The+Surrender+at+Yorktown



= THE SURRENDER AT Y O R K T O W N = =The surrender at Yorktown began in August 1781 in Virginia. It was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. George Washington lead the American forces at the Battle of Yorktown. =

==== ﻿ Washington, with 9,000 men, marched toward New York. Washington cleverly stationed 2,500 men near Yorktown to trick the British into thinking Washington's entire army was stationed there. Because the British fleets in Chesapeake Bay were defeated in the Battle of the Chesapeake, Cornwallis had not received the supplies he was expecting from Britain. ====

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September 28, 1781:  All of the armies arrived in Yorktown and the city of Yorktown was under fire. =====

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French and American forces took over two major British forts. Cornwallis had few options. Cornwallis was surrounded. Washington's army had trapped the British. He was considering sending blacks infected with smallpox over to the French and Americans in an attempt to get them infected and weaken them. =====

October 17, 1781: Cornwallis offered to surrender.

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<span style="color: #ee0f36; display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">The papers stating that the British had officially surrendered were signed. =====

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<span style="color: #1bcf0c; display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">There were many reasons why Cornwallis decided to surrender. Because of the Battle of the Chesapeake, Cornwallis could not get supplies in order to keep his soldiers armed and ready to fight. He was also severely outnumbered. Another major reason was because he was surrounded by the French and the Americans. There were soldiers on land and there were fleets in the bay. He couldn't escape by land or by water. =====

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