On the 10th of June Wayne joined him about thirty-five miles west of Fredericksburg. His force was smaller than Lafayette had hoped for, "less than a thousand men in all"; but from that time the Continental troops no longer fled. Indeed, Cornwallis no longer pursued them, but veered off, sending General Tarleton's famous cavalry on a raid toward Charlottesville, where it made prisoners of several members of the Virginia legislature and almost succeeded in capturing Gov. Thomas Jefferson. Another portion of his force turned its attention [Pg 157]upon Steuben where he was guarding supplies. But gradually pursuit became retreat and the general direction of the zigzag was back toward the sea. The chances were still uncertain enough to make the game exciting. There was one moment when Lafayette's flank was in imminent danger; his men, however, marched by night along a forgotten wood road and reached safety. Six hundred mounted men who came to join him from neighboring counties were warmly welcomed, for he sorely needed horses. At one time, to get his men forward more speedily for an attack--attacks were increasingly frequent--each horse was made to carry double. After he and General Steuben joined forces on the 19th of June the English and Americans each had about four thousand men, though in the American camp there were only fifteen hundred regulars and fifty dragoons. Weapons for cavalry were even scarcer than horses. Swords could not be bought in the state; but Lafayette was so intent upon mounted troops that he planned to provide some of them with spears, "which," he argued, "in the hands of a gentleman must be a formidable weapon." Thus reverting to type, as biologists say, this descendant of the Crusaders drove his enemy before him with Crusaders' weapons down the peninsula between the York and the James rivers. [Pg 158]XVIII YORKTOWN One of General Wayne's officers, Captain Davis of the First Pennsylvania, whose military skill, let us hope, exceeded his knowledge of spelling, kept a diary full of enthusiasm and superfluous capital letters. By this we learn that the Fourth of July, 1781, was a wet morning which cleared off in time for a "Feu-de-joy" in honor of the day. The Americans had by this time forced the British down the peninsula as far as Williamsburg, and were themselves camped about fifteen miles from that town. While the "Feu-de-joy" went up in smoke the British were busy; for Cornwallis had received letters which decided him to abandon Williamsburg, send a large part of his men north to reinforce Clinton, and consolidate the rest with the British garrison at Portsmouth, near Norfolk.