onel Tilghman, whom Washington sent posthaste to
Philadelphia to inform Congress of the surrender.

It is after midnight when he arrives. The drowsy night watchman is
slowly pacing the streets. Suddenly is heard the joyful cry, "Past
three o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken!"

[Illustration: The Night Watchman announcing the Capture of
Cornwallis]

Up go the windows. Men and women rush into the streets, all eager to
hear the news. An hour before daylight, old Independence bell rings
out its loudest peals, and sunrise is greeted with the boom of
cannon.

Congress meets during the forenoon, to read Washington's dispatches.
In the afternoon, the members go in solemn procession to the Lutheran
church, "and return thanks to Almighty God for crowning the allied
armies of the United States and France with success."

At noon on Sunday, November 25, the news reached London. Somebody
asked a member of the cabinet how Lord North, the prime minister,
received the "communication."

"As he would have taken a cannon ball in his chest," was the reply;
"for he opened his arms, exclaimed {137} wildly, as he walked up and
down the room during a few minutes, 'O God! it is all over! it is all
over!'"

The news was sent to King George, who replied the same evening. It
was noted that His Majesty being a trifle stupid, wrote very calmly,
but forgot to mark the exact hour and minute of his writing. This
circumstance, the like of which had never happened before, seemed to
indicate to his cabinet some unusual disturbance. Shortly afterwards,
however, the old king took some comfort in declaring that the Yankees
were a wretched set of knaves, whom he was glad to get rid of at any
price.

* * * * * *

On a gentle slope at Yorktown stands a monument, erected a century
later by Congress, in commemoration of the surrender of Lord
Cornwallis. There it stands, a tall, white shaft, solitary, glorious,
and impressive, a landmark for many miles along that sleepy shore.

{138}

CHAPTER X
THE CRISIS

Exactly eight years from the day when

"the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world,"

the Continental Congress informed General Washington that the war was
over. In September, 1783, the formal treaty of peace was signed; a
month later, the Continental army was disbanded; and three weeks
later, the British army sailed from New York.

What a pathetic and impressive scen