In the summer of 1781 British General Lord Charles Cornwallis had been forced to retreat to the Atlantic coast in order to maintain communication with the main British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City. Although he fortified the town of Yorktown, the result was that Cornwallis’ southern British army was left isolated when the newly-arrived French fleet under Admiral de Grasse created a naval blockade in Chesapeake Bay.
Under orders from General George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette used his Continental troops to ensure Cornwallis was unable to leave the town by land. Meanwhile, Washington fooled the British into thinking he was preparing to attack New York City by leaving a smaller diversionary force nearby and constructing what looked like a long-term base. In reality he and his French ally, the Comte de Rochambeau, moved their 8,000 men south to Virginia.
With the French fleet continuing to block Cornwallis’ escape by sea, on 28 September Washington and Rochambeau moved their troops from nearby Williamsburg to join Lafayette and surround Yorktown. Upwards of 14,000 troops took up positions around the town, and constructed a series of parallel trenches while launching a non-stop artillery bombardment against the British.
Cornwallis surrendered on 17 October but did not take part in the formal surrender ceremony two days later, citing illness. The signing of the articles of capitulation led to the effective end of the American War of Independence in North America. In Britain, news of the surrender prompted Prime Minister Lord North to exclaim, ‘Oh God, it is all over!’
