Battle of Yorktown

1398 words 6 pages
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Cadet Flake
11-18-2014
Battle Analysis
ROTC

Siege of Yorktown The Revolutionary War was a dreadful war leaving almost 70,000 U.S. and British soldiers dead or wounded. The war lasted eight years with America, France, Spain, and the Dutch on one side and Great Britain on the other. On October 19, 1781 the last major land battle took place, the Battle of Yorktown. Similar to other battles in the Revolutionary War, the Americans were fighting for independence from the British and as threats from them kept increasing, the situation did not get any better. George Washington is recognized to having inspired the victory achieved over the British forces. The tactics, skills, courage and the collaboration George Washington sought with the …show more content…

On September 3, 1783, Britain recognized the independence of the United States, and was ratified on January 14, 1784. The battle between the Americans and French vs. Britian was no way a decisive battle, the British had not been defeated, and they simply wanted to stop fighting. A peace treaty wasn't signed until two years later, when Great Britain formally recognized independence. That’s when they gained there freedom. George Washington took advantage of the mistakes made by General Cornwallis to execute his winning battle at Yorktown.
What could have possible led to the Battle of Yorktown? The beginning is not as clear as many would think. General Cornwallis was campaigning for the majority of the American Revolution in the southern states. He ravaged many of the southern states with his army in order to move toward achieving his main goal of the campaign; disrupting the supply lines that Washington was using and isolating the Franco-American forces. However, in Virginia, Marquis de Lafayette a young Frenchmen who led the American and French troops did not decisively engage the British. Lafayette had roughly 3,000 soldiers to defend Virginia while the British had around 7,000. During this time, Cornwallis received orders from the British Commander-in-Chief, to take up a position in the Virginia peninsula where Yorktown was located. The goal was to set up a naval post to receive supplies and reinforcements from the Royal Navy. It was

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