Research Paper On The Battle Of Yorktown
Introduction The Battle of Yorktown could be debated as one of the most important Battles in American History. During the period time of the Revolutionary War, we have bread some of the most recognizable leaders in today’s military History. The Battle of Yorktown involved General George Washington’s Continental Army and the French military led by Count Rochambeau. The British Army led by Lord Cornwallis which occupied the all important Yorktown and Gloucester Pointe with the support of hired help from the Germans.
General George Washington demised a brilliant plan of deception at a critical time in the revolutionary war when things were not always looking so optimistic. With his witty mind and unquestionable leadership, skills Washington put together a plan to march from the shores of Delaware to Yorktown in Virginia. 1The French provided most of the troops, arms, food, and money for the final offensive of the war, but there was never a challenge to Washington’s authority.
History …show more content…
The people of the thirteen colonies of Britain were pushed to their limits when the British parliament decided to enforce the 3Townshend Act.
This act would enforce taxation on many of the normal household goods. This enraged the people and they begun to rebel. This rebellion concerned the British Government so much that they decided to dispatch two regiments, which were approximately 4000 troops from motherland to assist in the restoring order. Little did Great Britain know but this would only add fuel to fire and the colonies drew more united. 4The government then later rescinded Townshend Act in 1770 only to later enforce the Tea Act, which led to the all-famous Boston Tea
Party.
When the second Continental Congress went to vote General George Washington came out on top to lead the Revolutionary War. On July 3 1775, Washington officially took command of an undermanned and under supplied Continental Army. Washington Command was a continuous uphill battle he not he encountered more losses in battles then victories but troop morale was low and desertion was a common occurrence. 5While observing from the across the Delaware River Washington was trying to contemplating on how he was going to attack the 10,000 redcoats that held New York City. George Washington was aware that British forces in New York under the command of Clinton had send reinforcement troops to the south to Cornwallis and this may have left him vulnerable. A combined allied strike with using the French fleet by seas and the Continental Army by land was Washington’s plan until the commander of the French Army, who had more military experience persuaded him that New York was a too difficult area to attack. Instead of attacking New York Washington agrees to send his troops to the south to the Chesapeake Bay as long as Rochambeau will send him French fleet of ships to the same location. This decision whines up being the decisive point in the Revolutionary War.
Planning and Preparation Prior to the march from Delaware to Virginia the French commander inspected Washington’s army tiny army with unconcealed astonishment; 2most of the Americans had no uniforms and were barefoot and tousle-haired. They had no baggage; three or four men slept in each odorous tent, they lay on branches and covered with dirty blankets. Many of these troops were children, boys of twelve of thirteen, and there were hundreds of old men, which all were lean and underfed. Despite the poor conditions Washington’s army endured, he knew that he must have a plan prior to making the long march south. 6The plan that Washington demised was he would make a plan of deception by first sending a written letter to colony to the north stating that he was going to attack the city of New York, the thing was Washington knew this letter was going to be intercepted. This message winded up putting Clinton’s army on high alert in the city. When it was time to begin the march south in, August of 1781 to link up with Lafayette’s army, which proceeded ahead to Virginia, Washington implemented part two of his deception plan. Part two of the plan was that Washington was going to leave soldiers at his current fighting positions in order- to not alert the army in New York City that the Continental army marched south. 7To the south Cornwallis with his redcoats were rolling thru the Carolinas trying to control the southern colonies from gaining momentum in the Revolutionary War and was doing a successful job of that. With his confidence on his side, Cornwallis decided to hold up and dig in at the town of Yorktown. He figured that this was a critical port, and that would allow freedom of movement for the British naval fleet. 8Clinton, which was Cornwallis superior, was not fond of his plan to invade the southern states because he believed that without considerable reinforcement the British army could not occupy far from coastal bases. Cornwallis decision for occupying Yorktown was without the approval from Clinton. This eventually winded up being a big mistake by Cornwallis.
Execution/Action 9On September 26, Washington and his Army arrived in Virginia and linked up with Lafayette’s army, which had all ready set forces to surround Cornwallis. Washington knew that there were forces at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Gloucester Point so when de Grasse arrived with the British fleet, soldiers was inserted to the north of their position putting their backs to the water with nowhere to run. 10Cornwallis had many redoubts, which are a small often-temporary fortification that could be defended from all sides that often used trees that were cut down and used as an obstacle when trying to attack. What Washington needed to accomplish was he needed to take out Cornwallis’s front line of defense in order to have effective fires on the main fortress. 11Under the cover of dark, Washington’s men made a surprise attacked within bayonet range and overtook many redoubts that night. 12These attacks got Cornwallis very worried and he determined the only thing course of action was to try to escape under the cover of darkness. His plan was to escape across the Chesapeake Bay and rejoin his forces that were cornered on Gloucester Point, but the night he decided to flee their ended being a severe storm and it scattered all his boats that were being used for the escape. At this point Cornwallis was in desperation mode, sent a message to Clinton in New York, and addressed his concern because Washington had him surrounded and he already captured and destroyed many of the redoubts. 13The British fleet departed from New York on September 1 under the command Admiral Graves but was too late; the French already had the Chesapeake Bay sealed off. The French successfully destroyed many of their ships, and the remainder of them returned to New York. After Washington destroyed the first line of defense, they moved forward and to those positions and dug in. This would wind up being the last advancement Washington needed. On October 9 Washington and his 16,000 allied troops began the artillery campaign verse Cornwallis and his 7,500 men. It would only take 8 days until Cornwallis wanted to discuss terms of surrender. On October 19, 1781, the British officially laid down their arms and the Battle of York Town is officially over. 14When Clinton found out of the surrender of Cornwallis at York Town, Clinton sent a message to King George III in Great Britain that they needed more troops. This did not go well with him he eventually decided that too much money and soldiers have been lost during the seven years of war and his interest in the colonies had subsided. Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and, Hartley travel to Great Britain on 30 September 1783 to sign what becomes The Paris Peace Treaty and America becomes Independent of Great Britain. The Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain officially became the 13 States of America.
Lessons Learned
During the Revolutionary War mutiny and desertion was a big issue Washington had to deal with. The things that drove soldiers to do these acts was due to the lack of moral cause they didn’t get paid for weeks on end and were very poorly equipped a some having very little cloth. Washington determined later that to have a successfully and military you have to maintain the moral for soldiers and the government must be supportive of whatever military action they are taking part in. Standards, discipline and order were a thing lacking it was shortly after the Revolutionary War the Barn Von Stubborn introduced the Blue Book, which was called the Regulation for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States and is still the military’s foundation for personnel management today. The ability of the continental army to conduct attacks at sea with a naval fleet was nonexistent. If they had, that ability there would more flexibly and less dependence on other nations. Washington later realized that if you can control the waters you could have a significant effect on land.
General George Washington demised a brilliant plan of deception at a critical time in the revolutionary war when things were not always looking so optimistic. With his witty mind and unquestionable leadership, skills Washington put together a plan to march from the shores of Delaware to Yorktown in Virginia. 1The French provided most of the troops, arms, food, and money for the final offensive of the war, but there was never a challenge to Washington’s authority.
History …show more content…
The people of the thirteen colonies of Britain were pushed to their limits when the British parliament decided to enforce the 3Townshend Act.
This act would enforce taxation on many of the normal household goods. This enraged the people and they begun to rebel. This rebellion concerned the British Government so much that they decided to dispatch two regiments, which were approximately 4000 troops from motherland to assist in the restoring order. Little did Great Britain know but this would only add fuel to fire and the colonies drew more united. 4The government then later rescinded Townshend Act in 1770 only to later enforce the Tea Act, which led to the all-famous Boston Tea
Party.
When the second Continental Congress went to vote General George Washington came out on top to lead the Revolutionary War. On July 3 1775, Washington officially took command of an undermanned and under supplied Continental Army. Washington Command was a continuous uphill battle he not he encountered more losses in battles then victories but troop morale was low and desertion was a common occurrence. 5While observing from the across the Delaware River Washington was trying to contemplating on how he was going to attack the 10,000 redcoats that held New York City. George Washington was aware that British forces in New York under the command of Clinton had send reinforcement troops to the south to Cornwallis and this may have left him vulnerable. A combined allied strike with using the French fleet by seas and the Continental Army by land was Washington’s plan until the commander of the French Army, who had more military experience persuaded him that New York was a too difficult area to attack. Instead of attacking New York Washington agrees to send his troops to the south to the Chesapeake Bay as long as Rochambeau will send him French fleet of ships to the same location. This decision whines up being the decisive point in the Revolutionary War.
Planning and Preparation Prior to the march from Delaware to Virginia the French commander inspected Washington’s army tiny army with unconcealed astonishment; 2most of the Americans had no uniforms and were barefoot and tousle-haired. They had no baggage; three or four men slept in each odorous tent, they lay on branches and covered with dirty blankets. Many of these troops were children, boys of twelve of thirteen, and there were hundreds of old men, which all were lean and underfed. Despite the poor conditions Washington’s army endured, he knew that he must have a plan prior to making the long march south. 6The plan that Washington demised was he would make a plan of deception by first sending a written letter to colony to the north stating that he was going to attack the city of New York, the thing was Washington knew this letter was going to be intercepted. This message winded up putting Clinton’s army on high alert in the city. When it was time to begin the march south in, August of 1781 to link up with Lafayette’s army, which proceeded ahead to Virginia, Washington implemented part two of his deception plan. Part two of the plan was that Washington was going to leave soldiers at his current fighting positions in order- to not alert the army in New York City that the Continental army marched south. 7To the south Cornwallis with his redcoats were rolling thru the Carolinas trying to control the southern colonies from gaining momentum in the Revolutionary War and was doing a successful job of that. With his confidence on his side, Cornwallis decided to hold up and dig in at the town of Yorktown. He figured that this was a critical port, and that would allow freedom of movement for the British naval fleet. 8Clinton, which was Cornwallis superior, was not fond of his plan to invade the southern states because he believed that without considerable reinforcement the British army could not occupy far from coastal bases. Cornwallis decision for occupying Yorktown was without the approval from Clinton. This eventually winded up being a big mistake by Cornwallis.
Execution/Action 9On September 26, Washington and his Army arrived in Virginia and linked up with Lafayette’s army, which had all ready set forces to surround Cornwallis. Washington knew that there were forces at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Gloucester Point so when de Grasse arrived with the British fleet, soldiers was inserted to the north of their position putting their backs to the water with nowhere to run. 10Cornwallis had many redoubts, which are a small often-temporary fortification that could be defended from all sides that often used trees that were cut down and used as an obstacle when trying to attack. What Washington needed to accomplish was he needed to take out Cornwallis’s front line of defense in order to have effective fires on the main fortress. 11Under the cover of dark, Washington’s men made a surprise attacked within bayonet range and overtook many redoubts that night. 12These attacks got Cornwallis very worried and he determined the only thing course of action was to try to escape under the cover of darkness. His plan was to escape across the Chesapeake Bay and rejoin his forces that were cornered on Gloucester Point, but the night he decided to flee their ended being a severe storm and it scattered all his boats that were being used for the escape. At this point Cornwallis was in desperation mode, sent a message to Clinton in New York, and addressed his concern because Washington had him surrounded and he already captured and destroyed many of the redoubts. 13The British fleet departed from New York on September 1 under the command Admiral Graves but was too late; the French already had the Chesapeake Bay sealed off. The French successfully destroyed many of their ships, and the remainder of them returned to New York. After Washington destroyed the first line of defense, they moved forward and to those positions and dug in. This would wind up being the last advancement Washington needed. On October 9 Washington and his 16,000 allied troops began the artillery campaign verse Cornwallis and his 7,500 men. It would only take 8 days until Cornwallis wanted to discuss terms of surrender. On October 19, 1781, the British officially laid down their arms and the Battle of York Town is officially over. 14When Clinton found out of the surrender of Cornwallis at York Town, Clinton sent a message to King George III in Great Britain that they needed more troops. This did not go well with him he eventually decided that too much money and soldiers have been lost during the seven years of war and his interest in the colonies had subsided. Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and, Hartley travel to Great Britain on 30 September 1783 to sign what becomes The Paris Peace Treaty and America becomes Independent of Great Britain. The Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain officially became the 13 States of America.
Lessons Learned
During the Revolutionary War mutiny and desertion was a big issue Washington had to deal with. The things that drove soldiers to do these acts was due to the lack of moral cause they didn’t get paid for weeks on end and were very poorly equipped a some having very little cloth. Washington determined later that to have a successfully and military you have to maintain the moral for soldiers and the government must be supportive of whatever military action they are taking part in. Standards, discipline and order were a thing lacking it was shortly after the Revolutionary War the Barn Von Stubborn introduced the Blue Book, which was called the Regulation for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States and is still the military’s foundation for personnel management today. The ability of the continental army to conduct attacks at sea with a naval fleet was nonexistent. If they had, that ability there would more flexibly and less dependence on other nations. Washington later realized that if you can control the waters you could have a significant effect on land.