Yorktown Battlefield Tour
18 July 2018 | Yorktown, Virginia
George Stonecliffe
Today we took a taxi over the bridge from Gloucester Point to Yorktown to see the Battlefield where Cornwallis surrendered 8000 British soldiers (a third of the British army in the Colonies) leading to the end of the Revolutionary War. What impressed me the most was the substantial part the French army under Lafayette and French navy under de Grasse played in the victory at Yorktown. The French navy destroyed many of the British ships , trying to cross the blockade,causing the other ships to return to New York, leaving Cornwallis without ships and 5000 reinforcements. Lafayette (5000 French) joined Washington's forces marching a total army of 17,000 French and Americans from New York City ultimately to Yorktown. Along with the French strategy recommendations, Washington trapped Cornwallis on a peninsula of land, and with the help of Mother Nature's thunderstorms thwarting an escape by small boats, caused the surrender of Cornwallis's army. It was apparent that without the help of the French under the authorization of King Louis XVI, the Colonies might not have won this decisive victory. The Star Spangled Banner refers to "rockets' red glare"; this was caused by mortar fire like the one in the attached photo.