The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE AMERICAN TRIUMPH 475Timing and coordination are therequisite conditions and are themost difficult to achieve. Washington'splan depended upon muchg~eater coordination of a varietyof elements than would commonlybe involved. He had to move anarmy several hundred miles, mostof them going over land. Hisheavy artillery was dispatched bysea, but its arrival was dependenton the dispersal of the Britishnavy. The French navy had to beavailable at the right time or Cornwallismight be reinforced or hisarmy transported elsewhere.For once, all went well for thecombined American and Frenchundertaking. Clinton kept hisarmy in New York; Admiral deGrasse, the French naval commander,turned up with the fleet atthe right time, and lured the Britishnavy out to sea after havingsuccessfully engaged it in action.Cornwallis stayed where he· was,cut off by sea from retreat. TheContinentals and the French werejoined by the militia to make aformidably superior force underWashington. Cornwallis did notdeign to attempt daring maneuversto break out in these circumstances;after only a brief. tryagainst the forces, which did noteven bring most of his army intoplay, he surrendered his army intact.The memorable date was October19, 1781.Yorktown was the great victoryof the American War for Independence.It had all, or almost all,of the right ingredients. Washingtonwas in commandof the victorious;after so many years of perseverancein the face of the odds,his hour had come. That Cornwallisshould have been the Britishcommander defeated was as itshould be, too, for no other Britishcommander had routed somany American armies. Even thesurrender was dramatically conducted,though Cornwallis sent asubaltern to do the dishonors.With the French lined up on oneside and the Americans on theother, the .British marched betweenthem to the tune of "TheWorld Turned Upside Down" tothe place where they laid downtheir arms. The British turnedtheir eyes toward the French, as ifin contempt of the Americans.They· were roundly jeered by theAmericans who waited to do so,wisely, until the British hadthrown down their arms. Thusended the last great. battle of thewar.There had·been and· were to beAmerican victories elsewhere,some' with great portent for thefuture, though none so dramaticor decisive for victory in the waras that at Yorktown. Neither theBritish nor Americans had entirelyneglected the western and south.-