[60] First published in the Freeman's Journal, October 17, 1781, two days before the final surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. "On the seventeenth [of September] Cornwallis reported to Clinton: 'This place is in no state of defence. If you cannot relieve me very soon, you must be prepared to hear the worst.'"—Bancroft.
[61] "Satan's self."—Ed. 1786.
[62] "Like Korah."—Ib.
[63] "Lord Sandwich, after the retirement of Howe, gave the naval command at New York to officers without ability; and the aged Arbuthnot was succeeded by Graves, a coarse and vulgar man of mean ability, and without skill in his profession."—Bancroft.
[64] "School-boy."—Ed. 1786.
To Thyrsis
[65] Published in the Freeman's Journal, October 24, 1781, under the title "A Moral Thought," and reprinted without change in the edition of 1786.
Who, with above seven thousand Men, surrendered themselves prisoners of war to the renowned and illustrious General George Washington, Commander-in-chief of the allied armies of France and America, on the memorable 19th of October, 1781.[66]
[A] Charlestown, near Boston. See his letter on that occasion.—Freneau's note. The poet has satirized Burgoyne's literary pretentions in the "Voyage to Boston," q. v.
[B] The Parcæ, or Fates, who, according to the Heathen mythology, were three in number.—Ib.
[C] See Whiston's Hypothesis.—Freneau's note.
[66] This title was changed for the edition of 1795 by leaving out the words "the renowned and illustrious General George Washington, Commander-in-chief of," and also the quotation from Shakespeare. The same title was used in 1809, with the added quotation:
In the issue of the Freeman's Journal of October 24, 1781, the editor voiced his joy by printing the following in huge letters, that covered more than half of the first page of the paper:
BE IT REMEMBERED
That on the 17th day of October, 1781, Lieut. General Charles Earl Cornwallis with above 5000 British troops surrendered themselves prisoners of war to his excellency Gen. George Washington, commander in chief of the allied forces of France and America.
LAUS DEO!—
Two weeks later, in the issue of November 7th, Freneau printed the above poem. It was so mutilated and changed for the edition of 1795 that I have reproduced the test of the 1786 edition, which was printed verbatim from the newspaper, and have indicated in the footnotes the most significant changes.
[67] "Formed on."—Ed. 1795.
[68] "Conqueror."—Ib.
[69] "Foe to the rights of man."—Ib.
[70] This does not overdo the contemporary estimate of Cornwallis. Attempting to crush at once the American rebellion by the use of the harshest measures, he inaugurated a veritable reign of terror. "Cruel measures seek and find cruel agents; officers whose delight was in blood patrolled the country, burned houses, ravaged estates, and put to death whom they would.... For two years cold-blooded assassinations, often in the house of the victim and in the presence of his wife and little children, were perpetrated by men holding the king's commission."—Bancroft.
[71] "Lord of war."—Ed. 1795.
[72] This line and the nine following lines were omitted from the edition of 1795.
[73] "Warrior."—Ed. 1795.
[74] "Tyrant's."—Ib.
[75] "And all wars be done."—Ib.
[76] "Sir Henry be."—Ib.
[77] "Manned by brave souls, to see the British shore."—Ib.
[78] "As earthquakes shook the huge Colossus down."—Ed. 1795.
[79] "By force convey."—Ib.
[80] "Tyrant."—Ib.
[81] "Nor say."—Ib.
[82] "His godship."—Ed. 1795.
[83] "The rage of Europe."—Ib.
[84] "Mast."—Ib.
[85] "Took one sad survey of your wanton waste."—Ib.
[86] "Lost all your honours—even your memory dead."—Ib.
[87] This and the five following lines omitted in edition of 1795.
[88] An allusion to the brutal execution of the patriot, Isaac Hayne, of Charlestown, by General Rawdon, in the summer of 1781. The guilt of this crime rests almost wholly upon Rawdon. Yet "his first excuse for the execution was in the order of Cornwallis which had filled the woods of Carolina with assassins."—Bancroft.
[89] "Gog-magogs."—Ed. 1795.
[90] "From depth of woods this hornet host he drew."—Ib.
[91] "Envenom'd ruffians."—Ib.
[92] "The mean invader."—Ib.
[93] "The prisoner."—Ib.
[94] This line and the next omitted from later editions.
[95] "Homeward flight."—Ed. 1795.
[96] "Plan future conquests and new battles fight."—Ib.
[97] This and the following five lines omitted from later editions.
[98] "Your murdering host."—Ed. 1795.
[99] This and the following seven lines omitted from later editions.
[100] "Remorse be theirs."—Ed. 1809.
[101] This line and the following omitted from later editions.
[102] "Each tyrant king."—Ed. 1809.
[103] The later editions end at this point as follows:
Under General Greene, in South Carolina, who fell in the action of September 8, 1781
[104] First published in the Freeman's Journal, November 21, 1781. The patriot army under Greene spent the summer of 1781 in the High Hills of Santee, in South Carolina. "On the 22d of August, Greene broke up his camp very quietly and started out on the last of his sagacious campaigns.... By vigilant scouting parties, he so completely cut off the enemy's means of information that Stuart remained ignorant of his approach until he was close at hand. The British commander then fell back on Eutaw Springs, about fifty miles from Charleston, where he waited in a strong position. The battle of Eutaw Springs may be resolved into two brief actions between sunrise and noon of the 8th of September, 1781. In the first action the British line was broken and driven from the field. In the second, Stuart succeeded in forming a new line, supported by a brick house and palisaded garden, and from this position Greene was unable to drive him. It has therefore been set down as a British victory. If so, it was a victory followed the next evening by the hasty retreat of the victors, who were hotly pursued by Marion and Lee."—Fiske.
[105] "In the two engagements the Americans lost in killed, wounded, and missing, five hundred and fifty-four men."—Bancroft.
[106] Scott borrowed this line in the introduction to the third canto of Marmion, in the apostrophe to the Duke of Brunswick, which reads thus:
[107] After the first engagement the British fled in confusion. Greene, in his eagerness, pursued them too closely, and sheltered by the brick house, they inflicted upon the advancing Americans the greater part of the loss of life incurred during the battle.
Imitated from Horace