General Rochambeau and they besieged
Cornwallis within his works, trapping him
there. The outnumbered British resisted for
several weeks awaiting the promised rein-
forcements, but the completion of allied
trenches, and the appearance of Admiral de
Grasse’s fleet in Chesapeake Bay, convinced
Cornwallis that his position was hopeless.
This point was underscored on September 5,
1781, when the Royal Navy under Adm.
Thomas Gravesfailed to defeat de Grasse at
the Second Battle of the Virginia Capes.
Rather than sacrifice his army, Cornwallis ca-
pitulated to Washington on October 19, 1781.
As an indication of his grief, Cornwallis
feigned illness and requested his second in
command, Charles O’Hara, to present his
sword. Washington refused to accept the snub
gracefully and authorized his own second in
command, the recently exchanged General
Lincoln, to accept it on his behalf. Six days
later General Clinton made his belated ap-
pearance with a relief force of 7,000 men,
then withdrew back to New York. For all in-
tents and purposes, the American victory at
Yorktown ended the war, and Cornwallis was
paroled and repatriated in May 1782.
Surprisingly, Clinton received all the blame
for losing the war while Cornwallis emerged
as a national hero. His easy willingness to dis-
regard his superior’s directives became the
center of a bitter dispute, and a war of pam-
phlets ensued between the erstwhile brothers
in arms. In February 1786, Cornwallis was
promoted to field marshal and appointed gov-
ernor-general of English possessions in India,
where he vigorously stamped out corruption
and instituted much needed legal and social
reform. He then personally directed a lengthy
and difficult campaign against Tippu Sahib of
Mysore, which witnessed the storming of
Bangalore and the surrender of Seringapatam.
England consequently acquired half of Tippu’s
holdings. Cornwallis subsequently returned to
England in 1794, when he was made a mar-
quis and installed as the master of ordnance.
He was also the only military figure seated on
the king’s cabinet.
Four years later Cornwallis gained ap-
pointment as commander in chief and gover-
nor-general of Ireland, where he helped de-
fuse a major rebellion by Tone Wolfe and also
contained a small French invasion. Cornwal-
lis, however, was publicly criticized for his le-
nient treatment of the Irish; he resigned when
George III refused to allow Catholic emanci-
pation. In 1802, the aged marquis was tapped
to conduct peace negotiations with Napo-
leonic France and secured the short-lived
Treaty of Amiens. Cornwallis then gained
reappointment as governor-general of India,
but he died at Ghazipur shortly after arriving
there. Although the Americans regard him
chiefly as a formidable Revolutionary oppo-
nent, Cornwallis’s real sphere of achievement
was in the civil and military administration of
India and Ireland.Bibliography
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Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980.CORNWALLIS, CHARLES