te, who
had been sent to the State some weeks after, by superior skill and the
most active exertions had succeeded in checking his progress. The
purpose of the allies was to prevent the escape of Lord Cornwallis from
his position near Yorktown; and General Lafayette was ordered to make
such a disposition of his army as should be best calculated to effect
that purpose. In case this purpose should be defeated, and Lord
Cornwallis succeed in effecting a retreat into North Carolina, it was
designed to pursue him with sufficient force to overawe him: while the
remainder of the armies, at the same time, should proceed, with the
French fleet, to Charleston, which was, at the same time, the enemy's
head-quarters in the South.

The marine force of the allies was composed of two fleets--that of
Admiral Count de Grasse, then on its way from the West Indies, composed
of twenty-six sail of the line and several frigates; and that of Admiral
Count de Barras, then at anchor in Newport, composed of eight sail of
the line, besides transports and victuallers: their military force
embraced the main bodies of the American and French armies, under
Generals Washington and Rochambeau, then near New York; the detachment
of American troops, under General Lafayette, then in Virginia; and more
than three thousand French troops, under General Saint-Simon, who were
then on their way from the West Indies with the Count de Grasse.

The main body of the enemy's force, under Sir Henry Clinton, was in the
city of New York and its immediate vicinity; Lord Cornwallis, with his
own command and that which, under Generals Phillips and Arnold, had
overrun some portions of Virginia, numbering in the aggregate about
seven thousand three hundred fifty men, exclusive of seamen and Tories,
was occupying the neck of land between the James and York rivers, where
General Lafayette was holding him in check; while the Southern army,
under Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, through the successful movements of
General Greene, was mostly confined to Charleston and its immediate
vicinity. Admiral Rodney, with a large naval force, was leisurely
spending his time in securing his portion of the spoils in the West
Indies; Sir Samuel Hood, with fifteen sail of the line and six smaller
vessels, had been detached by Admiral Rodney to intercept Admiral de
Grasse, and to maintain an equality of power in the American waters; and
Admiral Graves, with part of his fleet in New York and a part