Home >
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown... His letter in a Philadelphia newspaper...
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown... His letter in a Philadelphia newspaper...
Item # 561594
Currently Unavailable. Contact us if you would like to be placed on a want list or to be notified if a similar item is available.
December 04, 1781
THE PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST & PUBLIC ADVERTISER, Philadelphia, December 4, 1781 One of the most significant issues to be had from the Revolutionary War, as this single sheet, "broadsheet" issue is entirely taken up--save for some front page ads--with the official letter of Cornwallis announcing his surrender to Washington at the Battle of Yorktown.
The report begins on the front page taken from the New York Royal Gazette of Nov. 24, with a prefacing comment from the adjutant general Delancey noting his direction to publish Cornwallis's letter in the next issue of the paper. The letter from Cornwallis then begins in the first column with a dateline of "York Town in Virginia, Octob. the 20th, 1781" and begins with the very famous first sentence: "I have the mortification to inform your excellency that I have been forced to give up the posts of York and Gloucester, and to surrender the troops under my command, by capitulation, on the 19th inst. as prisoners of war, to the combined forces of America and France..." with much more. This is the complete printing of Cornwallis's letter (some newspaper prints included only excerpts) which continues to take the entire second column and the entirety of the back page where it is signed in type: CORNWALLIS. See the photos for the full text.
The only other item printed in this issue save for the ads is the imprint at the bottom of the back page (see). An exceedingly historic report and great to have it be the only content in this American newspaper. Very rare as such.
Measures 8 by 10 1/4 inches and in very nice, clean condition.
Category: Revolutionary War
No Longer Available
