The Siege of Yorktown
Though the French were important at Yorktown, Steuben's training allowed the Americans to take one of the redoubts. The Continentals and the French could then move the artillery closer, forcing Cornwallis to surrender.
When Washington learned Cornwallis was trapped in Yorktown, he made "Clinton think he was planning to attack him, while instead sneaking away to the south to trap Cornwallis . . . Washington and Rochambeau set out for Yorktown in mid-August. . . . On September 5, [the French fleet] encountered the British fleet in a naval engagement known as the Battle of the Capes. The British suffered damage to their ships and returned to New York, while the French, commanded by Admiral de Grasse, remained in the lower Chesapeake and established a blockade. . . . Cornwallis had his men construct a main line of defense around Yorktown
that consisted of ten small enclosed forts (called redoubts), batteries
with artillery and connecting trenches. The Americans and French marched
from Williamsburg to Yorktown on September 28 and began digging a
trench 800 yards from the British defense line to begin a siege."
(http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm)
(http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm)
They fired "at the British continuously. . . . During the night of October 11, the allies began a second trench 400 yards from the British. . . . The new line could not be completed, however, without capturing British redoubts 9 and 10. On the night of October 14, 400 French stormed redoubt 9 and 400 Americans stormed redoubt 10, capturing them in less than 30 minutes. Nine Americans and 15 French died. . . ."
(http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm)
(http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm)
Washington wrote, "Nothing could exceed the firmness and bravery of the Troops. They advanced under the fire of the Enemy without returning a shot and effected the business with the Bayonet only."
(http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/washreports/101681.html)
(http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/washreports/101681.html)
General Rochambeau said the Americans must "have formed an alliance with the king of Prussia. These troops are Prussians."
(Lockhart, 276)
(Lockhart, 276)
Cornwallis tried to escape
by sea but was prevented by a storm, and surrendered on October 17. "Though the British still had 26,000 troops in North America after Yorktown, their resolve to win the war was nothing like it had been before Yorktown. The war had been lengthy and costly. Replacing Cornwallis' captured army was a questionable proposition, particularly because the British also were engaged in military struggles in India, Gibraltar, the West Indies and Ireland. . . . In September 1783, the final treaty was signed which ended the war and acknowledged American independence."(http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm)