d on the scene--the commander
in chief determined to hurry matters still further
by carrying two of the enemy's outer works by assault, and 25
Hamilton was assigned to lead the Americans and Colonel
de Deuxponts the French. A brilliant charge followed,
and Washington and Rochambeau, closely watching the
movement, saw the Americans scale one of the redoubts
and capture it within ten minutes, while the French soon 30
followed with equal success. From these two commanding
positions a perfect storm of shot and shell was then loosed
against the British fortifications, but still Cornwallis
would not yield.

Indeed, he made an heroic attempt to break through the
lines on the following night, and actually succeeded in
spiking some of the French cannon before he was driven 5
back; and again on the next night he made a desperate
effort to escape by water, only to be foiled by a terrific
storm. By this time, however, his defenses were practically
battered to the ground and the town behind them was
tumbling to pieces beneath the fire of more than fifty guns. 10

In the face of this terrific bombardment further resistance
was useless, and at ten o'clock on the morning of October
17, 1781, exactly four years after the surrender of Burgoyne,
a red-coated drummer boy mounted on the crumbling
ramparts and beside him appeared an officer with a white 15
flag. Instantly the firing ceased, and an American officer
approaching, the flag bearer was blindfolded and conducted
to Washington. The message he bore was a proposition
for surrender and a request that hostilities be
suspended for twenty-four hours. But to this Washington 20
would not consent. Two hours was all he would grant
for arranging the terms of surrender. To this Cornwallis
yielded, but his first propositions were promptly rejected
by Washington, and it was not until eleven at night that
all the details were finally agreed upon, and Cornwallis, 25
with over eight thousand officers and men, became prisoners
of war.

Two days later the British marched from their intrenchments,
their bands playing a quaint old English tune, called
_The World Turned Upside Down_, and, passing between 30
the French and American troops drawn up in line to receive
them, laid down their arms. At the head of the
victorious colu