The Siege of Yorktown Begins: September 28, 1781
This text comes from our book, Lands of Hope and Promise.
Though Congress had appointed Washington overall commander of its army, it had been Congress, not Washington, that had been appointing commanders in the various theaters of the war. Inspired more by politics than military sense, Congress’ choices had been mostly dismal. Its appointment of Gates for the southern theater had been disastrous — just as it would have been in the North but for the intervention of Benedict Arnold. With the threat of a new offensive by Cornwallis, Congress at last let Washington choose the southern commander. His choice was Nathaniel Greene, 38-years old, an excellent strategist, and a man who inspired loyalty. Greene chalked up an odd record in the days to come: he lost most of his battles while inflicting greater casualties on the enemy than he himself sustained. At the battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina on March 15, 1781, Greene’s forces had to retreat — but with far fewer casualties than Cornwallis, who lost 30 percent of his army! Cornwallis retired to Wilmington. In the summer of 1781, Greene advanced into South Carolina and forced the British and loyalist forces to withdraw into Charleston.
Since December 1780, Benedict Arnold, leading 1,700 loyalist volunteers, had been wreaking havoc in Virginia. In January 1781, he drove (and nearly captured) Governor Thomas Jefferson from Richmond. Cornwallis, with a force of fewer than 1,400 men, moved north from Wilmington into Virginia to take advantage of Arnold’s successes. In May he joined Arnold in Petersburg, Virginia.
In June, Cornwallis sent out raiding expeditions and began moving his own force toward Williamsburg, Virginia. Throughout July, General Clinton sent Cornwallis a series of conflicting orders, eventually commanding him to establish a fortified naval station in Virginia. Cornwallis chose Yorktown, situated on a long peninsula formed by the York River, to the north, and the James River, to the south. On August 2, the British entered Yorktown and began building fortifications. Cornwallis had hoped Clinton would join him for a general assault on the South, but from New York Clinton dispatched his refusal. Instead of leading his forces to Virginia, Clinton sent Cornwallis reinforcements that increased the British army at Yorktown to only 7,000 men.
Yorktown and Victory
The French alliance had been a disappointment to the Americans. Except for Lafayette (who was entirely freelance) and Commodore d’Estaing, France had contributed little to the war effort. General Rochambeau at Newport, Rhode Island, commanded 6,700 French troops; but without a navy to transport and support them, they were of little use to Washington. An added problem was that Congress could not induce the states to send in their quotas of money and men for the army. The United States army was in a dismal state. The men were hungry, ill-clothed, and at times owed two to three years’ back pay.
The summer of 1781, however, brought good news from Paris: King Louis XVI promised to commit a major part of his navy to the American cause. Twenty line-of-battle ships under Rear Admiral François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, set sail for the West Indies, where four more ships and 3,000 soldiers awaited him.
Washington, conferring with Rochambeau and, by emissary, with de Grasse, debated whether it would be best to attack Clinton in New York or Cornwallis at Yorktown. The decision was left to de Grasse, who chose Yorktown. With admirable coordination of their forces, Washington, Rochambeau, and de Grasse converged on Yorktown in early September 1781. There was no aid for Cornwallis, for General Clinton remained in New York, deceived by false reports (instigated by Washington) that the Americans and French would attack the city. On September 5, de Grasse’s fleet met a British fleet of 19 ships off Cape Charles at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay and defeated it. The British fleet, forced to sail to New York for repairs, left Cornwallis without support from the sea.
On September 28, 1781, the siege of Yorktown began. Cornwallis’ 8,000 men, blocked seaward by de Grasse’s fleet, could not escape by ship; nor could they move by land, surrounded as they were by Rochambeau’s 8,000 French troops and Washington’s 5,645 regulars and 3,200 Virginia militia. An experienced soldier, Cornwallis knew when he was beaten. On October 17 he sent out the white flag. Two days later, Cornwallis formally surrendered his entire army to the Americans.
