18th. The Commissioners met accordingly; but the business was so procrastinated by those on their side (a Colo. Dundas & a Majr. Ross) that Colo. Laurens & the Viscount De Noailles who were appointed on our part could do no more than make the rough draft of the Articles which were to be submitted for Lord Cornwallis’s consideration.1
1. The British commissioners were Lt. Col. Thomas Dundas of the 80th Regiment of Foot (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers) and Maj. Alexander Ross, Cornwallis’s aide-de-camp. The American commissioners were Lt. Col. John Laurens and the vicomte de Noailles, mestre de camp en second of the Soissonnais Regiment and brother-in-law of Lafayette. The discussions dragged on through the day, and in late evening the commissioners reported that negotiations had been so protracted that an extension of the truce until 9:00 the next morning had been necessary.