A Buss from Lafayette

Washington & Ike Missed Triumphal Moments

This excerpt doesn't specifically mention the fact that the British commander at Yorktown, General Cornwallis, "called in sick" and sent an officer of lesser rank to the surrender ceremony in his stead. Military protocol prohibited Washington from accepting surrender from a man of lower rank than his so he was thus cheated out of playing the major role in this key historical moment. It wasn't until my recent tour of World War II battlefields, that I learned that this happened to Eisenhower, too, when the Germans unconditionally surrendered to the allies on May 7, 1945 in Reims, France. Representing the German government was General Alfred Yodl (later hanged for war crimes). As he was only the chief of staff for Hitler's successor, Karl Donitz, Eisenhower was obliged to step aside and let General Walter Bedell Smith, his chief of staff, sign for the Allied Expeditionary Force. We visited the room in which this surrender was signed, the walls of which are still covered in the original maps, lists of troop movements and casualties, etc. It was truly thrilling to see where World War II finally came to a close. I don't think any bands were playing at that ceremony, however.