On 28 September-19 October 1781, the Siege of Yorktown was fought between the Americans and French under George Washington and Jean Baptiste Rochambeau against the British under Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War.
Why did it happen & Who was involved?
After his victory at Guilford Court House on 15 March 1781, General Cornwallis decided to abandon his campaign in South Carolina and march north to Virginia. On 22 August, he entrenched his army of 7,500 British troops at Yorktown. There were several reasons for this decision. First, Cornwallis had suffered irreplaceable losses of men and supplies at the Battle of Guilford Court House. Second, Lieutenant General Henry Clinton had ordered Cornwallis to find a defensible port for use as an operation base. Unbeknownst to both, their movements were shadowed by Major General Maria Joseph de Lafayette, who informed American General George Washington in New York. Sensing an opportunity to trap Cornwallis, Washington, and Rochambeau, commander of French forces, moved their combined forces, which consisted of 14,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 52 artillery, south to Virginia. At the same time, the French fleet of 24 warships under Rear Admiral Francois de Grasse defeated the British navy on 5 September at the Battle of Chesapeake Bay. This victory allowed the French navy to block British reinforcements from assisting Cornwallis at Yorktown.
What happened?
When Washington and Rochambeau arrived at Yorktown on 28 September, they found that Cornwallis’ men had built earthworks around Yorktown and across the river at Gloucester Point. The siege itself began on 30 September when the British abandoned their outer redoubts when attacked by American and French troops. While the Americans brought up their artillery into position in front of Yorktown, a detachment of French cavalry was sent to block the British position on Gloucester Point. Apart from a minor cavalry fight on 3 October, the British position there remained quiet. On 6 October, in conjunction with a French attack on the left of the siege line, the Americans began digging trenches parallel to the British earthworks. Three days later, on 9 October, the American and French artillery began bombarding Yorktown, which forced Cornwallis to seek shelter behind the river bluffs. Facing enemy fire from two British redoubts on the right of the siege line, two assault parties of French and American troops attacked and captured these redoubts on the night of 14/15 October. Despite a British sortie against the American artillery on 16 October being a partial success, Cornwallis now attempted to evacuate his army. However, a fierce storm on the night of 16/17 October frustrated his attempt to vacate to Gloucester Point. With no other option available to him, Cornwallis surrendered his remaining 7,018 troops on 19 October.
What changed as a result?
The Siege of Yorktown was a decisive victory for the Americans and French. Although fighting between Britain and France would continue until 1783, the American victory at Yorktown assured the independence of the United States and its rise to becoming a world power. In the words of Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Michael Lee Lanning, “After Yorktown, it began a process of growth and evolution that would eventually lead to its present status as the longest-surviving democracy and most powerful country in history” (Lanning, 2003, p.4).
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Lanning, Michael Lee. The Battle 100: The Stories Behind History’s Most Influential Battles. Naperville, Sourcebooks, 2003.