The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by combined assault of American Continental_Armyled by General George_Washingtonand France_in_the_American_Revolutionary_Warled by Jean-Baptiste_Donatien_de_Vimeur,_comte_de_Rochambeauover a British_Armycommanded by Lieutenant General Charles_Cornwallis,_1st_Marquess_Cornwallis.
It proved to be the last major land battle of the American_Revolutionary_Warin North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis's army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict.
In 1780, 5,500 French soldiers landed in Rhode_Islandto assist their American allies in operations against British-controlled New_York_City. Following the arrival of dispatches from France that included the possibility of support from the French West_Indiesfleet of the Comte_de_Grasse, Washington and Rochambeau decided to ask de Grasse for assistance either in besieging New York, or in military operations against a British army operating in Virginia.
On the advice of Rochambeau, de Grasse informed them of his intent to sail to the Chesapeake, where Cornwallis had taken command of the army. Cornwallis, at first given confusing orders by his superior officer, Henry_Clinton_(American_War_of_Independence, was eventually ordered to make a defensible deep-water port, which he began to do at Yorktown,_Virginia.
Cornwallis's movements in Virginia were shadowed by a Continental Army force led by the Marquis_de_Lafayette.
American Revolution
french soldiers
France
The Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
During the American Revolutionary War, the American victory at Yorktown (Virginia) in 1781 resulted in the end of the war because of the significant British losses in that battle. Losing over 7,000 soldiers after also having their fleet routed, the British reckoned that the war had become too costly; to continue it (let alone pursue final victory in it) was simply not affordable.
Yorktown.
at Yorktown Cornwallis surrendered
Yorktown
Samual Adams
After their victory at Yorktown.
The most important thing George Washington had to do at Yorktown was successfully coordinate a joint assault with French forces to trap British General Cornwallis. This resulted in the decisive American victory at the Battle of Yorktown, which ultimately led to the surrender of Cornwallis and effectively ended the American Revolutionary War.
American and French troops bombarded Yorktown, turning the buildings to rubble.