Cornwallis, unhappy with the width of the waterways in Portsmouth, decided to fortify in Yorktown and thus placed his troops in a position of entrapment.
Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, , by which over 7, British and Hessians became prisoners, copy of lithograph by James Baillie, circa , - , public domain.
Following an inconclusive engagement between a British fleet from New York and a French fleet under Admiral de Grasse, the British withdrew to New York leaving the French naval force with control of the Chesapeake Bay.
Cornwallis now found his army cut off from supplies and surrounded by American and French armies who had marched down from New York. Following a three-week siege and a failed attempt to flee across the York River to Gloucester, Cornwallis was forced to surrender on October 19, The Battle of Yorktown was the last significant battle of the Revolutionary War, and Cornwallis became known as the general who lost the American colonies.
General Cornwallis sacrificed neither his career nor reputation after his defeat at Yorktown. In February, he accepted the appointment of Governor-General and commander in chief in India. While there, Cornwallis enacted several reforms and his army quelled a revolt by Tipu Sultan.
He was then sent to Ireland as Governor-General, where he stopped the Irish rebellion and helped pass legislation that united the English and Irish Parliaments. In , Cornwallis was involved in negotiations that led to the Treaty of Amiens.
He is buried in India at a site overlooking the Ganges River. Box , Williamsburg, Virginia or toll-free ; fax The Battle of Cowpens, William Ranney, , public domain. In a desperate attempt to defeat Washington, Cornwallis rode fifty miles to Princeton, New Jersey, and mobilized 8, troops for an attack on January 2, , known as the Battle of Second Trenton.
Washington marched straight for Princeton and overcame the stiff resistance to capture the town. After the disastrous engagements at Princeton, Cornwallis spent the winter months in London before returning to America for the spring campaign. He was instrumental in the British victory at Brandywine September 11, and the capture of Philadelphia two weeks later.
A few weeks later, Cornwallis seized on a distraction by General Howe and took the city of Philadelphia without firing a shot. With another campaign season having ended poorly for the British, Cornwallis decided to take an extended leave in England. Despite his early opposition to the war and his role in several embarrassing defeats, Cornwallis was a favorite of the king and was promoted to lieutenant general and made second in command to General Clinton in America.
After this promotion he briefly returned to the colonies and took part in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse on June 28, However, he received news that his wife, Jemima Tullekin Jones, was ill, and he quickly returned to London. Less than a month after his arrival, Cornwallis lost his wife in February He was devastated by her death and decided to rejoin Clinton as his second in command because he could not bear to remain at home.
He sailed for New York in July Shortly after his return to America, Cornwallis traveled to South Carolina in the spring of By this time, British commanders had shifted their attention to the southern colonies. He joined Clinton for the Second Siege of Charleston in late March and, despite their initial amicable meeting, the two quickly developed a bitter relationship that would affect future communications.
However, in April the two generals successfully captured the city of Charleston. After this victory, Clinton returned to New York and left Cornwallis with 8, men and the task of securing the southern colonies.
After the victory at Camden, Cornwallis set out to pacify the countryside, a task that proved difficult. The British based their southern campaign on the idea that loyalists outnumbered patriots in the south and would flock to the royal standard. While loyalists did support British operations in the south, their numbers were never as high as the British government had hoped and been led to believe.
The anticipated support of allied Cherokee and Creek Indians proved disappointing as well and only further alienated southern frontiersmen against the British. He separated his forces in order to target pockets of patriot resistance and control more of the southern interior and backcountry. After his subordinate commanders, Major Patrick Ferguson and Lt. Banastre Tarleton, were both defeated at the battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens respectively, Cornwallis had the option to retreat to fight a defensive war in South Carolina or undoing the damage of Kings Mountain by resuming his offensive in North Carolina.
He had his army destroy their baggage and began a wild chase of their foe to the Dan River. Cornwallis eventually caught Greene, and the two armies fought the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, The British won the battle, but at a very heavy cost and the Continentals under Greene managed an orderly escape.
Cornwallis threw Virginia into chaos as he captured Richmond and Charlottesville. His feared commander of the British Legion, Lt. Banastre Tarleton led a raid on Monticello, the personal estate of Governor Thomas Jefferson, in an effort to capture the author of the Declaration of Independence. The British Army was still in a vulnerable situation after these successes, andClinton ordered Cornwallis to establish a naval post on the Chesapeake.
The combined forces of the Continental Army and the French army under Washington and Rochambeau saw an opportunity and moved to trap the British army at Yorktown. Cornwallis expected support from Clinton but was unaware of the presence of the superior French fleet, which won the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, , gaining control of the sea.
Unaware of the circumstances, Cornwallis slowly fortified Yorktown throughout August before discovering on September 8 th that Washington and the French were marching south. The allied forces began to bisiege the British at Yorktown on September 28, Cornwallis withdrew his outer defenses closer to the town of Yorktown as he faced a superior foe.
The French and Americans initiated a steady bombardment of artillery fire and slowly dug their siege lines closer, eventually capturing two British redoubts that were critical for British outer defenses.
Cornwallis, left with no other option but to surrender, sent a flag of truce to negotiate the surrender of his army on October Cornwallis sought to surrender with the traditional honors of war, but Washington demanded harsh terms as they had denied the Americans those honors at the surrender of Charleston in May The Articles of Surrender were signed on October 19, Cornwallis, unable to stomach the embarassment, did not attend the surrender ceremony, citing illness.
Charles O'Hara led the British army onto the surrender field and attempted to hand his sword to the French General Rochambeau, who refused. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault.
Early Life and Military Career Cornwallis was born on December 31, in London, England, into an aristocratic family with a distinguished military pedigree. Early Battles of the Revolutionary War Promoted to the rank of major general, Cornwallis left for North America in early , and arrived in the Carolinas that May to reinforce the British southern expedition led by General Henry Clinton.
British Campaign in the South In , with the war in the north having reached a virtual stalemate, the British refocused on their southern campaign, counting on a larger number of Loyalists among the southern colonists. Recommended for you. How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland. Charles Darwin. Charles Martel Repels the Moors. American Victory at Yorktown. The Young Charles Manson.
Joseph Plumb Martin In the summer of , Joseph Plumb Martin enlisted in the Connecticut state militia at the tender age of 15; he later joined the Continental Army of General George Washington and served nearly seven years on behalf of the Revolutionary cause. Townshend Acts The Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in , that taxed goods imported to the American colonies.
George Washington George Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and served two terms as the first U.
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