Yorktown: A Major Cause Of The Revolutionary War

The Siege of Yorktown, or Battle of Yorktown, was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War. The Americans, led by General Washington, allied with the French, led by General Rochambeau, defeated the British who were led by General Cornwallis. This conflict, which took place in Yorktown, Virginia in the fall of 1781, was an American victory after they forced the surrender of General Cornwallis. His surrender at Yorktown was one of the greatest contributing factors that prompted Great Britain to negotiate a resolution to ending the war. The British Army under the control of General Cornwallis arrived at the Yorktown port along the Chesapeake Bay in June of 1781.

War Famous people come during war as fighting goes on. The most famous of course are the generals. The three generals during the Siege of Yorktown was George Washington, the leader of the Continental Army, General Lord Charles Cornwallis, the leader of the British, and General de Rochambeau, the leader of the French. The French helped win the battle when the French Navy came in and gave backup support.

General Daniel Morgan and General Nathanael Greene withdrew towards Virginia after the American victory at the Battle of Cowpens. The combined forces of both Generals and the diagonal travel across North Carolina allowed the American army to retreat without General Cornwallis capturing any Americans. Cornwallis followed closely behind the American army throughout the American retreat. After two years of campaigning in the Carolinas, Cornwallis desired to defeat Greene’s army. After approaching the Dan River, General Nathanael Greene ordered all of the boats on the river to be collected and brought to the same location.

From the actions achieved by De Grasse, General Cornwallis had very little defenses against the, French and American fleets. From the

General Cornwallis was a general for the colonies but eventually turned sides after falling in love with a loyalist. He then was a loyalist now becoming a general for Britain. General Washington had just won the battle of Trenton with the continental army and needed to resupply after defeating the hessians from Britain on December 25 1776. Cornwallis heard of the victory and went to Trenton with is 8,000 redcoats to overwhelm General Washington 's 5,000 militia men.

Cornwallis was a military leader under the command of major General Clinton. Charles was defeated at Yorktown which ended the fighting for the revolutionary war. But let's talk about the what led him to being an amazing military leader and to the defeat at Yorktown. Cornwallis was born on December 31, New Year's Eve, in the year of 1738 on Grosvenor square, London U.K. Charles had five older siblings, all were girls.

This was one of many battles that the American Army would win. One of the biggest battles of The American Revolutionary War was the Battle of Yorktown. “You are not aware that Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington, Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington on the nineteenth of October, in Virginia, at the port of Yorktown” (Bristow 382). The British were trapped at Yorktown, Virginia and British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered 8,000 British troops (Citation). This was a tremendous victory for The American Army!

Cornwallis, on the other hand, had all his artillery grouped in the center of his line with his extremely aggressive and experienced cavalry in reserve. When the British attacked, they struck with their right flank against the Colonial left. The militiamen on that side, seeing a well-disciplined, aggressive force coming toward them, threw down their arms and retreated without firing a shot. Seeing this, the panic spread to the Virginian militia and then to the North Carolina militia.

General Cornwallis had been sent to Chesapeake Bay to retrieve supplies for General Clinton, who believed that the Continental Army would attack then in New York soon. General Washington had made it seem that the attack was happening in New York, but most of his army was in Yorktown waiting for Cornwallis and most of the British Army. The battle lasted about three weeks before the British army was too weak and out of supplies, which led to the surrender to America and the beginnings of the Treaty of Paris 1783. The Treaty of Paris 1783, also known as the “Peace of Paris,” was the compromise that led to the true independence of America.

Washington then decided that he could bombard the British into submission. Also, the British knew that the American and French troops were getting closer, and by September 29th the British opened fire on the American and French and they exchanged fire back at the British. Logan also states that Cornwallis eventually moved the British troops to unrestrained defenses to come up with a more secure plan. Then, on September 30th they were back at it again, fighting a two hour battle. Joseph Logan claims that the French went through many mishaps, one being in order to have food they eventually had to kill their horses.

He orders 5,000 troops to block Cornwallis ' escape by land while the French naval fleet will block Britain 's escape by sea. A British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to get through the French naval fleet rejecting any reinforcements for Cornwallis. Then George Washington and Count de

A fleet of Royal Navy ships was also sailing toward the Chesapeake Bay. The British and French naval forces came to battle on September 5, in the Battle off the Chesapeake Capes. The French forces under de Grasse damaged the British severely, though not winning a complete victory. De Grasse's fleet of 24 ships occupied the 19-ship fleet of British Admiral Thomas Graves while the forces of Admiral de Barras from Newport slipped into the Chesapeake Bay.

Therefore, Henry Clinton sent some of his soldiers there. It was all tactics. Whilst the French reached one end of Chesapeake Bay, the Americans (allies) arrived at the other end which made the British surrounded. After a long fight, the British finally surrendered on the 19th of October 1781. In the Battle, there were 8,800 American soldiers, 7,700 French

The Revolutionary War was a breakaway for all of us, a method to assume Glory and return home basked in the limelight of Honor, but it soon became apparent that our fragile Nation had no stratagem for the recuperation of our citizens and the Establishment of Government. The Development of Glory from the Blood of the War is a cause turned better by legend. Confronted with the monumental scope of constructing a Country, the leaders we looked up to in the trenches saw to us unfit for national Control, and as our people returned to the throes of life apart from battle, the Stipulations promised upon Patriotism soon became inutile on popular Belief. In the aftermath of the Security promised to us by our Victory, it soon became self-evident that

Soon after the Seven Years’ War, the British and the colonists learned that victory came with a rather expensive price (Kennedy, Cohen, & Bailey, 2010). Great Britain tightened its grip on the colonies in North America, expecting colonists to pay for their financial struggles. In order to make colonists pay for the war, Great Britain reminded the North American colonies who had authority by controlling the colonists to submit to various ordinances ratified by British Parliament. This action only showed that arrogance leads to rebellion socially, economically, and politically. Socially, a lack of communication between Great Britain and the North American colonies was to blame for the Revolutionary War.