(Drums)
This 19th day of October
marks a great victory
in the American struggle
for independence.
The year is 1781.
(Drums)
The cadence beat of drums
rolls ominously across the clearing
that will henceforth bear the name,
"Surrender Field."
(Drums)
Combined, French and American forces
harried, maneuvered, and finally trapped the British army in Yorktown.
The siege ends in surrender.
American soldiers in their blue uniforms,
French troops wearing dress white uniforms
line opposite sides of the road.
Men of a dozen different nationalities assemble.
(Marching)
Each his counsel to his own thoughts.
Yet, there are signs of strong emotion.
Some men will weep openly this day.
Others will display anger.
By 18th century standards,
the terms of surrender are harsh.
British regimental marches are not allowed
and their pipers must resort to a popular novelty tune called,
"The World Turned Upside Down."
The British march with flags furled and cased.
For the British, it is indeed a world
turned upside down.
Outwardly, it will seem that allied joy
and British humiliation lay hidden under a
facade of thick military discipline.
A few have chosen to deaden their feelings
with too liberal a ration of rum.
New uniforms bolster British morale
for this agonizing march.
German mercenaries march to defeat
in a war in which they were
only hired participants.
Some Americans cannot help but flash
a broad grin or utter a forbidden snicker.
But mostly the British march solemnly
between stern faced French
and American victors.
Word of the American victory
spreads quickly, as hundreds of civilians
rush to see a British army
lay down its arms.
Few realize they will watch a
turning point in world history.
Meanwhile, final preparations are
underway to receive the British
at the field.
A cordon of French cavalry is positioned around the area.
This day will avenge American defeats at
Breed's Hill and Brooklyn Heights.
It will thaw the bitter cold
of Valley Forge and Morristown,
and ease the painful memory of such
disasters as Camden and Charleston.
Militia, in hunting shirts and makeshift uniforms, assemble.
They are farmers, shopkeepers,
and tradesmen turned solders,
welded together by an ill defined cause
called liberty.
They are an army of ragtag warriors today.
Tomorrow, they become citizens,
struggling to create a constitution
and a system of state and federal laws.
For some, Yorktown is but a promise.
They will struggle for two centuries more
before achieving their full measure
of freedom.
The French, who have earned their share of this victory,
have fought hard for American freedom.
Soon, in the bloodied streets of Paris,
they will seek their own independence.
"C'mon, Ma."
And still they gather,
civilians and troops alike.
An 18th century custom had musicians
dressed in reverse regimental colors.
Thus, some colonials wore red.
(Music)
"March!"
It is ironic that America began at Jamestown,
not 20 miles from this field.
Yorktown will not end the war.
But it will forever remain a symbol
of the end of the colonial experience.
Yorktown also marks a beginning.
From this day and this place will flow
a new vision of men to have of themselves
and the governments they devise.
These are men who fought to protect their liberty,
not to build some new and different system of government.
They will leave this field to erect an independent America,
founded on the belief that the purpose of government
is to protect the freedom of its citizens.
(Music)
A constant stream of redcoats pours onto the field,
replacing those troops
who have already surrendered.
"Round your fire locks!"
Throughout the day, countless British officers bark out the hated command:
"Round your fire locks!"
Some Englishmen will remain in America to
share in the freedom won so dearly by their former enemies.
Many of the British who return to England
will come to believe that this surrender to an army of farmers and merchants
has saved the Empire from tyranny.
Here, too, the seed of self determination
will take root and flourish.
"Fire locks!"
"Round your fire locks!"
Many of the Germans surrendering under the British defeat
will weigh a life of freedom in America
against returning home to a feudal state,
to a prince who might again auction their services and their lives
for a few pieces of silver.
(Drums)
"Round your fire arms!"
From this surrender at Yorktown
there flows a single idea
that men need not abandon their fate
to governments they cannot control.
It is a simple idea.
And yet, two centuries later,
it continues to capture the imagination of people everywhere.
Whether by peaceful evolution
or bloody acceptance,
the idea will not die.
Often it must be reasserted
and the struggle refought.
But the idea remains that men are,
and of right, ought to be free.
"Hip hip!"
"Hurrah!"
"Hip hip!"
"Hurrah!"
(Cheering)
(Drums)
(Pipers)