In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, the colonists became more and more unhappy.  They thought it was unfair when the British began increasing their taxes and limiting their rights.  They had to pay taxes for sugar, glass, tea, newspapers, and playing cards.  There were many protests, some of which were violent.
           

The Continental Congress asked colonists from each of the thirteen colonies to form militia so they could defend themselves in case war broke out.  The British responded by sending more troops from England to keep order.  The Revolutionary War officially started on April 19, 1775, with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. 
 
The Continental Congress created the Continental Army to fight against the British.  This army was led by George Washington.   The Continental Army was in very bad condition.  They didn’t have enough food, clothing, or supplies.  Except for General Washington, they were also inexperienced fighters.  The Americans were promised aid from the French, but it didn’t come for a very long time. 

The British side was led by General Cornwallis and General Clinton.  The British army and navy were very powerful.  They had all the things they needed and they were trained fighters.  They were helped by Hessians, Loyalists, and slaves to whom they promised freedom after the war. 

Both sides won some of the battles, but the Continental Army won many of the more important battles.  In the years leading up to the Battle of Yorktown, most of the battles were fought in the South because the British felt as though they weren’t having success in the North.  They thought that the Loyalist feeling would help them in states such as North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina.   

By 1781, General Cornwallis and his British troops were headed up to Virginia, while General Washington and the Continental Army were in New York near the Hudson River.  Just after the British raid on Charlottesville, General Cornwallis received two orders, one from General Clinton and one from the government in London.  One of the orders said to go to New York, but the other one said to go to the Chesapeake Bay near the York River.  General Cornwallis decided to go to Yorktown because it was a peninsula and was surrounded by the York River, the James River, and the Chesapeake Bay.  He thought this would be a good position because he could get aid from the British fleets.

Lafayette and Rochambeau were French generals that came with French troops to the colonies to help the Revolutionists.  Together with Washington, they tried to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown.  Lafayette and his troops followed Cornwallis towards Yorktown but stopped in Williamsburg which was twelve miles to the west.  Rochambeau sent a French fleet from Rhode Island which carried food, tents, heavy guns, and boats for the army.  Rochambeau and his troops then went from Rhode Island to New York to meet up with Washington.  Together, they went down to Williamsburg and met up with Lafayette. 

Rochambeau got a message from Admiral De Grasse that he was coming from the West Indies with a French fleet and was going to the Chesapeake Bay.  If everything went well, they would trap Cornwallis by land and by sea.  To trick Clinton into thinking that the Americans were getting ready for a battle in New York, Washington ordered bread ovens to be built in New Jersey.  He also had the bridge repaired that led to the city. 

The plan worked for awhile.  However, when Clinton figured out that Washington had tricked him, he sent a fleet down to Yorktown to help Cornwallis.  De Grasse’s fleet had already arrived and was waiting for them.  The French fleet defeated the British fleet and blockaded the Chesapeake Bay so there could not be any more rescue attempts. 

The Battle of Yorktown was actually a siege.  A siege is when an army surrounds a town and bombards them to make them surrender.  The French and American troops built two trench lines, called parallels, around Yorktown so they could bring their heavy guns up closer.  The bombardment began on October 9, 1781.

The British were easily outnumbered.  There were 8,800 Americans, 7,800 French and only 6,000 British.  Many of the British were so sick that they couldn’t fight.  Cornwallis knew that they couldn’t last much longer so, on October 16th, he tried to retreat across the York River to Gloucester Point.  Unfortunately, there was a storm that night.  The boats were driven downstream and the soldiers were captured by the Americans.

Cornwallis knew that the British could not win the battle.  On October 19th, he surrendered.  Washington agreed that Cornwallis and the British officers would be allowed to keep their personal belongings and weapons and return to England.  All of the other soldiers would have to stay as prisoners to the Americans.  After the surrender ceremony, the French and American generals invited the British generals to dinner.

At Yorktown, the French lost 60 men and 134 were wounded.  The Americans lost 23 men and 65 were wounded.  The British lost 156 men and 326 were wounded.  The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle in the Revolutionary War even though the war did not end for another two years.  Peace talks began in April of 1782.  On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed and a new nation was born.

 

Bibliography

 

Weber, Michael (1997).  Battlefields Across America: Yorktown.  New York: Twenty-First Century Books.

www.britishbattles.com/battle-yorktown.htm

www.42explore2.com/revolt.htm

http://members.aol.com/spursfan50/davidallen/yorktown.htm