History of The American Revolution: The War Continues

By Peter Cameron
September 2026

The year is 1781. The American Revolution has dragged on for six years. The British forces in the colonies are split in two. General Clinton, in charge of all British forces in the colonies, is garrisoned in New York City with most of the British forces. He is protected by the British navy on the seaward side and surrounded by patriot forces on the landward side. The second British force under the command of General Cornwallis, consisting of 8,300 British troops was in Virginia. They had conducted the southern campaign, starting in South Carolina, but were now backed onto a small peninsula in Yorktown, Virginia. The Atlantic Ocean was at their back. To the landward side were patriot troops. They were trapped. Cornwallis sent word to Clinton in New York begging for reinforcements and evacuation by the navy. Clinton promised 5,000 troops to be delivered by the navy by October 5th. The British navy had previously attempted to reach Cornwallis, only to have been badly damaged by the French fleet and forced to return to New York for repairs.

General Washington and French Count Rochambeau arrived at Yorktown with 17,600 French and patriot troops on September 28th. They began digging trench lines parallel to the British lines. They got within 800 yards. On October 9, Washington moved his artillery up into the trench line. They began to pound British positions. By October 11, patriot artillery had silenced all British artillery positions. 

The British defensive position was composed of their main line with two small forts called redoubts, some distance out in front of the main lines. These served as the main defense for the British forces, positioned to provide interlocking fields of fire. On the night of October 14, French and patriot troops stormed the two redoubts capturing them both in 30 minutes. On October 16 the British attempted a counterattack that failed. Later that night they attempted to evacuate in small boats, but a violent storm thwarted that attempt.

Realizing the situation was hopeless, Cornwallis sent an officer under a white flag to negotiate a surrender. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis and his troops capitulated. They marched out of Yorktown, flanked for more than a mile by a phalanx of troops. On one side by patriot troops, on the other by French troops. Ironically, that day the British navy with 5,000 troops onboard departed New York for Yorktown. Too little, too late.

Ironically, Yorktown is less than 10 miles from Jamestown, the first permanent British settlement in the colonies. The sites of the beginning –and end–of the British rule in the New World, almost within sight of each other.

The defeat of such a large British force shocked London. Political support for the war vanished overnight. Prime Minister Lord North resigned. Parliament was suddenly against any further action in the colonies. For all intents and purposes, the war was over.

Benjamin Franklin was sent to France where he and the French negotiated a peace deal with Britain. On September 3, 1783, all parties signed the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the war.

The United States of America was formally born that day in Paris. The hopes and dreams expressed in the Declaration of Independence some eight years earlier could now become reality. But the 13 colonies were a mess, acting like 13 individual countries. Unless the colonies could find a way to blend the different attitudes, ideas, and prejudices into a like-minded cohesive republic, all the efforts and sacrifices of the Revolution might be for nought. The next few years would test the resolve that eight years of war had won.

Next Month: “The Final Piece in the Foundation of America.”