Describe The Differences Between The Americans And British At Yorktown
A Column of British Soldiers marched out on the morning of April 19, 1775 toward the town of Lexington, Massachusetts. A small band of seventy-seven colonial militiamen stood their way. The shot heard around the world occurred in this time period as the outnumbered Americans retreated, thus starting the American War of Independence. Six years later, on October 19, 1781, Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, Virginia to the joint forces of General George Washington and French General Rochambeau. This paper intends to analyze how the Americans and French with their culture, language and tactical doctrine barriers to overcome manage to move land and naval forces over their opponent to gain the tactical advantage over the British at Yorktown.
General Washington realized American forces have to remained on the defensive and wait for opportunities against the British in order for the revolution to succeed and to avoid destruction. His continental army remained its position in the Hudson Highlands and …show more content…
hills of New Jersey to contain British army occupying the port of New York City under the command of Sir Henry Clinton.
Cornwallis decided to turn his army north towards Virginia where he believe is more easily conquerable after his forces incurred significant battlefield losses on his march through the Carolinas against Patriots General Nathaniel Greene’s army. He arrived in Virginia and immediately took command of the British forces in Virginia commanded by Benedict Arnold. He begins raiding through Virginia with the purpose of defeating the Patriots army and drawing Patriot forces away from the Carolinas where General Greene is engaged on a campaign to recapture the southern colonies from the British forces. Meanwhile, General Washington convinces General Rochambeau to march south to join in an assault on New York City. General Rochambeau had no intention of using his army on an assault on a well-fortified New York City but to convince General Washington to march further south, where a French fleet is heading towards Chesapeake Bay.
In June, 1781 two unlikely military armies prepared to enter in on British-occupied New York City. One was the Continental army consisting of twenty three infantry regiments, along with artillery, cavalry and logistical units, a total of over 6,650 men under the command of General George Washington. The other was the French expeditionary army consisting of four regiments of infantry and one battalion of artillery nearly 5,300 men under the command of General Jean Baptiste Donatien De Vimeur, Comte Rochambeau who had established a base at Newport, Rhode Island.
On September 5 off the Virginia coast, a French fleet commanded by Admiral De Grasse forms a battle line outside the bay as the British fleet’s sails in from the north. The British formed a battle line to meet the French. British Admiral Graves realizes that his fleet is taking the worst damage orders to cease fire, withdraw, and limped back to the north as another 8 French Fleet arrived commanded by Admiral Barras giving the French an overwhelming advantage over the British.
While the battle was ongoing on the coast of Virginia, General Washington and de Rochambeau marched their armies south. Washington deceived British General Clinton into thinking that his intention was to attack Staten Island so Clinton does act on time to save Cornwallis. On 27-28 September 1781, the American and French Armies arrived and established themselves within a mile of the British prepared fortifications. This effectively sealed off the British from the landward avenues of retreat. (1)
The first battery to open on the British works was a French battery of four 12-pounders and six mortars and howitzers. They pummeled the extreme right of the British line. The fusiliers' redoubt was a strong defensive work that anchored the British fortifications to the York River. The fusiliers began bombarding the British from a tree line at about 400 yards, within point-blank range of 12-pound cannons. (2)
The British Army desperately held to its works, bottled up in Yorktown by land and sea and suffering the effects of overwhelming Allied firepower.
On 11 October 1781, General Cornwallis wrote to his superior commander in New York, "The enemy made their first parallel on the night of the 6th at the distance of 600 yards and have perfected it and constructed places of arms and batteries with great regularity and caution. On the evening of the 9th, their batteries opened and have since continued firing without intermission with about 40 pieces of cannon, mostly heavy, and 16 mortars ... many of our works are considerably damaged; with such works on disadvantageous ground against so powerful an attack, we cannot hope to make a very long resistance." (3) Under heavy bombardment from the Allied Army, Cornwallis is realizing that reinforcement would not reach him in time, he surrendered to Washington’s combined American and French forces on October 19,
1781.
The Battle of Yorktown teaches us the importance of understanding the cultural differences and its effectiveness for unity in the command during joint allied operations between the French and the American on land and on sea. The relationship between Washington and French Lieutenant-General de Rochambeau could be summed up when Rochambeau, a General of the French forces chose to place his Army and himself completely under the command of General Washington. In doing so it provided the naval superiority Washington need to move many of his heavy siege guns by water. This minimizes the transportation time of artillery and bypassed the innumerable problems associated with ground transportation over rough roads. This aided in trapping Cornwallis' Army on the banks of the river at Yorktown. Even at the end when the Cornwallis sent his second in command, Charles O’Hara to deliver his sword as a sign of surrender to Rochambeau, he simply directed him to Washington, reflecting professionalism and the respect essential for unity of command.
The last lesson learned to take away from this battle was how Washington uses a systematic and detailed approach to the siege of Yorktown. He used a well-coordinated and overwhelming firepower with limited, well planned and well led assaults to seize key terrain. He then incorporated these terrain into the larger overall scope of the battle plan.
General Washington realized American forces have to remained on the defensive and wait for opportunities against the British in order for the revolution to succeed and to avoid destruction. His continental army remained its position in the Hudson Highlands and …show more content…
hills of New Jersey to contain British army occupying the port of New York City under the command of Sir Henry Clinton.
Cornwallis decided to turn his army north towards Virginia where he believe is more easily conquerable after his forces incurred significant battlefield losses on his march through the Carolinas against Patriots General Nathaniel Greene’s army. He arrived in Virginia and immediately took command of the British forces in Virginia commanded by Benedict Arnold. He begins raiding through Virginia with the purpose of defeating the Patriots army and drawing Patriot forces away from the Carolinas where General Greene is engaged on a campaign to recapture the southern colonies from the British forces. Meanwhile, General Washington convinces General Rochambeau to march south to join in an assault on New York City. General Rochambeau had no intention of using his army on an assault on a well-fortified New York City but to convince General Washington to march further south, where a French fleet is heading towards Chesapeake Bay.
In June, 1781 two unlikely military armies prepared to enter in on British-occupied New York City. One was the Continental army consisting of twenty three infantry regiments, along with artillery, cavalry and logistical units, a total of over 6,650 men under the command of General George Washington. The other was the French expeditionary army consisting of four regiments of infantry and one battalion of artillery nearly 5,300 men under the command of General Jean Baptiste Donatien De Vimeur, Comte Rochambeau who had established a base at Newport, Rhode Island.
On September 5 off the Virginia coast, a French fleet commanded by Admiral De Grasse forms a battle line outside the bay as the British fleet’s sails in from the north. The British formed a battle line to meet the French. British Admiral Graves realizes that his fleet is taking the worst damage orders to cease fire, withdraw, and limped back to the north as another 8 French Fleet arrived commanded by Admiral Barras giving the French an overwhelming advantage over the British.
While the battle was ongoing on the coast of Virginia, General Washington and de Rochambeau marched their armies south. Washington deceived British General Clinton into thinking that his intention was to attack Staten Island so Clinton does act on time to save Cornwallis. On 27-28 September 1781, the American and French Armies arrived and established themselves within a mile of the British prepared fortifications. This effectively sealed off the British from the landward avenues of retreat. (1)
The first battery to open on the British works was a French battery of four 12-pounders and six mortars and howitzers. They pummeled the extreme right of the British line. The fusiliers' redoubt was a strong defensive work that anchored the British fortifications to the York River. The fusiliers began bombarding the British from a tree line at about 400 yards, within point-blank range of 12-pound cannons. (2)
The British Army desperately held to its works, bottled up in Yorktown by land and sea and suffering the effects of overwhelming Allied firepower.
On 11 October 1781, General Cornwallis wrote to his superior commander in New York, "The enemy made their first parallel on the night of the 6th at the distance of 600 yards and have perfected it and constructed places of arms and batteries with great regularity and caution. On the evening of the 9th, their batteries opened and have since continued firing without intermission with about 40 pieces of cannon, mostly heavy, and 16 mortars ... many of our works are considerably damaged; with such works on disadvantageous ground against so powerful an attack, we cannot hope to make a very long resistance." (3) Under heavy bombardment from the Allied Army, Cornwallis is realizing that reinforcement would not reach him in time, he surrendered to Washington’s combined American and French forces on October 19,
1781.
The Battle of Yorktown teaches us the importance of understanding the cultural differences and its effectiveness for unity in the command during joint allied operations between the French and the American on land and on sea. The relationship between Washington and French Lieutenant-General de Rochambeau could be summed up when Rochambeau, a General of the French forces chose to place his Army and himself completely under the command of General Washington. In doing so it provided the naval superiority Washington need to move many of his heavy siege guns by water. This minimizes the transportation time of artillery and bypassed the innumerable problems associated with ground transportation over rough roads. This aided in trapping Cornwallis' Army on the banks of the river at Yorktown. Even at the end when the Cornwallis sent his second in command, Charles O’Hara to deliver his sword as a sign of surrender to Rochambeau, he simply directed him to Washington, reflecting professionalism and the respect essential for unity of command.
The last lesson learned to take away from this battle was how Washington uses a systematic and detailed approach to the siege of Yorktown. He used a well-coordinated and overwhelming firepower with limited, well planned and well led assaults to seize key terrain. He then incorporated these terrain into the larger overall scope of the battle plan.