(ORIGINAL.)
Holt's Forge, 1st Sept., 1781.
My dear General,—From the bottom of my heart I congratulate you upon the arrival of the French fleet. Some rumours had been spread, and spy accounts sent out, but no certainty until the admiral's despatches came to hand. Inclosed I send you his letter, and that of M. de St. Simon, both of whom I request you will have translated by Tilghman or Gouvion alone, as there are parts of them personal, which I do not choose to shew to others. Thanks to you, my dear general, I am in a very charming situation, and find myself at the head of a beautiful body of troops; but am not so hasty as the Count de Grasse, and think that, having so sure a game to play, it would be madness, by the risk of an attack, to give anything to chance.
It appears Count de Grasse is in a great hurry to return; he makes it a point to put upon my expressions such constructions as may favour his plan. They have been pleased to adopt my ideas, as to the sending of vessels into James River, and forming a junction at Jamestown. I wish they may also force the passage at York, because then his lordship has no possibility of escape.
The delay of Count de Grasse's arrival, the movement of the grand army, and the alarm there was at York, have forced me, for greater security, to send a part of the troops to the south side, of James River. To-morrow and the day after will be employed in making dispositions for covering a landing, which will be done with continentals discumbered of baggage; and on the 5th, agreeable to the count's desire, a junction will be made of our troops. I shall then propose to the French general the taking of a safe position, within ten or twelve miles of York; such a one as cannot be forced without a much greater loss than we could suffer.
And, unless matters are very different from what I think they are, my opinion is, that we ought to be contented with preventing the enemy's forages, and fatiguing them by alarming their picquets with militia, without committing our regulars. Whatever readiness the Marquis de St. Simon has been pleased to express to Colonel Gimat, respecting his being under me, I shall do nothing without paying that deference which is due to age, talents, and experience; but would rather incline to the cautious line of conduct I have of late adopted. General Portail must be now with Count de Grasse. He knows your intentions, and our course will be consulted in our movements.
Lord Cornwallis has still one way to escape; he may land at West Point, and cross James River, some miles below Point of Fork; but I thought this part was the most important, as the other route is big with obstacles. However, to prevent even a possibility, I would wish some ships were above York.
The governor~{2} was with me when the letters came; he jumped upon a horse, and posted off to his council. I gave him a memorandum, demanding provisions of every kind for the fleet and the combined army. We may depend upon a quantity of cattle, but flour ought to be sent from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Chevalier d'Annemours, the French consul, is here, and will take a method to have his countrymen supplied without starving us.
Upon a particular inquiry of the country, and our circumstances, I hope you will find we have taken the best precautions to lessen his lordship's chances to escape; he has a few left, but so very precarious, that I hardly believe he will make the attempt; if he does, he must give up ships, artillery, baggage, part of the horses, all the negroes; he must be certain to lose the third of his army, and run the greatest risk to lose the whole, without gaining that glory which he may derive from a brilliant defence.
Adieu, my dear general, the agreeable situation I am in is owing to your friendship, and is, for that reason, the dearer to your respectful servant and friend.
Endnotes:
1. Washington having finally adopted the project of uniting the land and sea forces against the army of Cornwallis, which had so fortunately stationed itself in the position most favourable to a naval attack, it was still important and difficult to prevent him from reaching Carolina, and thus ruining the campaign of the allied powers. It was to attain this end, that Lafayette had despatched troops to the south of James River, under pretence of dislodging the English from Portsmouth; this movement had also the good effect of uniting to the corps of the army the troops and artillery who could escape by Albemarle Sound on the arrival of the Count de Grasse. With the same view, he detained troops on the south of James River, on pretence of sending General Wayne and his Pennsylvanians to the southern army to reinforce General Greene. No person was in the secret, and the enemy could not, therefore, be undeceived. It was at that period that he sent them the pretended deserter, Morgan. In short, after having manoeuvred for several months to lead his opponent into the spot that would best allow him to take advantage of a naval co-operation, he manoeuvred at last so as to prevent his enemy from withdrawing when he became conscious of his danger. His precautions in this respect were more necessary from Lord Cornwallis knowing that a large French fleet was expected in North America. The moment the Count de Grasse arrived, Lafayette marched on rapidly to Williamsburg, and effected a junction with a corps of three thousand men belonging to the Marquis de St. Simon. As soon as he landed at Jamestown, he crossed the river, united Wayne's corps to his own, and assembled, on the other side of York River, opposite to Gloucester, a corps of militia. The English army thus found itself enclosed on every side, and no possible means of safety were left to Lord Cornwallis but by his undertaking a very perilous enterprise. He reconnoitred, however, the position of Williamsburg, with the intention of attacking it. It was a well chosen station: two creeks; or small rivers, throwing themselves, one into James, the other into York River, almost enclosed the peninsula on that point; it was necessary to force two well defended passages; two houses and two public buildings of Williamsburg, both of stone, were well placed to defend the front. There were five thousand French and American troops, a large corps of militia, and a well served campaign artillery. Lord Cornwallis thought he ought not to hazard an attack. He might have crossed over to Gloucester, or have ascended York River, the Count de Grasse having neglected to place vessels above that point, but he must have abandoned, in that case, his artillery, magazines, and invalids, and measures had been taken to cut off his road in several places; he determined, therefore, to await the attack. He might have had, in truth, the chance of a combat, if Lafayette had yielded to some tempting solicitations. The Count de Grasse was in a hurry to return; the idea of waiting for the northern troops and generals was intolerable to him; he entreated Lafayette to attack the English army; with the American and French troops that were under his command, offering, for that purpose, not only the detachments which formed the garrisons of the ships, but also as many sailors as he should demand. The Marquis de St. Simon, who although subordinate to Lafayette from the date of his commission, was much his senior in point of age and service, joined earnestly in the admiral's request. He represented that Lord Cornwallis's works were not yet completed, and that an attack of superior forces would soon, in all probability, take Yorktown, and afterwards Gloucester. The temptation was great for the young general of the combined army, who was scarcely four-and-twenty years of age; he had an unanswerable pretence for taking such a step in the declaration made by M. de Grasse, that he could not wait for the northern generals and forces; but this attack, which, if successful, would have been so brilliant, must necessarily have cost a great deal of blood. Lafayette would not sacrifice to his personal ambition the soldiers who had been confided to him; and, refusing the request of the Count de Grasse, he only endeavoured to persuade him to await the arrival of General Washington, accompanied by the Generals Rochambeau and Lincoln, seniors of Lafayette; by this means the reduction of the army of Cornwallis became a secure and by no means costly operation. (Note extracted from Manuscript, No. 2.)
2. The governor of Virginia, Nelson.