Battle Of Yorktown Research Paper

It all started on October 19, 1781. That was the day that the British army surrendered to the Continental army after the Battle of Yorktown. The Revolutionary War was over and America was born as a free country. In this essay you will be taken through the days prior to the Battle of Yorktown, the Battle itself, British surrender, and the end of British rule in the 13 American colonies. The departure of the Loyalists from the 13 Colonies to Canada will also be discussed. The Battle of Yorktown affects ordinary Americans by ending the Revolutionary War and creating a new country. In the months prior to the Battle of Yorktown it was not known that the battle would occur at Yorktown. During this time the Continental army and the French

General Washington ordered work to begin on a second parallel, which brought the Americans within several hundred yards of the British lines, on October 11, 1781. This second parallel could not be completed until British Redoubts Nine and Ten, part of the British defense line were taken by the Americans. On October 14, 1781 Redoubts Nine and Ten, two small earthen forts which anchored the eastern portion of the British defense lines, were seized by the Patriot army and the French army. Before dawn the British attempted an ill-fated counterattack to stop the American advance, on October 16, 1781. Lord Cornwallis knew his options were limited. Later that same day Lord Cornwallis attempted to ferry his troops from Yorktown to Gloucester Point on the north side of the river. The British hoped to break out and flee north while abandoning their sick and wounded soldiers. A bad storm during the night stopped the transfer of British troops from Yorktown to Gloucester Point. Then on October 17, 1781 a British drummer and an officer waving a white flag mounted British fortifications. They sought a truce to discuss surrender terms. On the same day, a British fleet left New York to relieve Lord Cornwallis. On October 18, 1781 surrender terms were finalized at Moore House in

A week later on October 28, 1781 the British relief fleet reached Virginia and learned that Lord Cornwallis had surrendered. At this time the Loyalists in the colonies fled to the British colonies in Canada. The fleet returned to New York several days later without engaging the French navy. The war was over and America was born. Now flash forward two hundred and thirty three years and look at what America has become. It has become a great nation with a great military. We are no longer the disorganized colonies. We have 50 states in our great nation and we are pretty organized. But all of this would not be possible if it wasn’t for the brave men that fought in the Revolutionary War and for the French army’s help. Without all of their efforts the United States of America would not be where it is today. Dolores Jane Umbridge once said, “Progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be