aken a ball in the breast," replied Lord George, "for he opened his
arms, exclaiming wildly as he paced up and down the apartment, 'Oh
God! it is all over!'"

CHAPTER LXVI.
DISSOLUTION OF THE COMBINED ARMIES.--DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY.

Washington would have followed up the reduction of Yorktown by a
combined operation against Charleston, and addressed a letter to the
Count de Grasse on the subject, but the count alleged in reply that
the orders of his court, ulterior projects, and his engagements with
the Spaniards, rendered it impossible to remain the necessary time for
the operation.

The prosecution of the Southern war, therefore, upon the broad scale
which Washington had contemplated, had to be relinquished; for,
without shipping and a convoy, the troops and everything necessary for
a siege would have to be transported by land with immense trouble,
expense and delay; while the enemy, by means of their fleets, could
reinforce or withdraw the garrison at pleasure. Under these
circumstances, Washington had to content himself, for the present,
with detaching two thousand Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia
Continental troops, under General St. Clair, for the support of
General Greene, trusting that, with this aid, he would be able to
command the interior of South Carolina, and confine the enemy to the
town of Charleston.

A dissolution of the combined forces now took place. The Marquis St.
Simon embarked his troops on the last of October, and the Count de
Grasse made sail on the 4th of November, taking with him two beautiful
horses which Washington had presented to him in token of cordial
regard. Lafayette, seeing there was no probability of further active
service in the present year, resolved to return to France on a visit
to his family, and, with Washington's approbation, set out for
Philadelphia to obtain leave of absence from Congress.

The British prisoners were marched to Winchester in Virginia, and
Frederickstown in Maryland, and Lord Cornwallis and his principal
officers sailed for New York on parole. The main part of the American
army embarked for the Head of Elk, and returned northward under the
command of General Lincoln, to be cantoned for the winter in the
Jerseys and on the Hudson, so as to be ready for operations against
New York, or elsewhere, in the next year's campaign. The French army
were to remain for the winter in Virginia, and the Count de Rochambeau
established his head-quarters a