Yorktown: The Battle that Won the Revolution

Today, Oct. 19, in the year 1781, the British troops surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown. That day, the Americans and their French allies not only rejoiced at winning a victory in that one battle, but the victory ensured they would win the Revolution; afterwards, though there would be almost two more years before the Treaty of Paris, Yorktown ensured the British would eventually accept the inevitable and recognize the United States as an independent nation. A rag-tag group of colonials who believed in liberty had taken on the world’s most powerful empire, and won.

Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army and the French land and naval troops had Gen. Charles, Earl of Cornwallis and his British troops surrounded. Washington had been worried about supplies, morale, and a British victory, and seized upon Cornwallis’s ill-judged entrenchment in Yorktown, Virginia. On Oct. 9, 41 French and American artillery pieces fired on Cornwallis, marking the beginning of the end for the British commander. His position became indefensible and, on Oct. 17, Cornwallis swallowed his pride enough to start surrender negotiations.

On Oct. 19, the British surrendered, marking a defeat that would lead to the British recognition of U.S. independence.