Yorktown Battlefield was the site of the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War, a war that secured independence for the new United States and changed the course of world history.
In August 1781, the British army under General Charles Lord Cornwallis began fortifying Yorktown and Gloucester Point, located across the York River from Yorktown, to establish a naval base in Virginia. In nearby Williamsburg, the Marquis de Lafayette with a small army of Continental troops and Virginia militia, kept a watchful eye on Cornwallis’ activities. At the end of August, to Cornwallis’ surprise, a French fleet commanded by Admiral Francois De Grasse blockaded the Chesapeake Bay and the York River, preventing Cornwallis from escaping or being reinforced by sea. At the same time, General George Washington began moving his allied American and French forces from New York to Virginia. By the end of September, Washington’s army of 17,600 had surrounded Cornwallis’ 8,300 troops and laid siege to Yorktown leading to the surrender of Cornwallis on October 19, 1781. Upon hearing of their defeat, British Prime Minister Frederick Lord North is reputed to have said, “Oh God, it’s all over.” And it was. The Allied victory at Yorktown effectively ended the war. (The Yorktown Homepage)