The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . n, Washington was planning torecapture New York. For this purpose the French fleet had beenordered from the West Indies to the Chesapeake Bay in order tocooperate with him. Then itwas that the cautious, re-treating, slow-moving Wash-ington made one of hischaracteristic lightning move-ments.^ He made a feintagainst New York and ledClinton to think that thatcity was the objective point;then he moved rapidly to thehead of the Chesapeake Bay,and thence took ships fora landing place near York-town. On the last day ofAugust the Fr
The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . n, Washington was planning torecapture New York. For this purpose the French fleet had beenordered from the West Indies to the Chesapeake Bay in order tocooperate with him. Then itwas that the cautious, re-treating, slow-moving Wash-ington made one of hischaracteristic lightning move-ments.^ He made a feintagainst New York and ledClinton to think that thatcity was the objective point;then he moved rapidly to thehead of the Chesapeake Bay,and thence took ships fora landing place near York-town. On the last day ofAugust the French fleet wasbefore Yorktown, and twoweeks later Washingtonjoined Lafayette. The trap-door was shut. There wasbut one thing for Cornwallisto do; he surrendered, andabout eight thousand troopslaid down their arms,^ onOctober 19, 1781. In his campaigns Cornwallis had proved himself a bravesoldier and a splendid fighter; he had served his king loyallyand faithfully. He was the most capable general on the Britishside, and the bitter ending of the campaign in the South. The Monument at Yorktown. 1 It is said that Robert Morris provided the funds for the transportation ofWashingtons army on about forty-eiglit hours notice. 2 When his troops marched out of Yorlctown between the American lines,the British military band played the quaint melody, The World turned upsideDown. 170 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION reflects no discredit on hiiu or his soldiers; it was the fortuneof war.^ The News in England. — The surrender of Cornwallis was prac-tically the end of the war, although the Bi-itish troops remainedfor some time in New York and Charleston. When the news ofthe surrender reached England, the ministry that had so longsupported the king at once resigned. When next the Parliamentopened (1782), George 111, whose obstinacy had caused the war,announced that he was ready to grant the independence of hisformer colonies. During the following twelve months the Britishtroops sailed for En
Size: 1212px × 2063px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyorkbostonetcsi
