d the stores contained in it, were consumed
by fire. To escape the odium which invariably attends the wanton
destruction of private property, this fire was attributed to accident;
but all the American accounts unite in declaring it to have been
intentional.

[Sidenote: September 6.]

The march of General Washington was not arrested by this excursion
into New England. Having made the arrangements for the transportation
of his army down the Chesapeake, he proceeded in person to Virginia,
attended by the Count de Rochambeau, and the Chevalier de Chatelleux;
and, on the 14th of September, reached Williamsburg[84] accompanied by
Rochambeau, Chatelleux, Knox, and Du Portail, he immediately repaired
to the fleet, and a plan of co-operation was adjusted on board the
Ville de Paris, conforming to his wish in every respect, except that
the Count de Grasse declined complying with a proposition to station
some of his ships in the river above Yorktown, thinking it too
hazardous.

[Footnote 84: While the American troops were encamped at Williamsburg
and the French fleet lay in the bay, the Count de Grasse,
circumscribed in point of time, and therefore, unwilling to await the
arrival of the army from the north, urged Lafayette to attack the
British in Yorktown; offering to aid him not only with all the marines
of the fleet, but with as many seamen as he should require. The
Marquis de St. Simon, an officer of great experience, united himself
with the admiral in pressing this measure. He stated that, the works
of Cornwallis being incomplete, Yorktown and Gloucester might, in all
probability, be carried by storm, if attacked by superior numbers. The
temptation was great for a young general scarcely twenty-four years of
age. A full excuse for the attempt was found in the declaration of De
Grasse, that he could not wait for the arrival of the troops from the
north. Success would have given unrivaled brilliancy to the reputation
of Lafayette, but would necessarily have cost much blood. Lafayette
refused to sacrifice the soldiers which were confided to him to his
personal glory, and persuaded De Grasse to await the arrival of
Washington and Rochambeau, when the capture of Cornwallis would be
certainly made without the waste of human life.--_Cor. with
Lafayette._]

While the close investment of the British army was delayed, only until
the troops from the north should arrive, serious apprehensions were
excited that the brilliant results