226 Years Ago Today: American Liberty Is Securedby Doug
Mataconis It was 226 years ago today that Lord Cornwallis
formally surrendered to George Washington, ending the Seige of
Yorktown and, effectively, the Revolutionary War itself: The
morning following the battle a formal surrender ceremony took
place. Cornwallis refused to attend out of pure embarrassment,
claiming illness. Although absent at the surrender ceremony, he
observed to George Washington, “This is a great victory for you,
but your brightest laurels will be writ upon the banks of the
Delaware.” According to legend, the British forces marched to
the fife tune of “The World Turned Upside Down“, though no real
evidence of this exists. Cornwallis’ deputy at first attempted
to surrender to the French General Rochambeau, but Rochambeau’s
aide-de-camp, Mathieu Dumas, is reputed to have said, “Vous vous
trompez, le général en chef de notre armée est à la droite.”
(“You are mistaken, the commander-in-chief of our army is to the
right.”) and then took hi