Yorktown: A Major Cause Of The Revolutionary War

The Battle of Yorktown was fought at the city of Yorktown in the months of September and October in 1776. The Reason why the armies where their was because the British General Lord Charles Cornwallis departed from St. Domingue to Chesapeake Bay and he chose to make Yorktown his base. This was one of the final battles in the war for the colonies to gain independence.

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.

Hostility with King George III of England was at an all-time high during 1776 in the American colonies. Americans were discouraged by the actions of their leaders across the pond. They were placed under trade and tax restrictions and lacked any privacy while English and mercenary soldiers occupied their homes. They had been battling what seemed to be an endless war. Like a child’s clothes during the shift into adulthood, as America developed, England’s restrictions tightened, and Americans started to discuss independence.

During the time period of 1750 to 1776, the colonists, to a moderate extent, identified as American. In determining why a vast majority identified as American and why some didn’t, one must look into detail the social, political and economic standpoints that led to such divide. Throughout all 3 points, Thus, the identification of being “American” and its usage depended on the view the person had of Great Britain. In the economic standpoint, due to the “No taxation without representation” slogan being violated by the British, most of the colonists weren’t against the anti-British sentiment boiling up due to the conflict. The ensuing increase in tax acts later led to the practice of tar and feathering tax collectors, and, to a bigger scale, the Boston tea party.

The battle of Yorktown was one of the most important battles of the American Revolution. This battle took place in Yorktown, Virginia September 28th 1781. Before the battle had begun the French had arrived in Rhode Island with over 5,000 soldiers to aid the Americans to defeat the British. This put the Americans at an extreme advantage straight from the start, because the British had only about 6,000 soldiers. The British were also at a disadvantage considering that there was no way for them to get reinforcements. Needless to say, the British lost the battle, put a white surrendering flag up, and the Americans held their fire. They spoke about surrendering, working it out, and stopped the battle. This was the final battle of the American Revolution,

The American War for Independence otherwise known as the American Revolutionary War was an armed conflict between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. This conflict began following battles between militiamen and British regulars at Lexington, Concord, and Boston. This war was instrumental to the founding of the United States, leading to the withdrawal of all forms of British authority in 1783. However, despite the importance of this conflict, there lies a level of uncertainty behind the term “revolutionary.” A revolution can be best described as a change, and there is questionable doubt on how “revolutionary” the American Revolutionary War was.

The American troops occupied the right side of the battlefield and the French held the left command by Rochambeau. On September 28, Washington reconnoitered the enemy’s placement on the field and planned his attack. That night Cornwallis’s men deserted their outpost. Cornwallis sent word to Sir Henry Clinton for reinforcements from the British fleets and army. Cornwallis later learned that Clinton’s departure has been delayed, and he would not be receiving the reinforcements he desperately needed.

Though arguably less bloody than its French counterpart, the American Revolution was nevertheless a radical and transformative event in its own right. Putting aside the stereotypical view of the Revolution as a singular affair in which Colonists fought against the oppressive tyranny of its motherland, America’s fight for independence was in actuality a long and arduous engagement that changed the social, political, and economical face of individual and country alike. In his Pulitzer prize-winning work, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Gordon Wood argues that the Revolution was unique in its emphasis on individual rights and its staunch resistance to the monarchical status quo. This essay will attempt to offer a critical review of

Washington and Rochambeau along with their troops were in New York City expecting the fleet’s arrival, but as a result of miscommunication, the fleet went to the Chesapeake Bay. As a result of the misunderstanding, Washington changed his plan. His new plan was to trick Clinton into thinking that Washington was going to attack him, when in reality, he was plotting to capture Cornwallis. By mid - August, Rochambeau, Washington and some troops set out for Yorktown as Cornwallis was stationed there under the orders of Clinton. They arrived in Williamsburg in mid -

After the siege of Charleston, Sir Henry Clinton traveled back to New York leaving Cornwallis in command of the British campaign in North and South Carolina. On the morning of August 16, 1780, General Horatio Gates chose to fight Cornwallis’ force even though just the previous night his men suffered the terribly infectious illness of dysentery. Gates was confident in his American army of around 3,700 soldiers because they outnumbered the British army of around 2,100 troops. The American advantage ended quickly as one thousand American troops were unable to fight due to the illness they suffered the night before.

Moving on to the American Revolution, we see novelty and the idea of freedom but through a different lens. The American Revolution, as opposed to the French Revolution’s subversion of monarchy, was a struggle against colonialism; a struggle not within one’s country but with an external power. “they had declared war, not against monarchical principles, but only against the oppressive measures of the British ministry. ”5 The values, ideas and ideals that emerged from this struggle were materialized in two famous documents- The American Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

Some scholars have questioned Cornwallis' judgment in taking his army to Yorktown in the first place. British General Henry Clinton had given his subordinate command over

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.

Battle of Yorktown Dates and Conflict In the fall of 1781, on September 26th, General George Washington and his army of 7,800 Frenchmen, 3,100 militiamen and 8,000 Continentals amassed on the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay along with a large supply of artillery and siege weaponry. Two days later on the 28th, Washington and his army descended out of Williamsburg and began to surround Yorktown. The bulk of the American troops positioned themselves along the right hand side of the battle with the majority of the French troops emplacing themselves on the left. General Cornwallis commanded his troops emplaced in a networks of redoubts and batteries that were linked by earthworks by Gloucester Point (The Battle of Yorktown).

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