October 18th - The World Turned Upside Down

What a glorious day it was for General Washington and his men when the world’s mightiest army surrendered to them. What a blow for the British to lose their most valuable colony. Lord Charles Cornwallis attempted to evacuate his army from Yorktown, but it was not possible as the French and American guns bombarded their position in the early morning of October 17th. After the American victory and the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, the defeated Redcoats departed to the strains of “The World Turned Upside Down“, a tune expressive of the sentiments of the day:

“If ponies rode men and grass ate cows,
And cats were chased into holes by the mouse . . .
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.”

Surrender at Yorktown: Washington refused to make the same mistake that had been made four years earlier by Horatio Gates in the surrender at Saratoga, where the defeated soldiers were allowed to return to their homes in exchange for a promise not to reenter the war in North America at a later point. The obvious problem with such leniency was that those soldiers could be assigned to another theater, thus replacing soldiers in that location who could then be sent to America.

Terms were negotiated on October 18th and included the following provisions:

* surrendering soldiers were to march out of their fortification with colors folded, surrender their arms at a predetermined location, then depart to detention

* British officers were allowed to keep their side arms and to depart to Britain, or to a British-occupied American port

* officers and soldiers were allowed to retain personal possessions

In a breech of military etiquette, Cornwallis declined to attend the surrender ceremony, claiming illness. The second in command, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara, filled that role. To avoid the humiliation of turning over Cornwallis’ sword to Washington — known contemptuously to many British as “General Buckskin” — O’Hara attempted to present the token to General Rochambeau. The French commander refused to accept the sword and pointed to Washington. When O’Hara turned to make the presentation, Washington called on his second-in-command, General Benjamin Lincoln, to accept. Thus, General Buckskin won some satisfaction in the wake of his humiliation at the surrender of Charleston.

My grandfather’s great, great grandfather, the young Virginia soldier William Via, was there at the momentous day of the victory at Yorktown.