Cornwallis’s Surrender – Capitulation

From Diary of the American Revolution, Vol II.  Compiled by Frank Moore and published in 1859. October 19.—Be it remembered, that on the seventeenth of October, 1781, Lieutenant-General Earl Cornwallis, with above five thousand British troops, surrendered prisoners of war to his Excellency General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the allied forces of France and America! Laus Deo!1 Yesterday commissioners were appointed to adjust the etiquette of the capitulation; the Viscount de Noailles, and Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, on the part of the allied army, and Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, aide-de-camp to Lord Cornwallis, on that of the enemy. To-day, about one o’clock, the articles of capitulation were signed and interchanged, and about two o’clock, P.M., the British … Continue reading →