I have the Honor to inform Congress, that a Reduction ot the British Army under the Command of Lord Cornwallis. is most happily effected. The unremitting Ardor which actuated the Officers and Soldiers in the combined Army on this Occasion, has principally led to this Important Event, Yorktown Battlefield at an earlier period than my most sanguine Hopes had induced me to expect. Gen George Washington to the President of congress. October 19, 1781.

October 19, 1781, dawned bright and clear, with carriage and wagon, to stare in fascination. had been active participants in the war for such just a touch of chill in the air forecasting the Nature itself appeared to be in a festive mood. a short time, knew little of what Gen. George coming of winter. As the sun came out, the, The green grass of the field was encircled by Washington and his army had endured for the American and French soldiers occupying the trees dressed in an array of fall colors, their past 6 years. In truth, it was the Continentals in siege lines outside Yorktown, Va., began to orange, yellow, and rich brown leaves dancing their tattered uniforms, telling clearly of the pack up their arms and equipment. Late in the in the gentle morning breeze. years of hardship and privation, who were most morning they started moving to their assigned representative of the war that was at last positions. As the combined armies met, they formed two drawing to a close. lines, each stretching for more than a mile The site chosen for the British surrender was a along opposite sides of the road, the men of the The American soldiers gathered on Surrender broad, almost level field ideally suited for the Continental Army in front of the militia, facing Field that memorable day in 1781 had come purpose, behind and near the center of the allied their French allies. The difference in appear­ from all walks of life. They were farmers, back­ lines along the road to Hampton. As they ap­ ance between the two forces was remarkable. woodsmen, tradesmen, clerks, laborers—com­ proached the field, the soldiers discovered that The French infantry in spotless white uniforms, mon men whose names for the most part are news of the victory had spread throughout the plumed and decorated officers at their head, lost to history, but who, taken together, em­ countryside and a host of men, women, and their standards of white silk embroidered with bodied the spirit of the people who had settled children had come, on foot and horseback, by golden fleur-de-lis fluttering along the line, this continent more than 170 years before. The formed a striking contrast to the weary Con­ hopes and fears of those men and women who tinentals in their ragged, war-worn clothing. landed on these shores were as varied as the people themselves. Some had come with dreams Yet, despite their lack of martial splendor, the of a free land; others had ideas of personal gain. Americans had a soldierly bearing about them But most had come here to avoid some sort of that commanded attention. The French, who religious, political, or economic persecution.

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Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia "The Surrender ol Yorktown" by Louis Van Blarenberghe, 1785. Gradually, in the freer atmosphere of North The name of Yorktown holds magic. It is a ters at Morristown, N.J., with a renewed faith which they endured with little complaint so long America, the colonists had become more self- magic that endures, and transcends all the that the end might yet come out all right. Al­ as their officers set them an example." By the reliant and independent than they could ever years. It was more than a simple ceremony of most immediately, however, the army began to time the Continentals arrived at Yorktown, 6 have been in the Old World. Even among people surrender that took place here, for Yorktown evaporate. Nearly all of the troops had served years of combat had indeed turned them into a so diverse there grew a bond that somehow symbolizes all the years of struggle that had beyond their original terms of enlistment, and fairly efficient fighting machine. Their education held them together in the search for further gone before—the battles lost as well as the now many of these simply went home. Yet the in the martial arts had begun in the snows of goals and opportunities. They began to regu­ battles won, each had contributed its share. And continued existence of the army was the only Valley Forge, Pa., during the terrible winter of late their own affairs and to mold their own to the soldiers lined up along Surrender Road, hope the patriots had for winning their struggle 1777-78, when the army suffered severely for civilization, and more and more they tended to the results had been worth waiting for. for independence. want of adequate food and clothing. It was there resist those measures they believed were de­ that the Prussian drillmaster, Friedrich Wilhelm signed to constrain them. As John Adams, one The waiting had really begun a long time be­ The army did survive. Slowly men began to von Steuben, undertook to give Washington's of the architects of American independence, fore, when tiie militia faced the British regulars come into camp, soldiers who would, for the soldiers their first taste of systematic military wrote: "The Revolution was effected before the on the village green at Lexington, Mass., on first time, serve for a period of 3 years. At no discipline. So successful were his efforts that war commenced. The Revoluton was in the April 19, 1775. Of the nearly 500 Massachusetts time, however, did the actual strength of the the army emerged from its ordeal stronger and hearts and minds of the people." Continentals who took part in the siege of York- army even approximate the strength authorized better trained than ever before. Indeed, at the town, probably few (if any) had been at Lexing­ by Congress. More men were always needed to Battle of Monmouth Court House on June 28, Yet when war began to seem inevitable, most of ton or Concord or even Bunker Hill. Nor could replace casualties caused by battle, disease, 1778, the Continentals proved that Americans, the people approached the idea with great re­ there have been many from those first com­ and desertion. The militia system, too, drained properly trained and led, were second to none luctance. Loyalty to the British crown was panies of expert riflemen raised in Pennsylvania, off a number of men who might otherwise have in the art of war. deeply ingrained. At the beginning, the majority Maryland, and Virginia—the first soldiers to en­ served in the army. Shorter periods of enlist­ were not seeking independence; they simply list in the Continental Army. Death, disease, ment, usually close to home, with more frequent After Monmouth, faced with an American army wanted the rights which they, as British sub­ desertion, and the end of enlistments had taken and larger bounties, made service in the militia of trained veterans, the British and their German jects, thought they should have. In fact, for their toll among these as among all units. And always more attractive. allies retreated to the safety of New York City, more than a year, the Americans fought without many had perished on that terrible march there to remain until new orders sent them off any Declaration of Independence. And even through sleet, hail, and ice up to Quebec in the In 1777 the main British army under Gen. Sir on a seaborne invasion of the Southern States. after separation was formally proclaimed, there winter of 1775, or later in the snows of Canada. William Howe moved by water to invade Penn­ Except for the American repulse of a British were those who opposed the idea, and patriots sylvania, won a victory at the Brandywine, cap­ naval attack on Fort Moultrie at Charleston, had to contend with large numbers of their fel­ From that first winter of the war around Boston, tured the patriot capital of Philadelphia, and S.C., in June 1776, the South had so far been low countrymen who chose to remain loyal to when the army began to grow, to the fateful then repulsed a determined American counter­ little affected by the war. In the winter of 1778- England. British campaign in Virginia that brought the attack at Germantown. But all was not gloom. A 79 the British captured Savannah and Augusta, armies to Yorktown, American military fortunes second British campaign, designed to cut New Ga., with comparative ease. When the war started, no one on either side wavered up and down. On St. Patrick's Day in England off from the rest of the States, proved thought it would last very long. Neither the 1776 the British evacuated and sailed away a failure. The surrender of Gen. John Burgoyne's Then in February 1780 the British landed a British nor the Americans were prepared for a from Boston, and patriot spirits soared. Then army at Saratoga, N.Y., on October 17, 1777, large force below Charleston. Gen. Benjamin war that would go on year after year, intense, came a series of near-fatal reversals. New York marked a turning point in the Revolution be­ Lincoln, the commander of the American South­ severe, bitter. The Declaration of Independence, City fell to the British. The American army was cause it brought France into the war against ern Department, called on Washington for help promulgated in 1776, had astounded the world. chased from New York across New Jersey into England. The French had, since the beginning in defending the South Carolina capital. Since Written by exceptional men like Thomas Jeffer­ Pennsylvania. Everything seemed lost until of the conflict, secretly helped the Americans the greater portion of the British-German army son, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin who George Washington led his Continentals through but had hesitated to proclaim formal recogni­ still remained in the New York area, the only stepped forward to claim the right to determine a blizzard across the Delaware River on Christ­ tion until they were reasonably certain of com­ troops Washington could afford to send were their own destiny, it had proclaimed truths about mas night 1776 to win a great victory at Trenton. ing out on the winning side. Saratoga tipped Virginia and North Carolina Continentals. Of all the natural rights of human beings that, until This was followed 8 days later by another the scales, and now France would send men, the long, weary marches in history, the one then, no one had dared to formalize and act victory at Princeton. money, supplies, and a fleet to aid the patriot made by these soldiers surely rates as one of upon. If these truths were to endure beyond cause. Spain and Holland later followed the most heartbreaking. These men who had their mere announcement, the patriots must win The effect of these victories upon the people of France's lead. previously trudged northward to fight for their their struggle on the battlefield. All too often in the country was electrifying. Washington, whose country in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New the course of the war, it had seemed that a reputation as a military leader had been declin­ Jean-Baptiste-Antoine de Verger, a French officer York were now turned around to march, in win­ country founded on such principles could never ing, was now hailed as a genius. The patriot at Yorktown, called the American Continental ter, hundreds of miles south to Charleston, survive. Now, with Yorktown won, Americans cause, which had seemed lost, took on new life; soldiers "very war-wise and quite well disci­ where, along with the rest of Lincoln's army, they knew it would survive. and the Continental Army went into winter quar­ plined. . . . [and] thoroughly inured to hardship, were bottled up with no hope of escape. The surrender of Lincoln's army of more than not only the greater portion of his American inner defense line of earthworks, redoubts, and This was a grievous error because it allowed 5,400 men on May 12, 1780, was one of the army but also Rochambeau's French army that batteries, with two redoubts, named simply 9 Washington to move his forces to within 1,000 great catastrophes of the war. The largest had been at Newport, R.I., for almost a year. and 10, in advance of the eastern end of the yards of the British lines, upon which the allied trained American army in the South was com­ The move was made with the greatest secrecy. line. A series of earthworks was also con­ artillery could now easily be brought to bear. pletely eliminated. The stalwart veterans of By the time the British in New York discovered structed northwest of Yorktown near the river. Trenton, Princeton, the Brandywine, German- the destination of the allied armies, they were The most formidable of these was a star-shaped The real work of the siege began during the town, Valley Forge, and Monmouth were im­ passing through Philadelphia. fort known as the Fusiliers' Redoubt because it first days of October. Although the Continental prisoned. Almost all of the South Carolina and was manned by a portion of the Royal Welch Army had been engaged in the business of war Georgia Continentals were also lost, except for On September 5, 1781, a British fleet com­ Fusilier Regiment. for several years, large-scale siege warfare was a few who escaped into the swamps to continue manded by Adm. Thomas Graves appeared off something new to it. The French proved invalu­ the fight from there. Calling upon his last re­ the Virginia Capes at the entrance to Chesa­ The actual siege began on September 28, when able in remedying this deficiency. There were sources, Washington sent his Maryland and peake Bay with 19 ships of the line in an attempt Washington's allied army of some 16,000 men no better instructors than the French engineers Delaware soldiers southward—every man he to aid the British army at York- occupied a line encircling the and artillerymen, famous throughout Europe for could possibly spare—to form the nucleus of a town. They were met there by town within a mile of the Brit­ their efficiency and skill. Under their supervision, new army under the command of Maj. Gen. a French fleet of 24 ships un­ ish outworks. The entire allied construction of the first siege line close to the Horatio Gates, the "Hero of Saratoga." The der Admiral de Grasse. The "Washington, Lafayette, and Tench THghman army then spread out into per­ British inner defenses was begun southeast of ensuing Battle of Camden, S.C., on August 16, at Yorktown" by Charles Willson Peale, 1784. battle that followed resulted in manent camps that extended Yorktown on the night of October 6. For the 1780, was the worst defeat ever inflicted on an a strategic French victory that in a great curve 6 miles long next 2 days the work continued at a rapid pace American army. South Carolina, as well as ended all hope Cornwallis from the York River, northwest despite the fire of the British artillery. By Octo­ Georgia, seemed firmly under British control. might have had of succour by of the town, around to the south ber 9 the allied artillery was ready to respond. sea. When Washington's Amer­ through woods and fields, then ican and French armies ar­ east to Wormley Creek. The To succeed the hapless Gates, Washington The French were the first to fire; 2 hours later rived on the scene, the British American wing on the right named Nathanael Greene. While Greene was an American battery joined in, with General commander was also effec­ and the French wing on the left still reorganizing his pitifully small force, his Washington himself firing the first round. On tively cut off by land. were divided about the middle opponent, Charles, Earl Cornwallis, moved October 10 the Grand French Battery opened up aggressively forward to add North Carolina to of the line by the swamps and marshes of Beaverdam Creek. together with other American siege guns; within the list of Southern States now in British hands. When he occupied Yorktown, 24 hours the superior allied firepower had Cornwallis' first setback came on October 7, Cornwallis' purpose had been nearly silenced the British. The bombardment 1780, at Kings Mountain, S.C., where his small to obtain a good seaport and On the morning of September was so effective that the allies immediately western column of Loyalist troops was de­ harbor. He had never envi­ 30 the allies awoke to a pleas­ began work on their second parallel siege line, stroyed by an American army of frontier militia sioned the necessity of having 2 ant surprise. During the night, about midway between the first parallel and the composed of hunters, farmers, and settlers. to defend it against a siege Cornwallis, thinking he could British position. Construction continued for the Then on January 17, 1781, Daniel Morgan ad­ from the landward side; it better defend the town by con­ next 3 days. ministered a stunning defeat to the British at the possessed no commanding centrating his troops closer to features overlooking the sur­ it, evacuated all of his out­ Battle of The Cowpens in South Carolina in one The last major infantry assault of the war oc­ rounding terrain. The British works except the Fusiliers' Re­ of the most superbly fought battles in American curred on the night of October 14, when the constructed around the town an doubt and Redoubts 9 and 10. history. Despite these defeats, Cornwallis con­ French stormed Redoubt 9 while New England tinued his advance. and New York Continentals overran Redoubt 10. Each attacking force was composed of 400 men. The turning point of the war in the South came The French target was the stronger of the two at Guilford Court House, N.C., on March 15, forts. It was defended by 120 British and Ger­ 1781. The battle fought there was claimed by man soldiers, while the American target was 6 the British as a victory, but their losses were so held by 70. Both columns started their assault severe that Cornwallis decided to leave the at 8 p.m. The Americans, led by Col. Alexander Carolinas and march northward into Virginia. By Hamilton, overcame all resistance in the short doing so he not only set the stage for the siege i space of 10 minutes; the French encountered z z of Yorktown but left the way open for Nathanael some difficulties but completed their task in less Greene to recover the deep South in a cam­ than half an hour. The two redoubts were then paign that would forever stamp him as the incorporated into the allies' second parallel. greatest general of the war next to Washington. "Charles Earl Cornwallis" "Comte de Rochambeau" by Gainsborough, 1783. by C. W. Peale, 1782. Just before daybreak on October 16, the British In May 1781 Cornwallis joined other British launched an attack against the allied center. It troops to begin his operations in Virginia. For was a gallant effort, a few cannon were spiked, more than a month his army, opposed by militia but the assault was repulsed. Cornwallis then and only a comparatively few Continental sol­ made a desperate attempt to get some of his diers, roamed almost at will through the State. troops across the York River to Gloucester Eventually the British retired toward the sea- Point and escape to New York, but a violent coast where Cornwallis established a base at storm scattered the boats and doomed the under­ Yorktown on the York River. He moved his taking. Cornwallis' situation was now hopeless. army there early in August and immediately began to fortify both the town and Gloucester At 10 'clock on the morning of October 17, the Point opposite. fourth anniversary of Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga, a red-coated drummer appeared on At the beginning of the war, George Washing­ the British rampart and beat a "parley." The ton's military experience had been very limited. guns ceased fire. A British officer appeared and His principal contribution throughout the years was taken into the American lines where he had been the force of his personality and char­ asked for an armistice. The next day commis­ acter. His indomitable will to win would never sioners met at the Moore House and, after a admit of the word "defeat," although defeat was heated and prolonged conference, settled the not unknown to him. As a leader of men, he was surrender terms. superb. There have been few generals in history who can stand comparison with him. Men had At 2 p.m., October 19, 1781, the defeated British followed him for months and years, through the army marched out from Yorktown, clad in a new most dark and trying times, when there seemed issue of uniforms, with their colors cased and little hope of victory at the end of the road. It their bands playing (so tradition has it) a British is doubtful that anyone in the colonies could march entitled "The World Turned Upside have provided the same qualities of leadership Down." Cornwallis, pleading illness, did not that held the army together. surrender in person; that task was assigned to Gen. Charles O'Hara of the British Guards. In Now after years in command, wherein he had all, 7,247 British officers and soldiers and 840 learned the art of generalship to a remarkable seamen were surrendered at Yorktown and degree, the great chance for which he had Gloucester Point. The casualties incurred during waited so long was finally before him. Two the siege were fewer than might be expected. weeks after Cornwallis occupied Yorktown, The American losses were 20 killed and 56 Washington, whose army still lay outside New wounded, the French 52 killed and 134 wounded, York City, received a message from the Count and the British and Germans 156 killed and 326 de Grasse, the French admiral whose fleet was wounded. assigned for duty in American waters. He was, the Admiral wrote, bringing his squadron, with Among the soldiers and civilians who silently troops and artillery aboard, to the Chesapeake. watched the surrender ceremony, none could Because of prior and unbreakable commitments, know that nearly 2 more years would pass however, the ships and men would be available before the official documents terminating the only until October 15, so "I shall be greatly war would be signed. The fighting would con­ obliged to you if you will employ me promptly This "Plan of the Investment ot York and Gloucester" by Maj. Sebastian Bauman of the tinue for well over a year in Georgia, South and effectually within that time. . . ." New York Regiment of Artillery shows the strategy by which Washington and Rochambeau won Carolina, and on the Ohio frontier. But, for all the last major military action of the Revolutionary War. The American encampment and lines of approach are shown in blue, the French in yellow, and the British in red. The Allies' first and intents and purposes, the surrender at Yorktown After conferring with the Count de Rochambeau, second siege lines lie south of the town at the western branch of Wormley Creek. was a signal to the world that the war had been commander of the French troops operating in won; and some must surely have sensed that in America, Washington made an immediate and many ways this day, October 19, 1781, was an About Your Visit Stop first at the Visitor Center to commercial traffic, except for buses, for which permits fateful decision: He would go to Virginia. Leav­ where you will find information service, an introductory are required. ending of sorts, and perhaps even a beginning. ing a reduced force to defend the Hudson High­ theater program, and exhibits. Yorktown and the surround­ ing area offer motel and restaurant facilities. The park Administration Colonial National Historical Park, which lands, he marched southward, taking with him does not have campgrounds, but there are several in the includes Jamestown, Yorktown Battlefields, Colonial Park­ Joseph B. Mitchell area. Picnic grounds, open in season, may be found along way, and Cape Henry Memorial, is administered by the Colonial Parkway and at Yorktown. The speed limit on National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Colonial Parkway is 72 kilometers per hour (45 m.p.h.). A superintendent, whose address is Yorktown, VA 23690, There are no service stations, and the roadway is closed is in immediate charge.

,.GPO 1978-261 212/11 Re, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior