The English were hoodwinked by reports that the French fleet was intended to operate against New York, and it was not until they learned that the Count de Grasse had arrived with twenty-eight ships of the line at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay that the true object of the expedition was seen. A portion of the English fleet encountered them, but after irregular actions, lasting4 over five days, the English drew off and retired5 to New York. The commander-in-chief then attempted to effect a diversion, in order to draw off some of the enemy who were surrounding Cornwallis. The fort of New London was stormed after some desperate fighting, and great quantities of ammunition6 and stores and fifty pieces of cannon7 taken. General Washington did not allow his attention to be distracted. Matters were in a most critical condition, for although to the English the prospect8 of ultimate success appeared slight indeed, the Americans were in a desperate condition. Their immense and long-continued efforts had been unattended with any material success. It was true that the British troops held no more ground now than they did at the end of the first year of the war, but no efforts of the colonists9 had succeeded in wresting10 that ground from them. The people were exhausted11 and utterly12 disheartened. Business of all sorts was at a standstill. Money had ceased to circulate, and the credit of Congress stood so low that its bonds had ceased to have any value whatever. The soldiers were unpaid13, ill fed, and mutinous14. If on the English side it seemed that the task of conquering was beyond them, the Americans were ready to abandon the defense15 from sheer exhaustion16. It was then of paramount17 necessity to General Washington that a great and striking success should be obtained to animate18 the spirits of the people.
Cornwallis, seeing the formidable combination which the French and Americans were making to crush him, sent message after message to New York to ask for aid from the commander-in-chief, and received assurances from him that he would at once sail with 4000 troops to join him. Accordingly, in obedience19 to his orders, Lord Cornwallis fortified20 himself at Yorktown.
On September 28 the combined army of French and Americans, consisting of 7000 of the former and 12,000 of the latter, appeared before Yorktown and the post at Gloucester. Lord Cornwallis had 5960 men, but so great had been the effects of the deadly climate in the autumn months that only 4017 men were reported as fit for duty.
The enemy at once invested the town and opened their trenches21 against it. From their fleet they had drawn22 an abundance of heavy artillery23, and on October 9 their batteries opened a tremendous fire upon the works. Each day they pushed their trenches closer, and the British force was too weak, in comparison with the number of its assailants, to venture upon sorties. The fire from the works was completely overpowered by that of the enemy, and the ammunition was nearly exhausted. Day after day passed and still the promised re-enforcements did not arrive. Lord Cornwallis was told positively24 that the fleet would set sail on October 8, but it came not, nor did it leave port until the 19th, the day on which Lord Cornwallis surrendered.
On the 16th, finding that he must either surrender or break through, he determined to cross the river and fall on the French rear with his whole force and then turn northward25 and force his way through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys26. In the night the light infantry27, the greater part of the guards, and part of the Twenty-third were embarked28 in boats and crossed to the Gloucester side of the river before midnight. At this critical moment a violent storm arose which prevented the boats returning. The enemy's fire reopened at daybreak, and the engineer and principal officers of the army gave it as their opinion that it was impossible to resist longer. Only one eight-inch shell and a hundred small ones remained. The defenses had in many places tumbled to ruins, and no effectual resistance could be opposed to an assault.
Accordingly Lord Cornwallis sent out a flag of truce29 and arranged terms of surrender. On the 24th the fleet and re-enforcements arrived off the mouth of the Chesapeake. Had they left New York at the time promised, the result of the campaign would have been different.
The army surrendered as prisoners of war until exchanged, the officers with liberty to proceed on parole to Europe and not to serve until exchanged. The loyal Americans were embarked on the Bonito, sloop30 of war, and sent to New York in safety, Lord Cornwallis having obtained permission to send off the ship without her being searched, with as many soldiers on board as he should think fit, so that they were accounted for in any further exchange. He was thus enabled to send off such of the inhabitants and loyalist troops as would have suffered from the vengeance31 of the Americans.
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis' army virtually ended the war. The burden entailed32 on the people in England by the great struggle against France, Spain, Holland, and America, united in arms against her, was enormous. So long as there appeared any chance of recovering the colony the English people made the sacrifices required of them, but the conviction that it was impossible for them to wage a war with half of Europe and at the same time to conquer a continent had been gaining more and more in strength. Even the most sanguine33 were silenced by the surrender of Yorktown, and a cry arose throughout the country that peace should at once be made.
As usual under the circumstances, a change of ministry34 took place. Negotiations35 for peace were at once commenced, and the war terminated in the acknowledgment of the entire independence of the United States of America.
Harold with his companions had fallen back to Charleston with Lord Rawdon after the relief of Ninety-six, and remained there until the news arrived that the negotiations were on foot and that peace was now certain. Then he took his discharge and sailed at once for England, accompanied by Jake; Peter Lambton taking a passage to Canada to carry out his intention of settling at Montreal.
Harold was now past twenty-two, and his father and mother did not recognize him when, without warning, he arrived at their residence in Devonshire. It was six years since his mother had seen him, when she sailed from Boston before its surrender in 1776.
For a year he remained quiet at home, and then carried out his plan of returning to the American continent and settling in Canada.
Accompanied by Jake, he sailed for the St. Lawrence and purchased a snug36 farm on its banks, near the spot where it flows from Lake Ontario.
He greatly improved it, built a comfortable house upon it, and two years later returned to England, whence he brought back his Cousin Nelly as his wife.
Her little fortune was used in adding to the farm, and it became one of the largest and best managed in the country. Peter Lambton found Montreal too crowded for him and settled down on the estate, supplying it with fish and game so long as his strength enabled him to go about, and enjoying the society of Jack37 Pearson, who had married and established himself on a farm close by. As years went on and the population increased the property became very valuable, and Harold, before he died, was one of the wealthiest and most respected men in the colony. So long as his mother lived he and his wife paid occasional visits to England, but after her death his family and farm had so increased that it was inconvenient38 to leave them; his father therefore returned with him to Canada and ended his life there. Jake lived to a good old age and was Harold's faithful friend and right-hand man to the last.
THE END.
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1
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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2
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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3
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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4
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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5
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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6
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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7
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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8
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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10
wresting
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| 动词wrest的现在进行式 | |
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11
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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12
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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13
unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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14
mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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15
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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16
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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17
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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18
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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19
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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20
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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23
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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24
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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25
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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26
jerseys
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| n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 ) | |
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27
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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28
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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30
sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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31
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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32
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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33
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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34
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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35
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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36
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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37
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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