founded in Dallas by Gordon Lindsay, 56. In 1967, the name was changed to Christ for the Nations. It ministers today as a service agency supporting foreign missions through fund raising and literature distribution.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Many a family tree needs trimming."

You might be a bad cook if...
you make tuna noodle broccoli surprise...and the surprise is that it glows in the dark.

Murphys Law of the day...
You never run out of things that can go wrong.

It's a little known fact that...
Edgar Allan Poe introduced mystery fiction's first fictional detective, Auguste C. Dupin, in his 1841 story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."