g day he had blockaded the mouths
of the James and York rivers, and prevented the retreat of the enemy by
water; and, as has been before stated--notwithstanding the absence of
about nineteen hundred of his men, besides three ships of the line and
two fifties with their crews--had gone out and fought with Admiral
Graves and nineteen sail of the line. General the Marquis Saint-Simon,
at the head of thirty-three hundred French troops, had been landed from
the fleet on September 2d; joined General Lafayette on the 3d; and on
the 5th, with the latter officer and his command, had moved down to
Williamsburg, fifteen miles from York, and cut off the retreat of the
enemy by land. Admiral de Barras, with his squadron and ten transports,
having on board the siege-artillery and a large body of French troops
under M. de Choisy, sailed from Newport on August 25th, and entered Lynn
Haven Bay in safety on September 10th, while Admiral de Grasse was
absent in engagement with Admiral Graves.

As before mentioned, the different divisions of the allied forces
rendezvoused at Williamsburg, in the vicinity of Yorktown, in the latter
part of September. At the same time the enemy's fleet, overawed by the
superior force of the combined fleets under Admirals de Grasse and de
Barras, had returned to New York, leaving General Cornwallis and his
army to the fortunes of war; and enabling the naval force of the allies
to cooperate with their military in all the operations of the siege.
General Heath, with two New Hampshire, ten Massachusetts, and five
Connecticut regiments, the corps of invalids, Sheldon's Legion of
Dragoons, the Third regiment of artillery, and "all such State troops
and militia as were retained in service," remained in the vicinity of
New York to protect the passes in the Highlands, and to check any
movement which Sir Henry Clinton might make for the relief of Lord
Cornwallis.

At daybreak on September 28th the entire body of the army moved from
Williamsburg, and occupied a position within two miles of the enemy's
line; the American troops occupied the right of the line; the French
auxiliaries the left. York, the scene of operations referred to, is a
small village, the seat of justice of York County, Virginia, and is
situated on the southern bank of the York River, eleven miles from its
mouth. On the opposite side of the river is Gloucester Point, on which
the enemy had also taken a position; and the communication between the
two