On this day in 1781, the combined forces of General George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau arrived at Yorktown, Virginia and besieged Lord Cornwallis’ 8,500-strong army. The subsequent victory of the American and French force would spell the end of the American Revolution and the independence of the former British colonies.
How did Cornwallis, a very capable and enterprising soldier, come to be trapped in a relatively insignifcant little tobacco port? Quick thinking and action by Washington and Rochambeau got the army (and French navy) in place, but Cornwallis found himself there because he had been forced out of the Carolinas by General Nathaniel Green’s deftly planned and executed campaign of 1780 and 1781. And that campaign we will discuss shortly, because it features some of the quintessentially American military actions.
I think you worded the first paragraph wrong. The Combined Continental and French Force was at over 17,000 and Cornwallis’ (British, Hessian, Loyalist) Force of 8,300.
I visited the battlefield and the victory center a few years ago (10 to be exact). Anybody going to take pictures of the reenactment and post them?
Indeed I did! Thanks for pointing it out. Corrections to be posted…
still, solid post.
I’m digging this whole American Revolution theme you’ve got going.
Probably because I just watched National Treasure….
LTC P,
Two great books about the revolution are current releases:
George Washington and Benedict Arnold: A Tale of Two Patriots
Dave R. Palmer
Regnery Publishing, Inc.
Benedict Arnold’s Navy
James L. Nelson
International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
The Palmer work has some interesting information about Cornwallis, Arnold, and Yorktown.
The Nelson book follow Arnold from Ticonderoga to Saratoga and illustrates the stratagy that linked all of these operations.
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