Siege of Yorktown, October 19, 1781:
To introduce this battle, we should mention that Lafayette was worried that he would not be included in the decisive battle of the American revolution, but little did he know, he would be involved in the most important and one of the largest battles in the revolution. The entire American assault on Yorktown took many phases and involved Franco American cooperation. Together, they had around 18900 troops against the British army's 9 thousand. The general of the British was Charles Cornwallis, had the idea that the British navy would come to his aid by bringing in fresh troops, supplies and equipment. However, the Americans and the French had different ideas. The admiral De Grasse was stationed in the Chesapeake. This led to a large naval fight which the French eventually won because the British navy slipped out during the night. The Franco American forces were amassed in front of the British defensive lines and started the bombardment of their fortifications. General Lafayette was given the instruction to attack the redoubt (which is a small fort). Lafayette was determined to take his redoubt before Anthony Wayne.They were ordered to take the redoubts at night and to only use their bayonets until they were close enough to shoot accurately. Lafayette however, still trying to prove himself as an admirable general, told his men to only use their bayonets no matter what. Lafayettes men successfully snuck up on the British and took the redoubt. As the allied forces closed in on the British encampment, Cornwallis decided to start ferrying troops across the York river to Gloucester point. During the night, while the British were ferrying troops, a storm hit and stopped the ferrying of troops because it was too dangerous. After that point, the Americans started another round of bombardments and assaults, the British then surrendered on the 19 of October. This turned out to be the decisive battle in the American revolution. |