Charles Cornwallis
The Marquis de Lafayette kept Lord Cornwallis' troops pinned down near Yorktown, VA until reserves and the rest of the army arrived. He only had about one third the number of troops as Cornwallis.
Cornwallis's troops were pinned down at Yorktown primarily by the combined forces of the American Continental Army, led by General George Washington, and the French army under General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. Their coordinated siege effectively surrounded Cornwallis, limiting his ability to escape or receive reinforcements. Additionally, the French fleet, commanded by Admiral de Grasse, blocked any naval support from reaching Cornwallis, sealing his fate during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.
General Francois Joseph Paul De Grasse is credited with drawing away British Forces, and blockading the course until the rest of the French fleet and the Continental armies of George Washington and Rochambeau could arrive. Unable to break through the blockade, British General Cornwallis was forced to surrender.
The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was basically because British General Cornwallis, believed that in order to have control over the Carolina's, he would have to take control of Virginia. Cornwallis eventually settled his troops within the region of the Chesapeake Bay. General George Washington, ordered that Cornwallis and his troops be blockaded. From this, Cornwallis and his troops were trapped. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered his army of about 7,000 soldiers. The British band piped a tune called "The World Turned Upside Down." The fighting was over.
Lafayette
Yorktown's location on a peninsula was a tremendous aid to the American cause as it sought to defeat Cornwallis and his army in 1781. Having pinned down the British in the peninsula, and with no mass-escape possible due to the presence of the French fleet that patrolled the deep waters nearby, the Americans forced Cornwallis to fight or to surrender -- and without hope of being resupplied, as there were no land- or sea-routes available that were not contested.
Lafayette was with Washington during the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. So any battle from the Crossing of the Delaware on, is a possibility. Lafayette had Lord Cornwallis' troops pinned down at Yorktown, Virginia. He waited for Washington to come there for political reasons before his army attacked the village.
General Lafayette pinned down the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia. George Washington arrived with a larger army. He led all the armies and accepted the Surrender of the British forces. (Lafayette could have attacked at any time and won a victory. He had a far more powerful army plus he had battleships ready to destroy the British Army from the rear. He knew it would be better for the future of the United States if General Washington handled the surrender so he waited for Washington to arrive with his army.)
Getting pinned in softball means to get pinned up in the fence by the other team.
The past tense of "pin" is "pinned."
She pinned the flower to his lapel. They pinned the dress up to allow her to walk through the grass without getting stains on it.
pinned [to pin, have pinned]