The news of the surrender was not taken well by the British governance. Upon hearing the news, Frederick, Lord North, home secretary and chancellor of the Exchequer, wildly paced about his apartment repeating, “Oh God! It is all over!” Washington, on the other hand, took the time to show his respect and appreciate for all who made the Yorktown victory possible.
"The General … entreats his Excellency Count de Rochambeau To accept his most grateful acknowledgments for his consoles at all times; … his warmest thanks to the Generals Baron de Viomenil, Chevalier Chastellux, Marquis de Saint Simon, and Count de Viomenil, and to Brigadier- general Choisy, for the illustrious Manner in which they have advanced the interests of the common cause. … [Washington] thinks himself bonded by affection, duty, and gratitude, to express its obligations to major generals Lincoln, Lafayette, and Steuben for dispositions in the trenches, to General Du Portrail and Colonel Carney for their vigor and Knowledge … and to General Knox and Colonel d’Aboville for their great care, attention, and fatigue and bringing forward the artillery in stores, and for their judicious and spirited arrangement of them in the parallels. He requests the gentleman above mention to communicate his thanks to the officers and soldiers of their respective commands. … thanking His Excellency governor Nelson for his aid and the militia."
George Washington’s After Orders, 20 October 1781Henry Phelps Johnston. “The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis, 1781.” De Capo Press, 1971, pp. 178-179.