Battle of Yorktown Analysis

The greatest event of Washington’s military career came on October 19, 1781 when he defeated Cornwall is at Yorktown. Cornwall is surrendered his entire army of more than 7,000 men. The fighting was finally over, although it would still take two years to form a formal peace treaty.

General Cornwallis chose Yorktown as his base in case he and his troops needed to escape by sea. But unfortunately for Cornwallis the United States formed an alliance with France after America's previous victory at Saratoga. Where the United States hidden in the forest while England were moving to their next location.

This location was not the place to make a stand for the British. In the abandoned town, there was nothing to build a solid fortification. Lord Cornwallis had to use earth and wood to build protection for his troops. The French Navy surrounded the British and the Virginia Militia along with a squadron of the French Cavalry held the north side of the bay. General Washington and the French nobleman General Lafayette surrounded Lord Cornwallis on the south side of the bay with General Washington taking the place of honor on the right side. The British built redoubts, which is a stronghold to help with the main fortification “The combined French and American plans called for multiple forces to arrive at the same location, at about the same time” (http://www.visitingyorktown.com/siege.html) while giving the impression to General Clinton as if they were setting up a permanent camp as they really marched down South to corner General Cornwallis. General Washington left 2500 troops, which gave the appearance of a camp. With the Navy Securing the seas preventing any reinforcement and General Washington laying heavy siege on the village with three primary artillery, and artillery like

American fired a second Volley. The British were surprised since they usually fire once and then run. Many militia men did lay down their guns and run. The second American volley was noted as one the most effective single volleys of the war. British continued their advance and the militia disintegrated. The British headed towards the second line. The second line was in a wooded and hilly terrain and which caused British forces to lose cohesion. The Americans were able to surprise them in a more guerilla type warfare. The British suffered the most casualties at this line, but the British were able to overlap the American right, bend it back and soon made it collapse. The third line was the strongest since it was made up of continentals with more accurate rifles. Webster and the British forces launched an attack to the left. It wasn’t effective and Webster was mortally wounded. The right wing was ordered to do a bayonet charge to the left. They were effective temporarily and captured two artillery pieces. Greene saw and ordered LT. COL. William Washington’s cavalry and infantry to seal the breach. They engaged in hand to hand combat and American

He positioned his trained infantrymen on top of the first hill as the last line of defense. The militia was placed in front of the hill and the sharpshooters were place in front of the militia. The militia was the first line of defense and Morgan ordered his sharpshooter to target specifically the officers and cavalry and fall back in the line of militia before they get in firing range of the redcoats. Once the sharpshooter gets in position with the militia the British army advanced the attack the militia. The militia’s duties were to engage the redcoats for a short amount of then run away to the right side of the side of the hill. Tarleton expected the militia to run away. He sent one infantry unit and one cavalry unit after the militia. However, waiting behind the second hill was Lieutenant Colonel William Washington and his dragoon unit. The British cavalry didn’t expect to encounter another cavalry unit. Washington wiped out the Tarleton’s cavalry then flanked the right of Tarleton’s main element. Simultaneously, the militia ran around the hills to flank the left side. Tarleton found himself in a double envelopment. Tarleton receives 110 casualties, 229 wounded and 829 captured or missing, meanwhile Morgan suffered 25 casualties and 124

On April 19th, 1775 British troops were marching to Lexington where many militia were already awaiting their arrival. The British were after the ammunition of the militia. Paul Revere had warned the militia ahead of time so that they could be prepared. They removed their stockpiles of ammunition from their hiding places and moved them to a new shelter. When the British arrived at Lexington, the militia were lined up, ready to defend themselves. The British stopped, prepared to face the militia. They

The British were over confident and made poor decisions, whereas George Washington carefully thought out his tactics. The colonists used Guerilla Warfare, and militia were quick and often popped out from behind trees to attack. Using this type of warfare was very beneficial to the Colonists, as it did not give the British enough time to shoot the colonists before they were killed. Guerrilla Warfare was known to “weaken the enemy” (McDougal,210). By focusing on winning small battles, in their own land, the colonists were able to keep enough supplies, food and men to eventually win the war. In the battle of Yorktown, “British general Cornwallis set up his base, located on a peninsula” (McDougal, 209), which was a bad move on their part. Washington saw the opportunity and made the smart decision to block the one land entrance, so that the British could no longer get any supplies that they needed. Washington’s plans along with the Colonists motivation were the were the reason they won the

Washington fires the first shot with a mortar hitting a house with British soldiers eating starting the siege. Cornwallis had to rely on his ten forts called redoubts to defend Yorktown. General Washington knew he had to take out redoubts nine and ten in order to get close enough to attack Cornwallis. On one moonless night with Jupiter and Venus glowing brightly 400 French soldiers attacked redoubt nine while 400 (with one soldier thinking it was the signal to attack) American soldiers attacked redoubt ten. In an attempt to turn the tide Cornwallis sent the British army to attack the nearest allied troops in an attempt to spike (to take a spike usually made of iron pounded into the hole where the fuse in the cannon goes requiring the army to have to drill it out damaging the weapon) or fill the cannons with dirt rendering them useless until the cannons can be cleaned. The attack was doomed form the start, and the British were pushed back after a brief battle, and the allied army shortly repaired the cannons and put them back into the fight. After a few days of fighting the Cornwallis ran away to hide in Yorktown’s cave. Not really inspiring for the British army to have their general run and hide in a cave for that is very embarrassing for a

The Geography of the battle was important for the way the colonist won the war. The location that the British had chosen made it easy for the colonist to surround them. The battle took place in Virginia, Yorktown in the summer of 1781. The location made it easy to be surrounded because Yorktown, is located near the coast where the French ships could take over the boarding and drop off area. Yorktown was a peninsula located on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in the state of Virginia. The British could not manage to get help from naval ships because the french ships were blocking any ships from coming in or out. Surrounding the British was a huge advantage because they were almost powerless running low on food and water. This battle was the last

During the Revolutionary War, there were many battles that were fought, but there were a few that changed the result of the war. The battles of Trenton and Princeton were fought strategically. During both of the battles, Washington made bold moves that later impacted the army’s success. Another battle that was fought was the Battle of Saratoga, and before this battle, the Continental Army did not have a strong chance of winning because they were facing the powerful and well equipped British army. The Battle of Saratoga was the battle that completely changed the tide of the war. The Battle of Yorktown was the last land battle fought of the Revolutionary War. It was also the battle where the British surrendered to the Americans and won

Washington and Rochambeau decided that a battle in New York would be too difficult to win. They agreed to attack Charles Cornwallis while he and his army were stationed in Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis was located on a peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay because, there, he could receive supplies via boat from New York. (Creating America) They were expecting more troops from New York, but they never arrived. The lack of reinforcements was lucky for General Washington and Rochambeau because Cornwallis had a comparatively better army; the battle might not have ended the same if the enemy had more troops. (The British Surrender at Yorktown)

The days before the battle helped the Americans capture a victory at Yorktown. At first, the war was between the Colonies and the British; however, the French came into the war to help aid the Colonists and win the war over Great Britain. Before the battle of Yorktown, General George Washington was stationed in New York with his army. “In the spring of 1781, Washington traveled to Rhode Island to meet with Comte de Rochambeau and plan to attack on Clinton” (“History of the Siege”). Lieutenant General Henry Clinton is a British general who marches through the northern and middle colonies in an attempt to gain control in those areas. The French were a big advantage to the Colonists because of their naval fleet. George Washington was expecting the French fleet to arrive in New York and help aid in the attack on Clinton, however, he “learned that the French fleet was sailing to the lower Chesapeake Bay”

The Battle of Yorktown gave General Washington the advantage he needed to win. General Washington, with the help of the French saw the opportunity to end the war by cornering General Cornwallis at Yorktown. (The History Channel Website, n.d.) Prior to the surrender of General Cornwallis to General Washington at Yorktown, the British were winning several battles. General Washington needed to do something before he had no other options left. General Washington’s forces were low in numbers and strength but knew the land to give them an edge in being rooted out by the British. (Lanning, 2005) General Washington used time and heavy militia to replenish his losses but did not have the troops to capture British Garrisons. (Lanning, 2005) The British in turn, could not pass the militia aiding General Washington. (Lanning, 2005)The militia, fighting alongside continental troops, had the land and the support of the people who aided their cause during the battle. The stalemate continued with no sign of either side budging. Guerilla-style operations were used to win many fights and battles that General Washington’s own troops could not. (Lanning, 2005) General Cornwallis, saw Yorktown in Virginia as a viable location to gather resources for future encounters with the Americans. General Cornwallis moved northward from the Carolinas toward Virginia and occupied Yorktown with an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 British troops. (Lanning, 2005) (The History

Leading up the battle of Yorktown, in February, 1781, Major General Marquis de Lafayette was ordered to take his Continental troops to Virginia. About a month later General Cornwallis and his army had entered Virginia believing that if the American forces had resistance, he would have victory against the Americans and the French. Later that year in August on 1-2, 1781 Cornwallis and his army set up at Gloucester point, hoping to use it as a base for supply and weapons. Couple of weeks later, Washington heard about the base and sent a large army to destroy Cornwallis base. A month later on September 14, 1781, French General Rochambeau and General Washington arrived, and sent 400 French soldiers and 400 American soldiers to storm the British redoubt. On October 19, 1781, being taken under heavy from the Americans and the French, Major General Cornwallis realized that he was short of troops and decided to escape Yorktown before surrendering. Making the move to escape, a sudden storm from the Americans and French ruined his evacuation plan and Cornwallis was forced to surrender, due to the lack troops and supplies.

We, as a military can still learn much from the actions that George Washington took. The siege operation that was implemented emphasized just how important it can be for an army to have the ability to replenish their supplies. Without this capability, the British troops were rendered ineffective because they were severely depleted of rations, manpower, and even bullets. The Colonial Army basically gave General Cornwallis no other option than to lay down their arms and surrender.