I's  OLD YORKTOWN AND ITS HISTORY



OLD ENGLISH TAVERN.



ment was erected in the town in 1860 to commemorate the sur-
render. It was thirteen feet in height and composed of two bases
of James River granite and a shaft of white marble bearing the
following inscription:
  "Erected the 19th day of October, 1860, by the regimental
and company officers of the Twenty-first Regiment of Virginia
militia of Gloucester county, and of the volunteer company
attached hereto, to mark the spot of the surrender of Cornwallis'
sword on the 19th of October, 1781."
  This monument was furnished by John W. Davies, of Rich-
mond. It was not erected on the 19th of October on account of a
heavy storm, its erection being deferred until the 29th of October.
The site was authenticated bv several marks of identification
which had been placed by William Nelson, son of Governor Nel-
son, and consisting of a heap of ballast stones differing from those
common to the locality and supposed to have been brought over
from England in vessels and to have dated back to the time when
LaFayette visited the town in 1824. Another landmark was the
poplar trees planted by William Nelson in the form of a square
about the year 1847. The life of this monument was short.