Yorktown campaign

Overview

The Yorktown campaign, also known as the Virginia campaign, was a series of military maneuvers and battles during the American Revolutionary War that culminated in the siege of Yorktown in October 1781. The result of the campaign was the surrender of the British Army force of General Charles Earl Cornwallis, an event that led directly to the beginning of serious peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. The campaign was marked by disagreements, indecision, and miscommunication on the part of British leaders, and by a remarkable set of cooperative decisions, at times in violation of orders, by the French and Americans.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Yorktown campaign, also known as the Virginia campaign, was a series of military maneuvers and battles that culminated in the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis's British force. That surrender led directly to the opening of serious peace negotiations and ultimately to the end of the American Revolutionary War, making the campaign's outcome the decisive event of the conflict. The campaign was distinguished on the British side by disagreements, indecision, and miscommunication among senior leaders. On the Franco-American side, it was marked by a notable pattern of cooperative decision-making — at times taken in violation of standing orders — between French and American commanders, coordination that proved essential to forcing the final British capitulation.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (18)