#general lincoln

[thephantomofthelibrary]

On October 19, Cornwallis, Washington, Rochambeau, and de Grasse, among others, signed the articles of capitulation, but feigning illness, Cornwallis refused to lead his troops to surrender, sending instead his adjutant, General Charles O'Hara, to suffer the humiliation of surrendering his sword. O'Hara sought to hand it to Rochambeau, but the French general rejected it, saying that American general Washington was sole commander-in-chief. With Lafayette at his side, Washington ordered O'Hara to surrender his sword to General Lincoln, who graciously returned it to him.

Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, (2002) p.159

[thephantomofthelibrary]

Knowing the affection members of Congress felt for Lafayette, Washington sent the young man to deliver his message in Philadelphia. As Washington had anticipated, Congress gave Lafayette an enthusiastic reception and a unanimous resolution welcoming his return to America. But it refused to respond to Washington’s requests for aid - and paid dearly for its refusal when British troops swarmed into Charleston and captured General Lincoln and his entire 5,000-man army. It was the worst American defeat of the war - made more so by the pointed humiliation of Lincoln and his troops after the surrender. Instead of permitting the Americans to parade with honor at surrender, the British ordered them to stack their arms silently and choose either imprisonment or parole under a pledge to take no further part in the war and return to their homes as loyal British subjects.

Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, (2002) p.115