Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The siege of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, and led to the surrender of General Cornwallis and the capture of both him and his army. The Continental Army 's victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.
By December 1780, the American Revolutionary War's North American theatres had reached a critical point. The Continental Army had suffered major defeats earlier in the year, with its southern armies either captured or dispersed in the loss of Charleston and the Battle of Camden in the south, while the armies of George Washington and the British commander-in-chief for North America, Sir Henry ...
Cornwallis was eventually ordered by General Clinton to establish a fortified deep-water port at either Yorktown or Portsmouth. Cornwallis chose Yorktown, and began constructing fortifications there and Gloucester Point, just across the York River from Yorktown, in August 1781.
Battle of Trois-Rivières: June 8, 1776: Quebec: British victory: Patriots forced to evacuate Quebec [26] Battle of Sullivan's Island: June 28, 1776: South Carolina: Patriot victory: British attack on Charleston is repulsed [27] Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet: June 29, 1776: New Jersey: Patriot victory [28] Battle of Gwynn's Island: July 8–10 ...
The British successfully pushed the Americans back, but Cornwallis was several times in personal danger, and he was forced to commit his reserves early in the battle. With a furious melee going on before him and the outcome of the battle appearing to hang in the balance, Cornwallis made a controversial decision.
After the siege of Yorktown the French returned to the West Indies and were successful in taking St. Kitts (despite a naval defeat), Montserrat as well as Demerara and Essequibo in South America by February 1782. A planned Franco-Spanish invasion of Jamaica was aborted after the decisive Battle of the Saintes in 1782.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The subject of this painting is the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War. The blue sky filled with dark clouds and the broken cannon suggest the battles that led to this event.