Battle of Yorktown

The Siege of Yorktown was the final major military operation of the American Revolutionary War and one of the most perfectly executed campaigns in military history. The operation required extraordinary coordination among American land forces, French land forces, and the French navy — and it succeeded beyond all expectations. The trap was set when Cornwallis marched his army into Virginia and established a defensive base at Yorktown on the York River. Washington and Rochambeau, operating in the north, secretly marched their combined armies south in a maneuver that deceived Clinton about their intentions until it was too late. Simultaneously, Admiral de Grasse brought his French fleet north from the Caribbean.

The naval battle of September 5 was decisive: de Grasse defeated the British fleet, preventing reinforcement or evacuation of Cornwallis. Washington and Rochambeau arrived in late September with 16,000 combined troops — twice Cornwallis's strength. The siege was conducted with European precision, parallel trenches pushed forward systematically. On the night of October 14, two key British redoubts were stormed simultaneously: Redoubt 10 by Alexander Hamilton's light infantry in one of the war's most celebrated actions, and Redoubt 9 by French troops. The fall of the redoubts allowed the allied siege lines to advance fatally close to the British works.

A desperate British breakout attempt on October 16-17 was turned back by a storm. A sortie achieved nothing decisive. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis's army of 8,087 marched out to surrender — the British band reportedly playing 'The World Turned Upside Down.' Cornwallis claimed illness and sent General O'Hara to surrender his sword. O'Hara first offered it to Rochambeau, who directed him to Washington, who directed him to General Lincoln — a surrogate, as befitted the occasion. The surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the war and led to the Treaty of Paris recognizing American independence.