The Siege of Yorktown Begins

The March From Williamsburg

On September 28, 1781, American and French troops moved from Williamsburg toward Yorktown, where Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis held a fortified position near the mouth of the York River. The movement began the investment of the British works: allied troops established positions from which they could restrict the garrison's movement and prepare to bring up siege artillery. The decision to concentrate in Virginia followed months of maneuvering. Yorktown was valuable to the British because of its access to water, and that same geography made naval control decisive once the allied armies arrived.

A Fleet Closed the Approach

Earlier in September, a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse had fought a British fleet off the Chesapeake capes. The British withdrew, leaving the French in control of the access the allies needed. This helped prevent Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or escaping by sea. French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau and Americans under George Washington could then combine their strength on land. The allied operation worked because the fleet and the armies acted in the same place within a short window.

Building the Siege

The first days were spent arranging troops and studying the British position. Engineers planned where trenches, batteries and approaches could be built. Men prepared baskets and bundles of brush to reinforce earthworks, and they moved heavy guns into positions that could be supplied with powder and shot. The first parallel, a trench running generally along the front, allowed artillery and infantry to work closer to the British defenses. This labor mattered as much as the dramatic final attacks: the trenches moved the point from which the allies could exert sustained pressure.

The Redoubts and the Surrender

As the second parallel took shape, two advanced British redoubts obstructed the allied lines. On October 14, French and American assault parties captured Redoubts 9 and 10 respectively. Cornwallis attempted to move troops across the river, but bad weather disrupted the crossing. Negotiations followed, and the British surrendered on October 19. That date is commonly pictured in paintings and reenactments; it is distinct from September 28, when the armies first began to close around the position.

Why Yorktown Was Decisive

Fighting and diplomacy continued after the surrender, and the Treaty of Paris formally recognized American independence in 1783. Yorktown nevertheless took a major British field army out of the war and changed the political outlook for continuing offensive operations. The campaign also showed the scale of French participation in the American victory. To follow the opening day is to see the surrender as the outcome of an allied sequence: naval access, a coordinated march, artillery brought forward and an increasingly constrained garrison.