Knox, Henry (1750-1806) to Jonathan Williams
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01250 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: Yorktown, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 October 1781 Pagination: 3 p. : docket Order a Copy
Announces the surrender of the British and German forces under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown, which occurred two days earlier. Explains that the enemy was given the same terms of surrender that the American forces received at Charleston the year before. The enemy forces number greater than 7000 men. States that there were over forty ships in the harbor. Comments on the unmatched harmony between American and French troops and offers praise for the French. Williams was a diplomat who served as an inspector of arms shipments with his uncle Benjamin Franklin's mission to France.
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