After battling the American rebels for close the 7 years, the British concluded that they needed to just concentrate on the Southern States and try to keep them. So, in mid 1781, British Gen/Lord Cornwallis moved his army into Virginia from N. Carolina to try to save the Southern states. He attempted to establish a naval base in the Yorktown area.
Soon after Cornwallis established his base in Yorktown, the French Navy arrived to help the American cause and blockaded the mouth of the Chesapeake so poor Cornwallis was cut-off from new supplies, etc. etc.
At the same time, Gen George Washington (old wooden teeth) began moving his army in from the New York area to Yorktown. And, General/Comte de Rochambeau moved his substantial troops from the Newport, RI area towards Yorktown. It took Washington and Rochambeau some time to get there but Cornwallis was already suffering from the inability to get supplies.
So, it all "hit the fan" on October 6 when the combined American/French force of 17,000 started fighting the Cornwallis's 8,300 men. After 9 days of endless battle, Cornwallis tried to escape but the French Navy was there to turn him back. A couple days later he surrended. TA DA!
We walked the battlefield area for a bit; stopped at the impressive statue of Victory; and I swear Cass was looking for a few stray British to give them a piece of her mind.
The waterfront area of Yorktown has some quaint shops; a museum; and a nice beach area. There is also a bronze statue of Cornwallis surrendering to Washington - he is not handing George a red frisbee - I promise.
That's all for the history tour....thanks or sticking with me.
Always will stick with you. Carry on love the history lesson. Love. Diane
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