midnight
After some delay , `` The Surrender of Cornwallis '' was presented in the most superb manner , as you can believe when I tell you that the stage was actually lined with a glittering array of Washington and his generals , Lafayette , Kosciusko , Rochambeau and the rest , all in astonishing uniforms , with swords which were evidently the pride of their lives . Fife and drum struck up a march , and in came Cornwallis , much cast down but full of manly resignation , as he surrendered his sword , and stood aside with averted eyes while his army marched past , piling their arms at the hero 's feet . This scene was the delight of the boys , for the rifles of Company F had been secured , and at least a dozen soldiers kept filing in and out in British uniform till Washington 's august legs were hidden by the heaps of arms rattled down before him . The martial music , the steady tramp , and the patriotic memories awakened , caused this scene to be enthusiastically encored , and the boys would have gone on marching till midnight if Ralph had not peremptorily ordered down the curtain and cleared the stage for the next tableau . This had been artfully slipped in between two brilliant ones , to show that the Father of his Country had to pay a high price for his glory . The darkened stage represented what seemed to be a camp in a snow-storm , and a very forlorn camp , too ; for on `` the cold , cold ground '' -LRB- a reckless display of cotton batting -RRB- lay ragged soldiers , sleeping without blankets , their worn-out boots turned up pathetically , and no sign of food or fire to be seen . A very shabby sentinel , with feet bound in bloody cloths , and his face as pale as chalk could make it , gnawed a dry crust as he kept his watch in the wintry night .