Siege of Yorktown

(noun)

The last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, begun on September 14, 1781, in which combined French and colonial forces surrounded and bombarded the British army in Yorktown, forcing their surrender.

Related Terms

Examples of Siege of Yorktown in the following topics:

  • Surrender at Yorktown

    • The siege of Yorktown by combined French and American forces in the autumn of 1781 was the decisive battle of the American Revolutionary War.
    • The culminating engagement of the Revolutionary War, the Siege of Yorktown, marked the end of British power in the colonies.
    • As a result of this victory, de Grasse established a naval blockade of Yorktown.
    • Soon after, the allies built their first parallel (earthworks to support a siege) and began the bombardment of British forces.
    • On September 28, Washington led the army out of Williamsburg to surround Yorktown.

  • France and Spain in the Revolutionary War

    • Lafayette enlisted in 1777 at the age of 20 in defiance of King Louis XVI’s orders.
    • In 1777, news of the Patriot victory at the Battle of Saratoga was received with great enthusiasm in France.
    • In June 1779, Spain launched the unsuccessful Great Siege of Gibraltar, the first and longest Spanish action in the Revolutionary War, which lasted until February 1783.
    • Under François-Joseph Paul, Marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse, the French defeated a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, ensuring the success of allied ground forces in the Siege of Yorktown, the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War.
    • In mid-August 1781, Washington and Rochambeau led the Celebrated March of combined Franco-American forces towards Virginia and the siege of Yorktown.

  • Spain in the Revolutionary War

    • In exchange for supporting the colonies, France agreed to assist Spain by capturing of Gibraltar, Florida, and the island of Minorca.
    • France agreed to aid in the capture of Gibraltar, the Floridas, and the island of Minorca.
    • Spain provided military assistance to the Patriots on several fronts, in European waters, the West Indies, the American Midwest, and at the Siege of Yorktown.
    • The Great Siege of Gibraltar was the first and longest Spanish action in the war, from June 16, 1779 to February 7, 1783.
    • In 1781, the Spanish achieved a decisive victory against the British at the Battle of Pensacola, giving the Spanish control of West Florida.

  • The American Military Forces

    • As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, the role of the Continental Army was the subject of considerable debate.
    • Recruitment depended on the voluntary enlistment of Patriots from each of the 13 states.
    • Two major mutinies late in the war drastically diminished the reliability of two of the main units, and officers were faced with constant discipline problems.
    • The main goal of naval operations was to intercept shipments of British supplies and disrupt British maritime commerce.
    • Following the war, Congress dissolved the navy due to lack of funds.

  • McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

    • McClellan attempted to capture Richmond in the Peninsular Campaign, but numerous sieges forced his retreat.
    • Johnston, but the emergence of aggressive General Robert E.
    • His hopes for a quick advance foiled, McClellan ordered his army to prepare for a siege of Yorktown.
    • Just before the siege preparations were completed, the Confederates, now under the direct command of Johnston, began a withdrawal toward Richmond.
    • In the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, an attempt by the U.S.

  • Britain's War

    • Germain's poor understanding of the geography of the colonies and the terrain of North America were great disadvantages.
    • Following the war, Germain's ministry received much of the blame for Britain's loss of the 13 American colonies.
    • Because the British army was understaffed at the outset of the war, the British government hired the armed forces of several German states.
    • As the British army suffered strategic defeats in battles such as Saratoga and Yorktown, the Whigs’s gained prominence within Parliament and Lord North’s ministry began to collapse.
    • Conversely, the British defeats at the Battle of Saratoga and Siege of Yorktown had a strongly negative impact on British morale, prestige, and manpower.

  • Across the Atlantic: France and Britain

    • A long-time enemy of Britain and an imperial rival, lost much of their colonial lands in the Americas after the French and Indian War.
    • The Treaty of Alliance was, in effect, an insurance policy for France that guaranteed the support of the United States if Britain broke the current peace they had with the French, "either by direct hostilities, or by (hindering) her commerce and navigation," as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
    • In particular, French involvement in the war would prove to be exceedingly important during the Siege of Yorktown when 10,800 French regulars and 29 French warships, under the command of the Comte de Rochambeau and Comte de Grasse respectively, joined forces with General Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette to obtain the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's Southern army.
    • The Jay Treaty (also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794), was officially known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and The United States of America.
    • Summarize the circumstances surrounding the signing of the treaty of alliance between France and the United States

  • Fighting for Liberty

    • The Battle of Bunker Hill also had African American soldiers, fighting along the side of the white Patriots.
    • During the course of the war, about one fifth of the northern army consisted of black males.
    • At the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, Baron Closen, a German officer in the French Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, estimated the American army to be comprised of about one quarter black males.
    • Revolutionary leaders began to be fearful of using blacks in the armed forces.
    • In May 1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety stopped the enlistment of slaves in the armies of the colony.

  • Conclusion: The Fight for Independence

    • By June 1776, the Second Continental Congress had appointed a “Committee of Five”, consisting of John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R.
    • Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
    • The siege of Yorktown by combined French and American forces in the autumn of 1781 was the decisive battle of the American Revolutionary War.
    • Washington and Rochambeau departed New York on August 19 and led 4,000 French and 3,000 American soldiers to join de Grasse in Yorktown in what has since become known as the Celebrated March.
    • With the crippling surrender at Yorktown, the British war effort ground to a halt.

  • The American Revolution

    • The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia.
    • The British army under Cornwallis marched to Yorktown, where they expected to be rescued by a British fleet. 
    • In October 1781, the British surrendered their second invading army of the war, under a siege by the combined French and Continental armies under Washington.
    • In 1781, British forces moved through Virginia and settled at Yorktown, but their escape was blocked by a French naval victory in September.
    • A combined Franco-American army launched a siege at Yorktown and captured more than 8,000 British troops in October.