Washington's fame grew to international proportions having wrested such an improbable victory, interrupting his much desired Mount Vernon retirement with greater calls to public service. By , Washington's already substantial worries over the health, pay, and morale of his Continental Army stationed outside of New York City were worsened by the success of Cornwallis' southern campaign. Cornwallis' tactical victory at Guilford Courthouse March 15, left the Americans destitute of funds, soldiers, and morale.
Additionally, former Major General Benedict Arnold , a newly crowned British Brigadier after the attempted surrender of his command at West Point , prepared for Cornwallis' arrival by destroying precious Continental supplies in Virginia. Washington could only watch and wait for an opportunity to attack New York, or wait for a British mistake.
The opportunity presented itself when Cornwallis entrenched his army at Yorktown and Gloucester Point on the peninsula of Virginia's York and James Rivers, with the expectation of reinforcement or evacuation. Lafayette fixed Cornwallis in place while de Grasse kept control of Chesapeake Bay, preventing British naval assistance through his victory at the Battle of the Capes September 5, In the process, Washington's combined Franco-American army transported from Head of Elk to the lines outside Yorktown.
King George III was still determined to continue the effort to suppress the American rebellion, but the opposition party in the Commons began to gain support from the critical group of lukewarm government supporters. By March Lord North had been forced to resign as prime minister.
Although the new ministry did not immediately end the war, it did open the way for preliminary peace negotiations with the United States. Another 16 months were to pass before final peace treaties were concluded and ratified, but by November the British had conceded the most critical issue — the independence of the United States.
With Parliament unwilling to continue the war against the United States, the king was forced to accept the loss of the former 13 colonies. By detaching the Americans from the worldwide war, the British were able to concentrate on their main foes, France and Spain. The final peace treaties were signed in September , and on November 25 the British army left New York City, their last military base in the new nation.
View Site Map. Supported by the French army and navy, Washington's forces defeated Lord Charles Cornwallis' veteran army dug in at Yorktown, Virginia. Victory at Yorktown led directly to the peace negotiations that ended the war in and gave America its independence.
Check out our free lesson plans on the Yorktown Campaign for elementary, middle, and high school use. View and download a copy of our new Yorktown Campaign map. Learn more about how the armies all arrived at Yorktown in the Fall of View and download a copy of our new Siege of Yorktown map.
Feverishly working night and day, soldiers of the combined forces employed spades and axes to create a perimeter line of trenches that would encircle the British. British deserters alerted the Allies that British morale inside Yorktown was low. As the work on the parallels continued, the British attempted to disrupt Allied operations by using what little artillery they had left. Their attempts proved futile. On October 7, the Allied lines were now within musket range of the British.
Two days later American and French artillery were in place. On the afternoon of October 9 the Allied barrage began, with the French opening the salvo. On the American side, George Washington touched off the first American canon to commence their assault. The American artillery consisted of three twenty-four pounders, three eighteen pounders, two eight-inch mm howitzers and six mortars, totaling fourteen guns.
For near a week the artillery barrage was ceaseless, shattering whatever nerve the British had remaining and punching holes in British defenses. On October 11, Washington ordered that a second parallel be dug yards closer to the British lines.
British redoubts 9 and 10 prevented the second parallel from being dug to the river and the British were still able to reinforce the garrisons inside the redoubts.
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