at 16,000, of whom 7,000 were French, 5,500 continentals,
and 3,500 militia.--_Holmes' Annals_.}

On the following morning, Washington in general orders congratulated
the allied armies on the recent victory, awarding high praise to the
officers and troops both French and American, for their conduct during
the siege, and specifying by name several of the generals and other
officers who had especially distinguished themselves. All those of his
army who were under arrest were pardoned and set at liberty.

Cornwallis felt deeply the humiliation of this close to all his wide
and wild campaigning, and was made the more sensitive on the subject
by circumstances of which he soon became apprised. On the very day
that he had been compelled to lay down his arms before Yorktown, the
lingering armament intended for his relief sailed from New York. It
consisted of twenty-five ships-of-the-line, two fifty-gun ships, and
eight frigates; with Sir Henry Clinton and seven thousand of his best
troops. Sir Henry arrived off the capes of Virginia on the 24th, and
gathered information which led him to apprehend that Lord Cornwallis
had capitulated. He hovered off the mouth of the Chesapeake until the
29th, when, having fully ascertained that he had come too late, he
turned his tardy prows toward New York.

In the meantime rejoicings spread throughout the Union. "Cornwallis is
taken!" was the universal acclaim. It was considered a death-blow to
the war. Congress gave way to transports of joy. Thanks were voted to
the commander-in-chief, to the Counts De Rochambeau and De Grasse, to
the officers of the allied armies generally, and to the corps of
artillery and engineers especially. Two stands of colors, trophies of
the capitulation, were voted to Washington, two pieces of field
ordnance to De Rochambeau and De Grasse; and it was decreed that a
marble column, commemorative of the alliance between France and the
United States, and of the victory achieved by their associated arms,
should be erected in Yorktown. Finally, Congress issued a
proclamation, appointing a day for general thanksgiving and prayer, in
acknowledgment of this signal interposition of Divine Providence.

Far different was the feeling of the British ministry when news of the
event reached the other side of the Atlantic. Lord George Germain was
the first to announce it to Lord North at his office in Downing
street. "And how did he take it?" was the inquiry. "As he would have
t