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Li)E------SEEING IS BELI EVING the SURRENDER of CORNWALLIS AS [TNEVER HAPPENED NO . 19 THE CLEMENTS LIBRARY ASSOCIATES SPRING-SUMMER 2003 COMMEMORATION OF WASHINGTON wo hundred and Washington was a demand ing person for posterit y. Nor did it help that the fifty years ago this to work for. He micro-managed his nex t two genera tions of American s November, with an employees. preferred to think of Washington as eviction notice in hand In publi c. Washington never an ideali zed . god-like figure rather from the Governor of relaxed . He was a commanding pres­ than as a human being. Virginia to the French ence- tall, powerful, and formidable­ To mark the accession of the military commander in western not someone you ever trifled with. recently do nated letter, the Cleme nts Pennsylvani a. twenty-one-year­ Library staff decided to old George Washington dedicate the summe r of launched a career of public 2003 to rem embering George service unsurpassed in Washington. The Director American history. He is one of has mounted a very special those relat ively few indi viduals exhibit entitled "George who perso nally changed the Washington: Getting to course of world events in very Know the Man Behind significant ways. the Image" that will run to Mr. and Mrs. Dav id B. November 21. It draws upon Walters have recently presented remarkable original letters the Clements Library with and document s, both from a marvelous. seven-page letter the Library's co llections and written by George Washington from private sources. It is in 1793. while he was President. Washington's voluminous They will be don ating other literary output-especially material s in the futu re. The his letters, to which we have letter is addressed to the estate much greater access than manager at Mount Vernon. As did ea rlier genera tions - that with many great leaders in his­ prov ides a way to understand tory,Washington paced him self. him as a person. The exhibi t He appreciated the importanc e focus es on examining the of relax ation. Horseback riding, factors that made George taking care of personal corre­ Washington such a uniqu e spondence and acco unts, enter­ person and the personal taining at dinner with good food characteristics that made and conversation. and thinking him the most successful about the Mount Verno n estate leader in American history. were the ways he could "turn it We will also host several off" and restore the energy, compo sure , Among his closest friend s and his fami ­ events associated with the exhibit, and mental sharpness needed to deal 1y he was gentle, indulg ent, and fun to to be announ ced separa tely. with his public life. be with. The pub lic, formal side of the As with most issues of the Mou nt Vernon was a world man is documented by vast quantities of Quarto, we have attempted to serve complete ly his, where he did not have written record s and first-hand descrip­ up a few appetizers on a subje ct that to hold back and be political, but could tion s. The private Washington is less currently interests the staff, based upon indulge his personal enthusiasms to the well recorded. It did not help that the Library 's very substantive collec ­ fullest. He invented all sorts of projects Marth a Washington destroyed the tions on the subject. Should the "hors to improve the farm and its buildings, majority of her personal correspondence doeuvres" tempt any of you, we invite planning each with carefully executed with her husband, or that Gilbert Stuart any and all to co me to the Clements drawings and charts beforehand, meas­ inten tionally emphasized the forbidding and sample the "main course." uring the ir successes afterwards . The qualities of the aged President in the - John C. Donn donated letter documents clearly that portraits most often used to picture him Director - - - - --------li)e----- - --- - SEEING IS BELI EVING THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS AS [TNEVER HAPPENED n October 19th, 178 1, at artistic inte rpretation with a varying emotional state. It would not be sur­ Yorktown. Virginia, British and interesting range of results that prising if he simply co uld not bear to general Earl Corn wallis's recreate. imagine, and interpret the be present. But, for a completel y satis­ surre nder to General George meanin g of the surre nder. fyin g portrayal of this unprecedented Washington signaled that the endgame To be most satisfying to an event, Corn walli s himself had to be in phase of the American Revolution had American audience. the image of the imag e, and that is what we have in begu n. "The World Turned Upside Cornwallis's capitulation had to many early illustrations of the surrender Down" was among the tun es played represent aspects of the American at Yorktown. that day by British regul ars as they point of view, including the tran sition A little American engraving laid dow n their arms in fro nt of the of political power and the stature and fro m The Life ofGeorge Washington by combined American and French forces. dignity of Washington as the representa­ Aaron Bancroft (1826) rings true to the The shocking news of the surrender tive of the new nation. Of course, larger concept of American victory with caused celebration throughout the Co rnwa llis himself could serve as a simplicity and directness but is nothing like what actua lly occurred. We know that British General Charles O'Hara, commander of the Second Battalion of Guards, represented the absent Cornwallis. In a spiteful gesture , O'Hara attempted to surrender Cornwallis' s sword to the French but was directed by Gener al Rochambeau to Washington. American General Benjamin Lincoln , who had surrendered Charleston to Henry Clinton in 1780, was gra nted the privilege of receiving the sword -and the satisfaction of hon­ orably returning it. The engraving from Bancroft's book illustrates British recognition of the now-established American inde­ pendence and power, symbolized by a red-faced Corn wallis giving up his sword directly to a cool and distin­ guished Washington. Co rnw allis faces his mortification alone, his aide turns away, while Washington is supported by a gro up of his officers and French allie s. A very satisfying little print. The Surrender of Cornwallis is the frontispiece ojthe second volume ojAaron Bancroft . Ironically, the Bancroft engraving The Life of George Washington, First President of the United States (Boston. 1826). was based on the work of a British artist, Robert Smirke (1752-1845). United States and despair in Britain. powerful symbol of the defeated British Kin g George 1Il had den ied Smirke Visual images were required to make crown, particularly jf shown as humili­ an appointment as Keeper of the Ro yal the unbelievable believable. ated and frustrated . Yet, from accounts Academy, and it has been speculated Alth ough there are many detailed of the surre nder ceremony, we know that this was an atte mpt to contain the reports of Cornwallis's surrender and that Cornwallis was not there . After spread of the artist's freely expressed many graphic images in paint and ink, ha ving completed the emotionally revolution ary opinio ns. Whether none is a true eyewitness depiction, diffic ult negotiation of surrender terrn s, Smirke 's depiction of Co rnwallis dra wn on the spot. American, French , Corn wallis excused himself from the came from ignorance of the details or Briti sh, and German participants were actual ceremo nial presentat ion of his from deliberate manipulation is unclear. present , along with many spectators, sword to his enemy. He had take n ill, From the other side of the but none is known to have recorded a or was likely too distraught to endure Atlantic, a Briti sh print, engraved picture of the event that finalize d the the proceedi ngs. The opening sentence for Edward Barn ard 's The New, break between the colonies and the of Cornwalli s's letter to his comm ander Comprehensive, Impartial and crown. Th e lack of a definitive eyewit­ in chief, Sir Henry Clinton, uses the Complete History of England (1783), ness illustration opened the door for word "mortification" to describe his contrasts sharply with the previous PAGE 2 THE O!JARTO example. Barnard 's image gesture of surrender to the partly lives up to its claim Americans? Perhaps the after­ of "Impartiality, Accuracy, glow of a successful French New Improvements, Superior alliance with the Americans Elegance, &c." Although vague resulted in a fairly accurate in some details, it is closer to rendering of the scene. the actual event but farther away Although the characters from the greater concept of are vague, details of uniforms acknowledging the exchange of and stacked anus are crisp and power in America. In Barnard's believable. Once again, a hand-colored engraving the European engraver has deter­ figure of Cornwallis meets mined that an impressive gate Washington with a pride and of a walled Yorktown is the bearing that is at least equal most suitable backdrop for such to that of the conquerors. The an important drama. French, central figure here is the British British, and American heraldic officer, looking not the slightest devices displayed on a palm tree bit mortified, physically greater (a common icon identifying the in stature than the marginal scene as American) represent American. British colors are the key players. As a whole, unfurled, and trumpets are this image is full of life, and the sounding. France is represented redcoat covering his eyes regis­ on the sidelines by a submissive Cornwallis's surrender as it was depicted in Edward ters a classic expression of the figure (Rochambeau) of lesser Barnard's 1783 history oj England.
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