Battle of Yorktown

Battle of Yorktown

By definition, the Battle of Yorktown refers to the conflict that ensued between Great Britain and its thirteen American colonies it had in its possession in North America in the course of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The date and year when the Battle of Yorktown occurred were on October 9, 1781, on a Tuesday. The battlefield where the American forces fought the battle was the one located in Yorktown, Virginia. The Battle of Yorktown ended victorious for the American colonists. It was October 19, 1781, that the British waved the white flag. The army of Great Britain was defeated, and the Revolutionary had been completely over. The paper will be looking at the necessity of the battle and why it was considered a decisive American victory of the Revolution (Athleticbrainiac, 2016). The discussion will be revolving around the notion that the struggle finds its significance in the fact that Cornwallis made his surrender to Gorge Washington as American forces and French troops trapped the British at Yorktown.

In 1780, the government of France dispatched an army with Rochambeau as the leader. The regiment landed at Newport. The troops maintained their stay there in protecting the vessels where it had originated from France after being captured by a slightly stronger fleet from Britain, which once appeared as being away from the harbour (Athleticbrainiac, 2016). Later in 1781during summer, it became possible to bring together all the French forces with Americans in striking an attack against the British.

The French and the Americans allies decided besieging Cornwallis on the battlefield (Athleticbrainiac, 2016). The Yorktown Siege ensured in September through to October of 1781. Rochambeau accompanied his men to the battlefield as well as joining the major American army. Washington was now able to take command of the whole allied force. He acculturated a fake attack in New York, giving Henry Clinton a deception so complete that he later orders General Cornwallis to send his soldiers to New York.

The American and the French allies had been marching towards to south through Philadelphia before General Clinton realized what they were doing. The fleet of French West India, ruled by De Grasse arrived at the single end of the Chesapeake Bay in the time the allies arrived at the other end. The fleet of the British attacked it and had been defeated. No hope was there for Cornwallis. He could be assisted him through the sea, and the ensuing allies proved to be more strong forces. On October 19, 1781, the British put down their arm and made their surrender (History Hit, 2016). The army of British was later decimated, ending the Revolutionary war.

After the British counterattack proved to be unsuccessful on October 16, Cornwallis made the realization that the situation was untenable. Cornwallis desperately tried to evacuate his men over the York River that was nearby, but the weather conditions made it possible, and a humiliating surrender was the only option. The arrival of Clinton’s army was instead too late, like five days late, and received a word that Cornwallis had made his surrender. After hearing of the defeat, the British Prime Minister Lord North confessed, “Oh God, it’s finally over” (History Hit, 2016). Countered with an increasingly unpalatable situation, and with their many enemies now emboldened, the British proved to be having no more appetite for more fighting. Washington did not see action again until the Treaty of Paris became signed in the year 1783, officially ending the war.

The significance of the Battle of York comes from the fact that it was one of the significant battles of the American Revolution that stood out as a wrap of the entire Revolutionary War. The meaning that the Battle of Yorktown stood out as the last battle that ensured in the course of the Revolutionary War. It was the result of all the perseverance and hard work from the colonists.

Additionally, in the course of the battle, Gorge Washington surrounded General Cornwallis and one that led it to the surrender. Cornwallis mostly had fewer men compared to Washington and Washington new this. He fired cannons and attacked Cornwallis for many days without stopping (Arnold, 2020). Many of the British troops were injured and killed nonstop. The British did not quite for a few weeks. Cornwallis soon knew it was hopeless, and he was running out of food, and they had to surrender.

The Battle of Yorktown proved to be significant in the Revolution due to the fact it triggered a point of final surrender for Cornwallis and his troops. The battle stood out as the last central conflict in the course of the American Revolution, as well as its result of favouring Americans in an effective way, sealing the loss the British made. The British casualties in the battle had nearly been twice the ones of Americans (Arnold, 2020). Conclusively, it shows that the significance of the fight was excellent in terms of its decisiveness of the American victory during the Revolution, as it ended the Revolution, where the colonists emerged victorious.