The Battle of Yorktown - Essay Example

? The Battle of Yorktown Jacob Banks History 11 Frank Luna October 18, The Battle of Yorktown Introduction In the battle for American Independence, the decisive battle was the battle of Yorktown, which was also known as the siege of Yorktown. It was marked by Cornwallis’s mistakes, and the American and French allies were able to take advantage of these mistakes. Among these mistakes there was the fact that Cornwallis abandoned many posts that he had and this opened up a way for the allies to attack, using these abandoned redoubts. Moreover, Cornwallis was outnumbered by the allies, two to one. Soon, the small village of Yorktown was under siege. British ships ended up in flames, and Cornwallis was soon surrounded by trenches built by the French and American allies. This led to his eventual surrender. And, although it was not necessarily known at the time, this battle effectively ended the Revolutionary War. This is because, after Cornwallis’s unconditional surrender, there were only two posts that the British had – New York and Charleston, South Carolina. It was not long, only six months later that the British had agreed to American independence. Therefore, it is arguable that the Battle of Yorktown is the most important battle of the American Revolution, because it was the battle that literally decimated and demoralized the British forces. This paper will explain this battle, what happened during the battle, and will also explain, briefly, what happened after the battle, as the British agreed to give the Americans independence. Body The siege at Yorktown was the most important battle of the War for American Independence, because it was the last battle, therefore was the decisive battle, and it led to the surrender of Cornwallis and his fleet, who were fortified at the base of the York River. Moten states the siege began with Washington marshalling his forces, which included both of his fleets, but also those of De Grasse, who was his French ally. De Grasse provided a naval escort and transport for the voyage down the Chesapeake Bay. The armies arrived between September 22 and September 27, 1781, in Williamsburg, Virginia, and marched to Yorktown on September 28 (261). Moten states that these armies were able to trap the British army, led by Cornwallis (261). At this point, as noted by Fuller, Cornwallis was waiting at Yorktown with 7,000 men. Lafayette, who was a French general, and part of the allies, was also at Yorktown with 5,000 men. Fuller states that, at this point, Cornwallis made the mistake of not attacking Lafayette and his 5,000 men, which would have been crucial for Cornwallis, as Washington and Rochambeau were on the move towards him at Yorktown, and defeating Lafayette before Washington and Rochambeau could get to him would have been beneficial to Cornwallis (363). The siege itself opened on September 30, 1781, according to Fuller. Puls gives a description of Yorktown itself during this time. Puls states that York town was a small village of about sixty houses, which sat on the south side of the York River, which flowed into the Chesapeake. Therefore, the American and the French armies set up below the town, and Cornwallis was pinned against the river. At this point, Puls states that Cornwallis made another potential mistake, which is that he evacuated fortifications at Pigeon Quarter and three other redoubts, as he thought that he could escape by the sea (161). Urban states that there was a reason why Cornwallis would have given these up, and this was that he felt that these redoubts were too exposed to be defended. However, as Urban notes, this decision caused much consternation with the British, and gave hope to the French, who thought that giving these up gave them the best possible advantage (121). Urban states that the siege was getting underway, in earnest, on the morning of October 1, 1781. At this point, the French had their eye on the small fort on a cliff overlooking the York River, and they were also unloading their heavy guns and a landing point on the James River, which was six miles to the south. The allies were divided, the Americans at the east, the French at the south and west, and a Franco-American force across the water at Gloucester. There were 20,000 troops in all, 9,000 of these troops being French troops. This was compared to less than 10,000 for Cornwallis (121). Moten states that Cornwallis was underequipped for this siege, in general, as his defenses were shallow. His base was on the York River, with Yorktown on the south bank and Gloucester Point on the north bank. While both of these positions were fortified, according to Moten, the main work on the south bank were close to the river, and were little more than mile long. Cornwallis gave up the outlying works and withdrew into the line of fortifications and redoubts around the town, which gave the allies a chance to dig their way towards the main lines on October 6. As noted below, by October 10, the allies had completed their first trench, which was parallel to the southeast end of the British line, and they were able to construct six batteries which faced the town (262). Washington was expecting that Cornwallis would be attempting to escape, according to Fuller. Because of this, the Duke of de Lauzun and his legion of 300 of cavalry and 300 infantry men, along with 700 marines, were sent to Gloucester to reinforce M. de Choisy, who was chosen to blockade this position. This led to an encounter between de Lauzun and Colonel Tarleton, the latter whom was almost captured by the former (364). Meanwhile, the town of Yorktown itself was decimated by sickness and hunger, according to Urban. The officers were not doing well, with some of them mixing their rum with opiates. The horses who were lame or sick were shot or drowned. Hundreds of blacks were in the town, according to Urban. It was in these conditions that the opening lines of siege began, with the Americans picking off British sentries and gunners. These were only the opening skirmishes, however, as the French had not yet assembled their heavy artillery, which was yet to be brought across the peninsula. Therefore, the real action did not begin until around October 6 or October 7 (123). Puls states that on October 7, there were 1,500 men who were moving tons of dirt, in efforts to dig out the first parallel of American and French trenches. The soldiers moved their heavy guns into these trenches, and the Continental artillery corps were continuing an uninterrupted stream of fire, with cannonballs plunging into the York River, sending up streams of cascading water. British boats were set aflame, and blazing shells were exchanged between the two sides (123). According to Moten, the main lines which were being dug on October 6 were completed towards the southeast end of the British line by October 10. These batteries, according to Moten, made portions of the enemy lines untenable, and effectively destroyed or drove the British ships across to Gloucester (262). By October 11, according to Puls, the American and the French artillery barrage had effectively shut down the British resistance, silencing their guns. General Henry Knox had noticed that, when he emerged from the trenches, he was no longer being fired upon. At this point, the allies built a second line of parallel trenches, 300 yards from Cornwallis’s main works. This trench, by nightfall of October 11, extended a half mild in both direction toward the York River on each side of the town, according to Puls (125). At this point, the allies only needed to capture two remaining British batteries, and they would reach the water. On October 14, Alexander Hamilton, according to Puls, led the charge to capture these batteries, capturing one of these batteries. The French captured the other one that same night. At this point, the British were walled in by the trenches, and the allies placed 100 guns in these trenches, and fired without interruption. Meanwhile, Cornwallis’s men were begging to escape through the allied line, and Cornwallis allowed this, and 350 of Cornwallis’s men charged the allied trench at four in the morning on October 16 (125). Commager & Morris states that this was Cornwallis’s last, desperate chance that his troops might, by night passage, be able to get to Gloucester by water and be able to break through to the north. However, this was negated by a sudden storm, which forced Cornwallis to abandon this project (255). According to Puls, at this point, the British general Cornwallis knew that he was defeated, so he surrendered, unconditionally, by the end of October 16 (126). At the moment before the surrender, however, according to Puls, there was a figure who appeared, who was a drummer who beat out a parley. He was joined by a British officer, and American officer, who ran to meet them. At this point, the British officer was blindfolded by a handkerchief, and was led to Washington (127). At this point, according to Moten, Washington was hoping that the surrender of Cornwallis would lead to a diplomatic settlement which was favorable to the United States. It was less than six months after the news of Cornwallis’s surrender that there were meaningful negotiations launched with Britain. Before this, however, there were the pragmatics of the surrender itself (263). According to Urban, some of Cornwallis’s men were allowed to leave with their general, and some would have to march into captivity. There was also the issue of the African-Americans who had fled their masters in Virginia and the Carolinas, who joined up with Cornwallis, hoping for freedom (124). According to Fleming, after Cornwallis surrendered, unconditionally, the articles of capitulation stipulated that these men were to be returned to their owners. This meant that there were numerous slave owners who hurried into Yorktown, in an effort to regain their runaway slaves. Fleming stated that these terrified men were returned to their owners, and, amongst these, were men who were returned to both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (33). At this point, according to Fleming, the war was all but over, although Washington was loathe to state this. Washington had Cornwallis’s letter of surrender, and hoped for no more than the fact that the president and Congress would be happy and would congratulate him on a job well done. That said, Yorktown itself was in wreckage, according to Fleming. In particular, the houses were reduced to rubble, and there were shallow graves everywhere the covered the bodies of those recently killed (34). Meanwhile, Knox, according to Puls, realized that, in spite of the overall condition of Yorktown, this was a decisive battle, and that the British war effort would be critically wounded by this victory by the allies. This was because, at this point, the English were merely clinging to two harbors, Charleston and New York, and they did not have enough troops to form adequate garrisons, according to Puls (162). By March, 1782, however, the Parliament had voted to end the American War. According to Moten, this came after negotiations which began in November of 1781, right after the surrender of Cornwallis. At this point, the king had accepted the new ministry and entertained the idea that he might give independence to the rebellious colonies. Five months after this, after identifying the representatives and the issues, the United States and Britain had settled on terms of peace. They entered into a treaty which gave the United States nearly all the land sought by the Congress, and the Continental Army was disbanded at this point, according to Moten. Moreover, the Congress agreed that it would not create another national army to defend the United States. That said, the United States, weakened by the war, made treaties with France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Prussia for commercial reasons (270). Analysis It is clear that the main reason why the allies won the Battle of Yorktown is because of the strategic errors of Cornwallis. These errors were so glaring that one is left with the distinct impression that, perhaps, Cornwallis was mentally drained from the long war, so he did not have the right mental capacity to make the necessary calls that he would have to make, in order to be more secure. For instance, he had shallow defenses, and he was undermanned. Moreover, the allies were able to pin him to river relatively easily. Cornwallis seemed that he was significantly outmaneuvered. While these could all be tactical errors, there is also the possibility that Cornwallis literally gave up without a fight. At any rate, it seems that the Battle of Yorktown was a siege which was definitive in the war for independence. If Cornwallis would have won, however, it does not mean that the British would have also won the war. It just seems that it was one of the British’ last gasp, as there were only two other strongholds that the British had after this battle. Therefore, although it was the last battle, it does not necessarily mean that it was the most important battle. There were other battles which put the British on the defensive to where they could not afford to lose one more campaign. It seems that this was more of the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” as opposed to being a battle that would be considered to be the turning point for the war. Nevertheless, as the allies winning this battle meant that the British were decimated, to the point where the King had to give the American patriots their independence, the Battle of Yorktown was considered to be one of America’s most important war. Conclusion While there were many battles during the American Revolutionary War, perhaps none were as important as the siege of Yorktown. This is because, after Cornwallis agreed to unconditional surrender after this battle, there was little else that the British could do. After this battle was won, they only had Charleston and New York; therefore they were decimated to the point where granting independence was the only thing left. There were casualties, of course, on both sides, and the black slaves who joined up with Cornwallis had to return to their masters. The town itself was devastated. However, through the ruins came the victory that was long sought by America, as the British realized that granting independence to the American colonies was inevitable. This is the reason why this battle is so important, and why it has gone down in the annals of important battles on American soil. Works Cited Commager, Henry and Richard Morris. The Spirit of Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution As Told by Participants. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1958. Print. Fleming, Thomas. The Perils of Peace. New York: HarperCollins Books, 2007. Print. Fuller, J.F.C. Decisive Battles of the USA. New York: The Beechhurst Press, 1953. Print. Moten, Matthew. Between War and Peace. New York: Free Press, 2011. Print. Puls, Mark. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution. New York: Palgrave, 2008. Print. Urban, Mark. Fusiliers: The Saga of a British Redcoat Regiment in the American Revolution. New York: Walker & Company, 2007. Print. Read More