treaty, by
which, on the 19th of October, York Town and Gloucester-point were given
up; the troops and stores being surrendered to Washington, and the ships
and seamen to Count de Grasse. As Lincoln had been refused the honour
of marching out of Charlestown with flying colours, this honour was
refused, by way of retaliation, to Lord Cornwallis; and Lincoln was also
appointed to receive the submission of the royal army in the same
manner as his own had been conducted. When the British surrendered, they
amounted to 5950 men, but of these only 4017 were fit for duty. On the
other hand, at the termination of the siege, the French and Americans,
owing to the constant arrival of recruits, volunteers, and militiamen,
had 18,000 men under arms. On both sides about five hundred were killed
and wounded during the siege. During the negociations Lord Cornwallis
endeavoured to obtain an indemnity for those of the inhabitants who
had joined his ranks; but he was obliged to consent that they should
be given up to the unconditional mercy of their countrymen: Washington
affirming that the matter of their forgiveness or punishment belonged to
the civil power. As, however, his lordship obtained permission for the
Bonetta sloop of war to pass unexamined to New York, he embarked as
many as he could on board that vessel, in order to screen them from the
vengeance of their countrymen. On the whole the terms of capitulation
were easier than might have been expected, considering what a scourge
Lord Cornwallis had been to the Americans. The whole of the south had
smarted from his operations, and it was calculated that in Virginia
alone 30,000 slaves were taken from their masters; and property to
the value of L3,000,000 sterling was destroyed during this summer. But
Washington felt that there was no time for driving a hard bargain, for
he expected that the British fleet and the land force from New York
would arrive on the scene of action, and he could not tell how soon
they might appear. Had Sir Henry Clinton sailed on the day he mentioned,
indeed, Lord Cornwallis would have been spared the anguish of a
surrender; but, unfortunately, he did not leave Sandy Hook till the very
day when the terms were signed, and it was the 24th before he reached
the Capes of Virginia. On arriving here, Clinton received some vague
accounts of the sad truth, and Admiral Graves did not venture up the
Chesapeak to attack the French fleet, but lay off' the mouth five day