Siege of Yorktown
28 September – 19 October 1781 · in Battle View, played out step by step on the ground where it was fought
American and French forces trapped and forced the surrender of Cornwallis's army, effectively ending major fighting in the Revolutionary War.
The sides
- Americans and French, led by George Washington: about 17,000 men
- Britain, led by Lord Cornwallis: about 8,500 men
States that fought: United States of America, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Great Britain.
How it went
Siege of Yorktown
Six years into the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis has marched his army into Virginia and dug in at Yorktown, on the York River, to wait for the navy. Instead a French fleet under de Grasse sails into Chesapeake Bay and beats the British fleet off, and Washington and Rochambeau march their armies down from New York.
Trapped
The British are shut in between the river, the French fleet at its mouth and 17,000 Americans and French. Across the river at Gloucester, Tarleton's horse is penned in too.
The first parallel
On the night of 6 October the allies dig a trench 2 km long some 600 m from the British works. On the 9th their guns open fire; Washington lights the first himself. Day and night they pound the town.
Redoubts 9 and 10
To finish the second parallel, two redoubts by the river must fall. On the night of 14 October Hamilton's Americans take Redoubt 10 with the bayonet in ten minutes, and Deux-Ponts' French take Redoubt 9.
The storm
On the 16th Cornwallis tries to slip his army across the river to Gloucester by night. The first boats get over; then a storm scatters them, and the attempt fails.
Yorktown
On 19 October the British march out between the French and American lines and lay down their arms, some 8,000 men, while their band, it is said, plays "The World Turned Upside Down". When the news reaches London, the prime minister cries "Oh God, it is all over!". Peace follows in 1783.
The siege lasted three weeks; the steps here are its main days. The works are simplified from the siege maps.
People and wars
- George Washington (1732 CE – 1799 CE): Commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and first President of the United States (1789–1797).
- American Revolutionary War (1775–1783 CE): War in which thirteen British colonies, aided by France, won independence and formed the United States of America.