Victory at Yorktown
(Eight Key American Revolutionary Events Series)
Autumn 1781 found the American Revolution at a tipping point. General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, had long sought a decisive blow against the British. In the late summer, intelligence revealed that British General Lord Charles Cornwallis had encamped his army of over 7,000 men at Yorktown, Virginia, a small port town on the Chesapeake Bay. Cornwallis believed the British navy could supply and rescue him if needed.
Washington, alongside French General Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, led a combined force of American and French troops—numbering about 17,000—on a secret march from New York to Virginia. Meanwhile, the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse sailed north from the Caribbean and blockaded the Chesapeake Bay, cutting off Cornwallis from escape or reinforcement by sea. Cornwallis was surrounded by land and sea, and Yorktown became the stage for the war’s climactic siege.
The Siege Begins
On September 28, 1781, the allied armies arrived outside Yorktown and began encircling the British. Washington and Rochambeau ordered their men to dig trenches, moving gradually closer to the British fortifications. Artillery was brought forward, and by October 9, the allied cannons opened fire, unleashing a thunderous bombardment that battered British defenses day and night. The town shook under the relentless shelling; homes splintered, and British morale waned.
The Americans and French pressed their advantage, constructing parallel trenches and preparing for direct assault. On October 14, under the cover of darkness, two key British redoubts (an enclosed defensive structure outside of but supporting primary forts) were stormed. American troops, led by young Alexander Hamilton, captured a redoubt in a fierce bayonet charge, while the French seized the other redoubt. These victories allowed the allies to bring their artillery even closer, tightening the noose around Cornwallis.
Inside Yorktown, the situation grew desperate. British soldiers, exhausted and short on supplies, endured constant bombardment and mounting casualties. Cornwallis attempted a breakout on October 16, trying to ferry his troops across the York River under cover of night. But a violent storm scattered his boats, and the attempt failed.
With his men starving, outnumbered, and hemmed in on all sides, Cornwallis realized further resistance was futile. On October 17, a lone drummer appeared atop the British defenses, beating the call for parley. Negotiations began, and over the next two days, terms of surrender were hammered out.
The Surrender
On October 19, 1781, the British army marched out of Yorktown between lines of American and French soldiers. British musicians played “The World Turned Upside Down,” a fitting anthem for the stunning reversal of fortune. Cornwallis, pleading illness, sent his second-in-command, General Charles O’Hara, to present his sword. O’Hara first approached Rochambeau, who deferred to Washington. Washington, in turn, directed O’Hara to General Benjamin Lincoln, who had suffered a humiliating surrender to the British at Charleston the year before. Lincoln accepted the sword.
More than 7,000 British soldiers laid down their arms. The victory at Yorktown was total—cannons, supplies, and the pride of the British army were surrendered to the Americans and their French allies.
The news of Cornwallis’s surrender raced across the Atlantic. In London, Prime Minister Lord North is said to have exclaimed, “Oh God! It is all over!” The defeat shattered British resolve to continue the war. Though minor skirmishes persisted, Yorktown marked the last major land battle of the Revolution.
Negotiations soon began, and in 1783, the Treaty of Paris formally recognized American independence. The world had witnessed the birth of a new nation.
Author’s Final Note
Many patriots fought, sacrificed, died. They changed the course of history when these little 13 colonies declared their independence and then fought to achieve it. Not everything was perfect. It took later patriots and some wars to correct those things. It’s really not too late to join the revolution.
There are still things that need correcting and defending. We now must defend these rights that are endowed by our creator and not given by any person or government - that all men are created equal and are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is the United States of America. The fight for these now rests with us.
Welcome to the Revolution!