Battle of Yorktown

American Victory

Warm Up Question

• Why were the French and Americans able to work so well together?

• What turned the tide in the favor of the Americans?

• In your opinion, why did the Americans win this war.

Yorktown: Oct 6-19, 1781

• General Cornwallis moved his army to the North Carolina Coast– His army was battered and worn down– Ordered to stay here and protect the Carolinas

• Marched his army to Virginia; settled in at Yorktown– Took command away from Benedict Arnold

• Washington was planning to attack NYC– British knew, and did not send reinforcements to

Cornwallis

• Cornwallis ordered to bring all his men to NYC– Disobeyed orders, again, and stayed fortifying

Yorktown

General Cornwallis

Cornwallis’s Route

Yorktown cont…

• Washington sent Marquis de Lafayette to Virginia in 1781

• Lafayette saw Cornwallis’s troops moving to Yorktown– Sent news back to Washington

• Washington abandoned plans to attack NYC and marched South to Virginia– 2,500 continental soldiers

– 4,000 French soldiers under the command of French General Rochambeau

General Rochambeau

Marquis de Lafayette

Franco-American Army

Yorktown cont…

• British realized the Americans were not going to NYC– Sent their fleet to the Chesapeake Bay– French fleet also sent there

• Naval battle between French and British occurred– French drove off the British– 3,000 French naval men joined Washington’s army

• The Americans/French attacked with a combined force of 16,000 troops

• Cornwallis was outnumbered, outgunned, and running out of food

• Asked for a truce on Oct. 17th--DENIED!!!!• Oct. 19th, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered to Washington• Last major battle of the Revolutionary War

Cornwallis Surrenders

Map of the Battle

Naval and Army Movement

Aftermath

• Some fighting continued, but it was minor• British prime minister, Lord Frederick North,

heard about the loss at Yorktown– “It is all over!”– Resigned after the surrender

• Britain’s new leaders began to negotiate a peace treaty

French Gravesite at Yorktown

Treaty of Paris: September 3, 1783• Formally ended the Revolutionary War• The Americans were represented by:

– Benjamin Franklin– John Adams – John Jay

• What did the Americans get?– Formal recognition as an independent country by Britain– Established U.S. boundaries– Specified fishing rights– War debts paid by the citizens of each country– Restored the rights and properties of Loyalists– Opened up the Mississippi River to citizens

– Evacuation of all British Soldiers

Treaty of Paris

Benjamin Franklin

John Adams

John Jay

Land Divided

Treaty Document