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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.
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, KG, PC (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and the United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading British general officers in the American War of Independence .
The American forces that opposed Cornwallis at Yorktown also arrived in Virginia at different times, since most of the detachments were made in reaction to the British movements. After Arnold was sent to Virginia, General George Washington , the American commander-in-chief, in January 1781 sent the Marquis de Lafayette to Virginia with 900 men.
To counter the British threat in the Carolinas, Washington had sent Major General Nathanael Greene, one of his best strategists, to rebuild the American army in North Carolina after the defeat at Camden. [44] General Cornwallis, leading the British troops in the south, wanted to deal with him and gain control over the state. [45]
The painting depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant General Charles, Earl Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, ending the siege of Yorktown, which virtually guaranteed American independence. Included in the depiction are many leaders of the American troops that took part in the siege of Yorktown.
General Nathanael Greene's strategy was responsible for Cornwallis's withdrawal from the Carolinas. Cornwallis, buoyed by the victory at Camden, then prepared to advance north into North Carolina while militia activity, led by Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion, continued to harass the troops he left in South Carolina. [64]
General Clinton turned over British operations in the South to Lord Cornwallis. The Continental Congress dispatched General Horatio Gates, the victor of Saratoga, to the South with a new army, but Gates promptly suffered one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780). Cornwallis prepared to invade ...
It was two days after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. [121] General Washington acknowledge to de Grasse the importance of his role in the victory: "You will have observed that, whatever efforts are made by the land armies, the navy must have the casting vote in the present contest". [122]