ball struck the cannon in the embrasure and rolled on till it fell at his feet.  General Knox took him by the arm.  “My dear General,” he exclaimed, “we can’t spare you yet.”  “It is a spent ball,” Washington rejoined calmly; “no harm is done.”  When the redoubts were taken, he drew a long breath and said to Knox:  “The work is done, and well done."[1] Lord Cornwallis saw that his position was desperate, if not hopeless.  And on October 16th he made a plucky attempt to retard the final blow, but he did not succeed.  That evening he thought of undertaking a last chance.  He would cross the York River in flatboats, land at Gloucester, and march up the country through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.  Any one who knew the actual state of that region understood that Cornwallis’s plan was crazy; but it is to be judged as the last gallantry of a brave man.  During the night he put forth on his flatboats, which were driven out of their course and much dispersed by untoward winds.  They had to return to Yorktown by morning, and at ten o’clock Cornwallis ordered that a parley should be beaten.  Then he despatched a flag of truce with a letter to Washington proposing cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours.  Washington knew that British ships were on their way from New York to bring relief and he did not wish to grant so much delay.  He, therefore, proposed that the formal British terms should be sent to him in writing; upon which he would agree to a two hours’ truce.  It was the morning of the 10th of October that the final arrangement was made.  Washington, on horseback, attended by his staff, headed the American line.  His troops, in worn-out uniforms, but looking happy and victorious, were massed near him.  Count Rochambeau, with his suite, held place on the left of the road, the French troops all well-uniformed and equipped; and they marched on the field with a military band playing—­the first time, it was said, that this had been known in America.  “About two o’clock the garrison sallied forth and passed through with shouldered arms, slow and solemn steps, colors cased, and drums beating a British march."[2] General O’Hara, who led them, rode up to Washington and apologized for the absence of Lord Cornwallis, who was indisposed.  Washington pointed O’Hara to General Lincoln, who was to receive the submission of the garrison.  They were marched off to a neighboring field where they showed a sullen and dispirited demeanor and grounded their arms so noisily and carelessly that General Lincoln had to reprove them.

[Footnote 1:  Irving, iv, 378.]

[Footnote 2:  Irving, iv, 383.]

With little delay Washington went back to the North with his army, expecting to see the first fruits of the capitulation.  There were nearly seventeen thousand Allied troops at Yorktown of whom three thousand were militia of Virginia.  The British force under Cornwallis numbered less than eight thousand men.