On the very day of the receipt of this despatch, Tarleton and Simcoe were actually compelled to cover the picket-lines of Cornwallis with their full force, to prevent Lafayette’s Continentals and the Pennsylvania Line from capturing the supply trains of his command. Cornwallis started for Portsmouth on the fourth. A sharp action at Williamsburg, in which Wayne made a brilliant bayonet charge, and in which Lafayette, having lost a horse, gallantly fought the battle on foot, resulted in a loss of one hundred and eighteen Americans and seventy-five British troops. From Portsmouth, Cornwallis took boats for Yorktown, on the first of August; and on the sixth, Tarleton says: “I threw my horses into deep water, near shore, and landed without loss,” joining Cornwallis on the tenth. Gloucester, opposite Yorktown, was occupied and fortified. Constant skirmishes occurred between Tarleton and Simcoe, of its garrison, and the detachments which Lafayette kept active in the vicinity. On the eighth, Lafayette wrote to Washington as follows: “We shall act agreeably to circumstances; but avoid drawing ourselves into a false movement, which, if cavalry had command of the river, would give the enemy the advantage of us. His lordship plays so well, that no blunder can be hoped from him, to recover a bad step of ours. Should a fleet come in at this moment, our affairs would take a very happy turn.” On the thirteenth, Lafayette established his headquarters in the forks of the Pamunkey and the Mattaponey. On the twenty-third, he wrote, in part: “In the present state of affairs, my dear general, I hope you will come yourself to Virginia. Lord Cornwallis must be attacked with pretty good apparatus; but when a French fleet takes possession of the Bay, and we form a land force superior to his, that army must sooner or later be forced to surrender, as we may then get what reënforcements we please. I heartily thank you for having ordered me to Virginia. It is to your goodness that I am indebted for the most beautiful prospect which I may ever be able to behold.” On the thirtieth, Count de Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake with twenty-six sail-of-the-line, besides frigates and transports. On the third of September, Count de St. Simon landed with three thousand two hundred French troops, and was joined by Lafayette at Green Spring on the same day. On the fifth, the allies occupied Williamsburg, about fifteen miles from Yorktown. The Count de Grasse had a limited period for operations on the American coast, and united with the Count de St. Simon to urge an immediate attack upon Yorktown, before its defences could be completed, waiving seniority of rank, and agreeing to serve under Lafayette.