Day of Decision: The Battle of Yorktown

Background

By the 1781, the American Revolutionary War had entered it’s seventh year. British forces under General Lord Charles Cornwallis had been campaigning in the southern colonies, where pro British loyalist sentiment was still strong and thus there was hope of securing the region under British authority. But reverses at the Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse, as well as relentless partisan warfare being conducted by American guerillas had exhausted and weakened the British Army. Under instructions by the British theatre commander, Sir Henry Clinton, Cornwallis withdrew to the town of Yorktown, on the banks of the York River, in Virginia, to supply and regroup. It was expected that the Royal Navy would facilitate the revival of Cornwallis’s Army, permitting further operations in the American south later in the year.

Meanwhile, General George Washington, in command of the Continental Army, and General Conte de Rochambeau, in command of the French Army in America, were making plans to move on the British Army of 10,000 men in New York City, commanded by Sir Henry Clinton. However, having received intelligence of Cornwallis’s movements, both Generals realized that they had an opportunity to trap and defeat a major British Army in detail. The opportunity became even more apparent when French Admiral de Grasse, in command of the French fleet in the West Indies, agreed to move his ships to the Chesapeake Bay, thus blocking Cornwallis by sea.

The Yorktown Campaign

Washington and Rochambeau, leaving a small force to cover New York, moved on Yorktown on August 21st. At the same time, De Grasse sailed into the Chesapeake and defeated a British fleet under Thomas Graves on September 5th. Thus, De Grasse took control of the bay and bottled up Cornwallis by sea.