Siege of Yorktown Facts
Siege of Yorktown Facts
|
Interesting Siege of Yorktown Facts: |
---|
The Yorktown Campaign was precipitated by British General Benedict Arnold's (formerly an American general) raiding in Virginia in late 1780 and early 1781. |
Washington's and Rochambeau's march to Yorktown became known as the "Celebrated March" |
When the Allied forces arrived in Philadelphia in early September, many of the Continental Army soldiers refused to march further south until they were paid in hard currency. Commander Rochambeau paid for their salaries with his personal supply of coins. |
German played a large role in the Battle of Yorktown: more than 3,000 German-Americans were in the Continental Army and another 2,500 Germans were dispersed in the British and French armies as mercenaries, comprising about one-third of all the forces. |
Yorktown was a coastal town that the British had fortified with a series of trenches, redoubts, ramparts, palisades, and gun nests. |
The Allied strategy was to slowly move toward Yorktown, engaging in skirmishes and then building their own trenches and fortifications in the process. |
The Allied bombardment started on October 9, with General Washington firing the first shot. |
Capturing the heavily fortified British redoubts was key. Once the Allied forces captured the redoubts they were able to turn the British guns and cannons against them. |
The malaria infested region around Yorktown wreaked havoc on the British forces, but the Americans, whom many had developed a resistance to the diseases, fared far better. |
Less than 100 Allied soldiers were killed during the siege, while up to 300 British and German mercenaries were killed. |
Because the British had denied American forces the traditional surrender of marching with flags and fixed bayonets the previous years when they surrendered at Charleston, he refused the British the honor at Yorktown. |
General Cornwallis refused to attend the surrender ceremony where he would turn over his sword. He claimed illness for the reason, although some historians are skeptical of that claim. |
Washington refused to give amnesty to American loyalists and General Cornwallis never pressed the issue, which upset the loyalist community in North America and many of their sympathizers in Britain. |
Related Links: Facts American Revolution Facts Animals Facts |