The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [342]
The young man retrieved a white cloth from his pocket, and Cornwallis’ words seem to reach him now.
“Sir . . .”
Cornwallis saw tears in the man’s eyes, fought to hold his own. He touched his pockets, felt for a pencil, his fingers finding the short stub.
“I require paper.”
He realized now that more men had gathered, emerging from their shelters. He saw officers, his own aides now approaching. He said again, “I require paper.”
It was there now, and he moved to a flat piece of wood, a shattered box, dropped down to one knee.
“Lieutenant, when you advance you will hold your sword high, and you will carry this in your coat. You will present it to whoever makes himself available. Someone, I am certain, will make himself available.”
He moved the pencil in his fingers, stared at the blank page for a long moment. His mind was a fog, no words, the sleeplessness weighing him down. The men watched him silently, and there were no protests, no angry calls, no one disputing what he was about to do. His mind was filled with the sound of the drummer, and he glanced up, saw the faces all staring at him. They knew as well as he did. They had come to the end.
Sir,
I propose a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, and that two officers may be appointed by each side, to meet at Mr. Moore’s house, to settle terms for the surrender of the posts of York and Gloucester . . .
58. WASHINGTON
THE BRITISH OFFICER HAD BEEN BLINDFOLDED, LED TO THE REAR OF the American lines. Washington had not been comfortable with Cornwallis’ suggestion of a twenty-four-hour truce, knew that time might yet favor the British. He still expected a British fleet to reappear, assumed Cornwallis might feel the same way.
Washington had received letters that originated from his spies in New York that Clinton was putting his army into motion, the fleet there bolstered by reinforcements from England. Despite the willingness of Cornwallis to capitulate, should Clinton and Graves suddenly appear on the horizon, de Grasse would again be forced to meet them at sea. The trap around Cornwallis might suddenly spring open, and any talk of surrender could suddenly be terminated.
The terms were sent back to the British lines, and after more exchanges of notes, some minor quibbling, Cornwallis agreed to a meeting the following morning. For the first time, Washington had a sense of the despair in the British camp. For all the haggling over issues of pride, there was no argument, no disputing that Cornwallis was conceding the surrender of his entire position.
OCTOBER 19, 1781
The meeting at the Moore House consumed an entire day, and extended into the following morning. Washington had named two representatives, the young South Carolinian, John Laurens, and a French counterpart, the Viscount de Noailles. After much rancorous debate about issues Washington considered more symbolic than strategic, the documents were prepared for signatures. By late morning, word had come to his headquarters. Cornwallis had signed the papers, and within the hour, the British would march out of Yorktown.
FOR SEVERAL DAYS WASHINGTON HAD GLASSED THE DESTRUCTION OF the British defenses, the stout earthworks proving too weak to stand up to the heavy French guns. The artillery barrage had virtually destroyed the town, and occasionally he could see glimpses of panicked civilians scrambling to salvage some personal belonging, then disappearing down toward the edge of the river. It was a horror he had not expected, the terrible cost to the innocent, the mysterious hand of the Almighty selecting these people, this tranquil place to be the focus of such catastrophe. It was a strange and disturbing notion to him that the nation had so often failed to support his army because they were so far removed from the war. It was difficult to convince citizens who never saw a British soldier that they should send their food and their money and their men to some remote horror in some far-removed place. It was a challenge even for the congress, who seemed to believe this war