The British army retreated in the direction of Cross Creek, the Americans following closely in the rear. At Cross Creek, the heart of the Highland settlement in North Carolina, lord Cornwallis had hoped to rest his wearied army, a third of whom was sick and wounded and was obliged to carry them in wagons, or on horseback. The remainder were without shoes and worn down with fatigue. Owing to the surrounding conditions, the army took up its weary march to Wilmington, where it was expected there would be supplies, of which they were in great need. Here the army halted from April 17th to the 26th, when it proceeded on the route to Petersburg, in Virginia, and to form a junction with General Phillips, who had recently arrived there with three thousand men. The march was a difficult one. Before them was several hundred miles of country, which did not afford an active friend. No intelligence could be obtained, and no communication could be established. On May 25th the army reached Petersburg, where the united force amounted to six thousand men. The army then proceeded to Portsmouth, and when preparing to cross the river at St. James' Island, the Marquis de Lafayette, ignorant of their number, with two thousand men, made a gallant attack. After a sharp resistance he was repulsed, and the night approaching favored his retreat. After this skirmish the British army marched to Portsmouth, and thence to Yorktown, where a position was taken on the York river on August 22nd.
From the tables given by lord Cornwallis, in his "Answer to the Narrative of Sir Henry Clinton"[172] the following condition of the 71st at different periods on the northward march, is extracted:
| January 15, 1781, | 1st Battalion | 249 | 2nd Battalion | 237 | Light Company | 69 |
| February 1, 1781, | " | — | " | 234 | — | |
| March 1, 1781, | " | — | " | 212 | — | |
| April 1, 1781, | " | — | " | 161 | — | |
| May 1, 1781, | Two Battalions | 175 | ||||
| June 1, 1781, | Second Battalion | 164 | ||||
| July 1, 1781, | " " | 161 | ||||
| August 1, 1781, | " " | 167 | ||||
| Sept. 1, 1781, | " " | 162 | ||||
| Oct. 1, 1781, | " " | 160 |
The encampment at Yorktown was formed on an elevated platform, nearly level, on the bank of the river, and of a sandy soil. On the right of the position, extended from the river, a ravine of about forty feet in depth, and more than one hundred yards in breadth; the center was formed by a horn-work of entrenchments; and an extensive redoubt beyond the ravine on the right, and two smaller redoubts on the left, also advanced beyond the entrenchments, constituted the principal defences of the camp.
On the morning of September 28, 1781, the combined French and American armies, twelve thousand strong, left Williamsburg by different roads, and marched towards Yorktown, and on the 30th the allied armies had completely invested the British works. Batteries were erected, and approaches made in the usual manner. During the first four days the fire was directed against the redoubt on the right, which was reduced to a heap of sand. On the left the redoubts were taken by storm and the guns turned on the other parts of the entrenchments. One of these redoubts had been manned by some soldiers of the 71st. Although the defence of this redoubt was as good and well contested as that of the others, the regiment thought its honor so much implicated, that a petition was drawn up by the men, and carried by the commanding officer to lord Cornwallis, to be permitted to retake it. The proposition was not acceded to, for the siege had reached such a stage that it was not deemed necessary.
Among the incidents related of the Highlanders during the siege, is that of a soliloquy, overheard by two captains, of an old Highland gentleman, a lieutenant, who, drawing his sword, said to himself, "Come, on, Maister Washington, I'm unco glad to see you; I've been offered money for my commission, but I could na think of gangin' hame without a sight of you. Come on."[173]
The situation of the besieged daily grew more critical, the whole encampment was open to assault, and exposed to a constant and enfilading fire. In this dilemma lord Cornwallis resolved to decamp with the elite of his army, by crossing the river and leaving a small force to capitulate. The first division embarked and some had reached the opposite shore at Gloucester Point, when a violent storm of wind rendered the passage dangerous, and the attempt was consequently abandoned. The British army then surrendered to Washington, and the troops marched out of their works on October 20th.
The loss of the garrison was six officers, thirteen sergeants, four drummers and one hundred and thirty-three rank and file killed; six officers, twenty-four sergeants, eleven drummers, and two hundred and eighty-four wounded. Of these the 71st lost Lieutenant Thomas Fraser and nine soldiers killed; three drummers and nineteen soldiers wounded. The whole number surrendered by capitulation was a little more than seven thousand making a total loss of about seven thousand eight hundred. Of the arms and stores there were seventy-five brass, and one hundred and sixty iron cannon; seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-four muskets; twenty-eight regimental standards; a large quantity of cannon and musket-balls, bombs, carriages, &c., &c. The military chest contained nearly eleven thousand dollars in specie.
Thus ended the military service of an army, proud and haughty, that had, within a year marched and counter-marched nearly two thousand miles, had forded streams, some of them in the face of an enemy, had fought two pitched battles and engaged in numerous skirmishes. With all their labors and achievements, they accomplished nothing of real value to the cause they represented.
Fraser's Highlanders remained prisoners until the conclusion of hostilities. During their service their character was equal to their courage. Among them disgraceful punishments were unknown. When prisoners and solicited by the Americans to join their standard and settle among them, not one of them broke the oath he had taken, a virtue not generally observed on that occasion, for many soldiers joined the Americans. On the conclusion of hostilities the 71st was released, ordered to Scotland, and discharged at Perth in 1783.