Siege of Yorktown Part of the American Revolutionary War Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown by John Trumbull. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" John Trumbull ( June 6, 1756 &ndash November 10, 1843) was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary Oil on canvas, 1820. Date September 28 - October 19, 1781 Location Yorktown, Virginia Result Decisive Franco-American victory [1] Belligerents  United States Kingdom of France Great Britain Hessian Mercenaries Commanders George Washington Jean-Baptiste Ponton de Rochambeau François de Grasse Charles Cornwallis # Charles O’Hara # Strength 19,300 soldiers (10,800 French 8,500 Americans) 24 French warships 375 guns (see below) 7,500 Casualties and losses 62 killed 190 wounded[2] 156 killed, 326 wounded, 7,018 captured[3]

The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1781 ( MDCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Yorktown is a Census-designated place (CDP in York County, Virginia, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a State in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800 Hesse (Hessen is a state of Germany with an area A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau ( July 1, 1725 &ndash May 10, 1807) was a French François Joseph Paul marquis de Grasse Tilly comte de Grasse (1722 – January 14 1788 in Paris) was a French Admiral. Charles Cornwallis 1st Marquess Cornwallis ( 31 December 1738 &ndash 5 October 1805) was a British military commander and colonial Surrender is when Soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become Prisoners of war, either as General Charles O'Hara (1740 &ndash February 25, 1802) was a British Military officer who served in the Seven Years War Surrender is when Soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become Prisoners of war, either as The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The American Continental Army was an Army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the France, despite its financial difficulties used the occasion of the American Revolutionary War (1776–1781 to weaken its arch-rival in European and world Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau ( July 1, 1725 &ndash May 10, 1807) was a French The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. Charles Cornwallis 1st Marquess Cornwallis ( 31 December 1738 &ndash 5 October 1805) was a British military commander and colonial It proved to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second of the war) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Background See also Saratoga campaign The British plan and Howe's blunder The original conception of the campaign had been for Burgoyne with some eight

Battle of Yorktown

A plan of the Battle of Yorktown drawn in 1875. Year 1875 ( MDCCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse sailed his fleet of twenty-eight warships north toward Virginia. François Joseph Paul marquis de Grasse Tilly comte de Grasse (1722 – January 14 1788 in Paris) was a French Admiral. A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle Simultaneously, on 21 August 1781, Washington began moving his army south. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. Year 1781 ( MDCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common As they marched south, Admiral De Grasses’s fleet arrived at Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest Estuary in the United States. De Grasse defeated Admiral Thomas Graves’s fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the “Battle of the Capes,” and won control of the bay, thereby sealing its entrance and stranding Cornwallis from supply by sea. This article is about Sir Thomas Graves knight of the Order of Bath Background After a strategically indecisive campaign in the southern states, in the summer of 1781 British troops under Lord Cornwallis headed to the coast at Yorktown The defeat in Chesapeake Bay was the only major naval defeat suffered by the Royal Navy of Great Britain in the two hundred years of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service)

In the late summer of 1781, when George Washington and Rochambeau heard of Cornwallis’s encampment in Yorktown, they marched southward from New York to link up with the French fleet under de Grasse in Chesapeake Bay. Yorktown is a Census-designated place (CDP in York County, Virginia, United States. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous By the time General Clinton noticed Washington and Rochambeau left, the allies were marching south. Washington arrived just in time to bottle-up the British, who were anticipating reinforcements that never came from either General Clinton or the British fleet.

On September 28, 1781, Washington and Rochambeau, along with La Fayette’s troops and 3,000 of de Grasse’s men, arrived at Yorktown. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Year 1781 ( MDCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common With them was the 2nd Canadian Regiment lead by Brigadier General Moses Hazen. The 2nd Canadian Regiment, also known as Congress' Own or Hazen's Regiment, was raised on January 20, 1776 at Montreal, Moses Hazen ( June 1, 1733 &ndash February 5, 1803) was a Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the In all, nearly 20,000 men converged on the camp established by Cornwallis. With the arrival of these troops, the stranded British forces in Yorktown were outnumbered by a two-to-one margin and were then subjected to heavy fire as work began on a siege line.

Offshore, the French fleet effectively blocked aid for Cornwallis, while Washington made life unbearable for the British troops with three weeks of shelling. The Allies placed up to 375 guns, mortars and siege weaponry along their lines to bombard Yorktown. The siege guns fired an average 1. 2 shells or bombs every minute, or 1,728 per day. By the time the Siege ended, some 36,288 shots were fired into Yorktown. Although the British had 240 pieces of artillery - consisting mainly of light guns and mortars - they had no horses to drag their guns into position, so they were of very little use.

Redoubt No. A redoubt is a Fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort usually relying on earthworks though others 10.

Cornwallis, realizing the scope of his predicament, managed to send a message to Major-General Henry Clinton in New York. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Clinton promised that a relief expedition carrying 5,000 men would leave by October 5. Meanwhile, the British and Franco-American forces were continued to dig in and improve their respective earthworks.

On October 11, the allies started a second siege line only 400 yards (365. A yard (abbreviation yd) is a unit of Length in several different systems including English units Imperial units and United 8 m) away from the British forces. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Three days later, the French and Americans captured two major British redoubts: the French, under the command of Wilhelm de Forbach, took redoubt 9, while the Americans, under the command of Alexander Hamilton, took redoubt 10. A redoubt is a Fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort usually relying on earthworks though others The Régiment de Royal Deux-Ponts, was a French infantry regiment created under the Ancien Regime in 1757 This completed the second siege line and the close investment of the British garrison.

While the allies surrounded his position, Cornwallis learned that Clinton's relief force from New York was going to be late. On October 16, a British attack, intended to silence a French battery, failed. The allied batteries, from their closer second siege line, were now firing directly into the British defensive works. That night, Cornwallis attempted to pass part of his force north across the York River, to Banastre Tarleton's position on Gloucester Point. The York River is a navigable Estuary, approximately 40 mi (64 km long in eastern Virginia in the United States. General Sir Banastre Tarleton 1st Baronet, GCB ( 21 August 1754 &ndash 16 January 1833) was a British Gloucester Point is a Census-designated place (CDP in Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The maneuver was thwarted by a thunderstorm.

Faced with a dwindling supply of food and ammunition, and still awaiting relief from Clinton, Cornwallis offered to surrender unconditionally on October 17. Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Cornwallis declined to appear at the surrender ceremony or to surrender his sword (a custom at the time) to General Washington, claiming illness and sending Charles O'Hara instead. Washington refused to accept the surrender from O'Hara, and so the deputy surrendered to Washington's subordinate, General Benjamin Lincoln. Benjamin Lincoln ( January 24 1733 - May 9 1810) was an American army officer When the British forces came out, their drummers played the march, "The Day the World Turned Upside Down. "

On 19 October, the papers were signed by Cornwallis and Thomas Symonds (the most senior naval officer present), and the pair officially surrendered. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Captain Thomas Symonds RN (died 1793 was a British naval captain of the American Revolutionary War. Nearly 7,000 British troops became prisoners of the American forces. Five days after the surrender, Clinton's relief arrived.

References

• Artillery at Yorktown [1]
• Adams, Randolph G. “A View of Cornwallis’s Surrender at Yorktown. ” American Historical Review 1931 37(1): 25-49. Issn: 0002-8762 Fulltext: online at Jstor
• Bicheno, H. Rebels and Redcoats, The American Revolutionary War, London 2003
• Clement, R: “The World Turned Upside Down at the Surrender of Yorktown”, Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 92, No. 363 (Jan. - Mar. , 1979), pp. 66-67 (available on Jstor)
• Hibbert, C: Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, London, 2001
• Jerome Greene. Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (2005)
• Higginbotham, Don. The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763-1789. (1983). ISBN 0-930350-44-8. Online in ACLS History E-book Project
• Richard M. Ketchum. Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution (2004)
• Brendan Morrissey and Adam Hook. Yorktown 1781: The World Turned Upside Down (1994) British perspective
• Tuchman, Barbara W. The First Salute 1988, chapter on battle
• Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution. 1952, vol 2
• Willcox, W: “The British Road to Yorktown: A Study in Divided Command”, The American Historical Review, Vol. 52, No. 1. (Oct. , 1946), pp. 1-35 in JSTOR
• Wood, W. J. Battles of the Revolutionary War, 1775–1781. ISBN 0-306-81329-7 (2003)
• Wright, J: “Notes on the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 with Special Reference to the Conduct of a Siege in the Eighteenth Century,” William and Mary Quarterly, 2nd Ser. , Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct. , 1932), pp. 229-249,
• Jean-Baptiste Antoine de Verger’s Account of 14 October 1781 attack on Redoubt 9 at Yorktown.
• Could the British Have Won at Yorktown Page 18

Notes

See also

• Yorktown order of battle
• Battle of Yorktown (1862), the American Civil War battle
• USS Yorktown, for a list of U.S. Navy ships named after the battle

External links

• National Park Service history of the siege
• Order of battle at Yorktown
• The Role of the Spanish and Latin Americans in the Battle of Yorktown
• 1931 Army War College history of the siege
• Siege of Yorktown website
• Articles of Capitulation at Yorktown.