Battle of Yorktown

Losing his grip on the Carolinas, Cornwallis marched his army into Virginia and seized Yorktown and Gloucester, towns on each side of the York River.
With the arrival of the French fleet of Admiral De Grasse, General Washington was able to march south from New York with the joint American and French army to attack Cornwallis.

The Americans and French marched out of Williamsburg and arrived before Yorktown on 28th September 1781, forming a semi-circle around the entrenchments and putting the British under siege. Cornwallis expecting Major General Clinton to sail from New York with a relieving force had decided to remain in Yorktown rather than march south to the Carolinas or attempt to reach New York. His first move was the inexplicable one of abandoning a line of four redoubts that dominated the British positions. The Americans immediately occupied the empty redoubts.

The Americans began formal siege operations on the eastern side of Yorktown on 30th September and on 9th October were sufficiently close to began an artillery bombardment.

On 14th October the Americans and French stormed two redoubts in front of their trenches and the position of the British in Yorktown became untenable.

The British carried out a sortie on the 16th in which several guns in the two redoubts were spiked. On the same day Cornwallis attempted to pass the Guards, the 23rd and the Light Infantry across the York River to Gloucester but was thwarted by a storm.

With no sign of Clinton’s relief and with inadequate supplies of artillery ammunition and food, on 19th October 1781 Cornwallis’ army marched out of Yorktown and surrendered.

On September 28, the combined Continental and French forces left Williamsburg at around 5:00 A.M. They moved to within a mile of Cornwallis' Yorktown defenses by dark. The siege of Yorktown had officially began. On the British right, Lt. Col. Robert Abercromby withdrew as the French Wing advanced there, while Tarleton withdrew as the American Wing moved to the southeast of Yorktown.

Washington had the American-French army organized into 3 divisions for the siege:

1. Rochembeau commanded the 7,800-man French contingent. They occupied the left wing, or northwestern sector, of the siege line. It consisted of 3 infantry brigades, a heavy cavalry corps, and a large artillery corps.
2. The American troops formed the base of the right, or southern sector, with two wings of 8,845 troops. These were divided into 3 divisions. They were commanded by Brig. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, and Maj. Gens. Marquis de Lafayette and Baron von Stueben. Col. Henry Knox was in command of the artillery, engineers, sappers and miners. Col. Stephen Moylan was in command of the cavalry.
3. The third division of 3,200 Virginia militiamen were commanded by Brig. Gens. George Weedon, Edward Stevens, and Robert Lawson. They occupied the southeastern sector, or far right wing of the siege line.

The siege line was initially established 2 miles below Yorktown in a giant arc, with the French on the west/right and the Americans on the south/center and east/right. Additionally, Washington dispatched 4 regiments, commanded by Compte Claude G. de Choisy to the northern side of the York River to lay siege to the British troops operating on Gloucester Point. There, Weedon's 1,500 Virginia militiamen, aided by 1,400 French troops under Duke de Lauzun, joined forces to bottle up the British.

On September 29, Washington inspected the British position while the army continued to surround Yorktown. Artillery and siege equipment and stores were also brought to the front. The Americans in the...

By October 14, the trenches were within 150 yards (140 m) of redoubts #9 and #10. Washington ordered that all guns within range begin blasting the redoubts in order to weaken them for the coming assault. Redoubt 10 was near the river and held only 70 men, while redoubt 9 was a quarter of a mile inland, and was held by 120 British and Germans. Both redoubts were heavily fortified with rows of abatis surrounding them along with muddy ditches which surrounded the redoubts at a distance of about 25 yards. Washington devised a plan in which the French would launch a diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt, and then a half an hour later, the French would assault redoubt 9 and the Americans redoubt 10. Redoubt 9 would be assaulted by 400 French Regular soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Count William Deux-Ponts and redoubt 10 would be assaulted by 400 troops under the command of Alexander Hamilton. There was briefly a dispute as to who should lead the attack on redoubt #10, Lafayette named his aide, the Chevalier de Gimat, to lead the attack, but Hamilton protested, saying that he was the senior officer. Washington concurred with Hamilton and gave him command of the attack.

At 6:30 pm, gunfire announced the diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt. At other places in the line, movements were made as if preparing for an assault on Yorktown itself, which caused the British to panic. With bayonets fixed, the Americans marched towards redoubt #10. Hamilton sent John Laurens around to the rear of the redoubt to prevent the British from escaping. The Americans reached the redoubt and began chopping through the British wooden defenses with their axes. A British sentry called a challenge, and then fired at the Americans. The Americans responded by charging with their bayonets towards the redoubt. They hacked through the abatis, crossed a ditch and climbed the parapet into the redoubt. The Americans forced their way into the redoubt falling into giant s...