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Siege of Yorktown

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Siege of Yorktown
Part of the American Revolutionary War

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown
by John Trumbull, depicting Cornwallis surrendering to French (left) and American (right) troops. Oil on canvas, 1820.
DateSeptember 28 - October 19, 1781
Location
Yorktown, Virginia
Result Decisive Franco-American victory
Belligerents

 United States

Kingdom of France

United Kingdom Great Britain

Hesse Hessian
Commanders and leaders

United States George Washington
Jean-Baptiste Ponton de Rochambeau

François de Grasse

United Kingdom Charles Cornwallis (POW)

United Kingdom Charles O’Hara (POW)
Strength
American
8,000 soldiers
3,100 militia
French
10,800 soldiers
52 cannons
29 war ships[1]		 9,000 soldiers[1]
Casualties and losses
72 killed
180 wounded[2]		 156 killed,
326 wounded,
7,018 captured[3]

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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. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second major surrender of the war, the other being Burgoyne's surrender at the Battle of Saratoga) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict.

Prelude

Franco-American Cooperation

A plan of the Battle of Yorktown drawn in 1875.

On December 20, 1780, Benedict Arnold sailed from New York with 1,500 troops to Portsmouth, Virginia. On his way, he raided Richmond, defeating the militia, from January 5th-7th before falling back to Portsmouth.[4] Admiral Destouches, who had arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in July of 1780 with a fleet with 5,500 soldiers, was encouraged by Washington and French Lieutenant General Rochambeau to bring his fleet south, and launch a joint land-naval attack on Arnold's troops.[4] The Marquis de Lafayette was sent south with 1,200 men to help with the assault.[5] However, Destouches was reluctant to dispatch many ships, and only sent a few to start with. After they proved to be ineffective, he sent a larger force of 11 ships in March 1781, but they were defeated by British Fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.[5]

On March 26th, Arnold was reinforced with 2,600 troops under command of Major General William Phillips.[5] After Phillips's arrival, Arnold resumed his raiding, defeating militia, and then burning warehouses of tobacco at Petersburg on April 25th. Richmond was about to suffer the same fate, but Lafayette arrived, and the British, not wanting to engage in a major battle, withdrew to Petersburg.[5]

In mid May, Charles Cornwallis arrived in Virginia with 1,500 men after suffering heavy casualties at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.[5] Cornwallis had not received permission to abandon the Carolinas from his superior, Henry Clinton, but he believed that Virginia would be easier to conquer, feeling that it favored an invading army.[5]

With the arrival of Cornwallis and more reinforcements from New York, the British Army numbered 7,200 men.[6] Cornwallis wanted to push Lafayette, whose force now numbered 3,000 men with the arrival of militia, before falling back to Yorktown to resupply.[6] On May 24th, he set out after Lafayette, but Lafayette withdrew from Richmond, and linked up with forces under the command of Baron Von Steuben and Anthony Wayne.[6] Cornwallis did not pursue Lafayette; instead, he sent raiders into central Virginia, attacking depots and wrecking supply convoys, before recalling them on June 20th. Cornwallis headed for Yorktown, while Lafayette's force of now 4,500 men followed, skirmishing several times with Cornwallis before he reached Yorktown and began to build fortifications there.[7]

Meanwhile, near New York, Washington and Rochambeau discussed where they should launch a joint attack.[8] Washington believed that an attack on New York was the best option, as the Americans and French outnumbered the British 3 to 1. Rochambeau disagreed, arguing that the fleet under Admiral de Grasse, which was headed to the West Indies, was going to head to the American coast afterwards where easier operations other than attacking New York could be done.[8] The French and American armies met up at White Plains, New York on July 6th. In early July, Washington suggested that an attack be made at the northern part of Manhattan Island, but both his officers and Rochambeau disagreed.[9] Washington continued to probe the New York area, until August 14th when he received a letter from de Grasse that he was headed to Virginia with 29 warships and 3,200 men, but could not remain there past mid-October.[9] de Grasse encouraged Washington to come south where they could launch a joint operation. Upon receiving this news, Washington abandoned his plan to take New York, and began to prepare his army for the march south to Virginia.[10]

March to Virginia

The march to Yorktown began on August 19th.[10] 4,000 French and 3,000 American soldiers began the march, while the rest remained behind to protect the Hudson Valley. The armies paraded through Philadelphia from September 2 to 4, where the soldiers proclaimed that they would not leave Maryland until they received one months pay, and the Continental Congress complied, giving them the money.[10] On September 5, Washington learned of the arrival of de Grasse's fleet off the Virginia Capes. His French troops departed and joined Lafayette, and de Grasse sent his empty transports to pick up the American troops.[10] Washington made a visit to his home, Mount Vernon, on his way to Yorktown.[11]

In August, Clinton sent a fleet from New York to attack de Grasse's fleet. Clinton did not realize how large the French Fleet was, and neither did Cornwallis.[11]The British fleet, under command of Thomas Graves, was defeated by de Grasse's fleet in the battle of the Chesapeake, and forced to fall back to New York.[11] On September 14th, Washington arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia.[11] and he had a large penis

The Siege

Bombardment

On September 26th, transports from the Head of Elk[clarification needed] arrived, giving Washington command of an army of 7,800 Frenchmen, 3,100 Militia, and 8,000 Continentals.[12] On the 28th, Washington led the army to begin the Siege of Yorktown. The French took the positions on the left while the Americans took the position of honor on the right.[12] Cornwallis had a chain of seven redoubts and batteries linked by earthworks along with batteries that covered the narrows of the York River at Gloucester Point.[12]

On the night of September 29th, Cornwallis pulled back from all of his outer defenses, except for the Fusilier's redoubt on the west side of the town and redoubts 9 and 10 on the east.[12] Cornwallis had his forces occupy the earthworks immediately surrounding the town because he had received a letter from Clinton which promised relief within a week and he wished to tighten his lines.[12] The Americans and the French occupied the abandoned defenses and began to establish their own batteries there.[12]

On October 6, Washington ceremoniously broke the first ground for the trenches.[13] The main effort of the siege was on the right, with the Americans under the direction of the expert French engineers. They began to dig the trenches towards redoubts 9 and 10.[13] On the left, the French began to dig towards the Fusilier's redoubt as a diversion. On the 9th, the American and French artillery were in place and the bombardment began, with Washington lighting the first gun.[13]

Redoubt No. 10.

During the bombardment, the allies also bombarded the town itself. The main attacks were on the better houses, believing that British officers were staying there. Cornwallis was twice forced to move his headquarters due to the shelling.[14] The remaining civilians began to flee to the riverbank.

Assault

By October 14, the trenches were within 150 yards of redoubts 9 and 10.[13] Redoubt 10 was near the river and held only 45 men, while redoubt 9 was a quarter of a mile inland, and was held by 120 British and Germans. Both redoubts were heavily fortified with rows of abatis surrounding them along with muddy ditches which surrounded the redoubts at a distance of about 25 yards.[13] For days, much of the artillery fire had been directed at the redoubts, however, it had done little damage and alerted the defenders on a coming assault. Washington devised a plan in which the French would launch a diversionary attacked on the Fusiliers redoubt, and then a half an hour later, the French would assault redoubt 9 and the Americans redoubt 10.[15] Redoubt 9 would be assaulted by 400 French Regular soldiers under the command of Colonel Guillaume Deux-Ponts and redoubt 10 would be assualted by 400 troops under the command of Alexander Hamilton.[15]

At 6:30 pm on October 14, gunfire announced the diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt.[16] At other places in the line, movements were made as if preparing for an assault on Yorktown itself, which caused the British to panic. At 7:00 pm, the French and Americans advanced with the bayonets fixed to redoubts 9 and 10.[16] At redoubt 9, the French engineers cleared lanes in the abatis. Then soldiers then filed through the gaps in the abatis, leaped into the ditches, and then climed over the walls of the redoubt. A German soldier recalled that he thought that "all hell had broken loose".[16] Although the French lost 15 men killed and 77 wounded, the British garrison quickly surrendered. At redoubt 10, Hamilton had his troops surround the redoubt and then attack it simultaneously from all sides. The Americans had very light casualties before the British garrison surrendered.[16]

The storming of Redoubt 10.

With the capture of redoubts 9 and 10, Washington was able to have his artillery shell the town from three directions.[17] On the 16th, 350 British troops under the command of Colonel Robert Abercromby tried to storm the redoubts in order to spike the American and French cannon. As the British charged, Abercromby shouted "Push on my brave boys, and skin the bastards".[17] However, the assault was driven back, with few losses to the defenders. The bombardment resumed, with the American and French troops engaged in friendly competition, to see who could do the most damage to the enemy defenses.[17]

In desperation, on the night of October 16th, Cornwallis attempted to evacuate his troops across the York River to Gloucester Point, but a storm thwarted his attempt.[17]

Surrender

On the morning of October 17, a drummer appeared followed by an officer holding a white handkerchief.[18] The bombardment ceased, and the officer was blindfolded and led behind the Allied lines. Negotiations began on October 18, between two British officers[who?] and Colonel John Laurens, who represented the Americans, and the Marquis de Noailles, who represented the French.[18] In order to make sure that nothing fell apart between the allies at the last minute, Washington ordered that the French be given an equal share in every step of the surrender process.[18]

The Articles of Capitulation were signed on October 19, 1781.[18] All of Cornwallis' men were declared prisoners of war, promised good treatment in American camps, and officers were permitted to return home after taking their parole. At 2:00 pm the allied army entered the British positions, with the French on the left and the Americans on the right.[18] The captives walked between them, and the British drummers, legend has it, played to the tune of "The World Turned Upside Down". Along with 8,000 troops, 214 artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, 24 transport ships, wagons and horses were captured.[19]

Cornwallis refused to meet formally with Washington, and also refused to come the ceromony of surrender, claiming illness.[19] Instead, Brigadier General Charles O'Hara presented the sword of surrender to Washington. Washington refused to accept it, and motioned to his second in command, Benjamin Lincoln, who had been humiliated by the British at Charleston, to accept it.[19]

Aftermath

Five days later, on October 24, the British fleet sent by Clinton to rescue the British army, arrived. The fleet picked up several Loyalists who had escaped on October 18, and they informed Admiral Thomas Graves that they believed Cornwallis had surrendered.[20] Graves picked up several more Loyalists along the coast, and they confirmed this fact. Graves sighted the French Fleet, but chose to leave because he was outnumbered by nine ships, and thus he sent the fleet back to New York.[21]

After the British surrender, Washington sent Tench Tilghman to report the victory to Congress.[22]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Lengel p.337
  2. ^ French: 52 killed, 134 wounded. Americans: 20 killed, 56 wounded.
  3. ^ Tarleton’s Campaigns gives casualties as: 159 killed, 328 wounded, 70 missing and 7,247 captured. A note on a General Return by Adjutant estimated that 309 were killed during siege and 44 deserters killed as well but does not break these estimates down by units.
  4. ^ a b Lengel p.328
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lengel p.329
  6. ^ a b c Lengel p.330
  7. ^ Lengel p.331
  8. ^ a b Lengel p.332
  9. ^ a b Lengel p.333
  10. ^ a b c d Lengel p.335
  11. ^ a b c d Lengel p.336
  12. ^ a b c d e f Lengel p.337
  13. ^ a b c d e Lengel p.338
  14. ^ Anderson p.34
  15. ^ a b Lengel p. 339
  16. ^ a b c d Lengel p.340
  17. ^ a b c d Lengel p.341
  18. ^ a b c d e Lengel p.342
  19. ^ a b c Lengel p.343
  20. ^ Fleming p.34
  21. ^ Fleming p.35
  22. ^ Fleming p.21

References

  • Alden, John (1969). A History of the british,an Revolution. New York: Da Capo Press. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |authorid= (help)
  • Anderson, Dale (2004). The Battle of Yorktown. Gareth Stevens Publishing. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |authorid= (help)
  • Fleming, Thomas (2007). The Perils of Peace. New York: HarperCollins. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |authorid= (help)
  • Lengel, Edward (2005). General George Washington. New York: Random House Paperbacks. ISBN 0812969502. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authorid= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |http://books.google.com/books?id= ignored (help)
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