Qualla: Siege of Yorktown

Siege of Yorktown: Introduction

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit not stated, Public domain. "Push on my brave boys, and skin the bastards!" Colonel Robert Abercromby shouted the words as he led 350 British troops in a desperate predawn raid on allied trenches near Yorktown in October 1781. His men spiked six cannons before French reinforcements drove them back. By morning, every gun was repaired and firing again. It was the last offensive action of the British army in the American Revolution. Within days, a drummer boy would appear on the ramparts of Yorktown waving a white handkerchief, and the war that created a nation would effectively be over. The siege that brought the British Empire to its knees lasted barely two weeks, but its choreography of trenches, bombardment, and bayonet charges played out on a small Virginia peninsula that you can still walk today.

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Image: not stated | Public domain

Siege of Yorktown: Cold Steel by Moonless Light

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Djmaschek, CC BY 4.0. Washington planned the assault on the two key British redoubts for the night of October 14, choosing a moonless sky for cover. He added one more element: silence. No soldier was to load his musket until reaching the fortifications. The advance would be made with cold steel alone....

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Image: Djmaschek | CC BY 4.0

Siege of Yorktown: The Drummer on the Ramparts

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0. By October 17, the allied bombardment had become devastating. New artillery pieces joined the line daily, and Washington had ordered continuous fire so the British could make no repairs. Cornwallis had already sunk more than a dozen of his own ships in the harbor to prevent their...

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Image: Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Siege of Yorktown: A Sword Twice Refused

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bureau of Engraving and Printing; scanned by Gwillhickers, Public domain. Cornwallis refused to attend his own surrender, claiming illness. He sent Brigadier General Charles O'Hara in his place. What followed became one of the most choreographed moments in American history. O'Hara first approached Rochambeau and attempted to offer the sword to the Fren...

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Image: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; scanned by Gwillhickers | Public domain

Siege of Yorktown: The Invisible Ally: Malaria

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sarah Stierch, CC BY-SA 2.0. The marshlands of eastern Virginia held a weapon neither army could see. Malaria was endemic in the Tidewater region, and Cornwallis estimated at the time of surrender that half his army was unable to fight because of the disease. The Continental Army held a grim advantage: most ...

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Image: Sarah Stierch | CC BY-SA 2.0

Siege of Yorktown: Oh God, It's All Over

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit S. G. Goodrich, Public domain. When word reached London, British Prime Minister Lord North reportedly exclaimed, "Oh God, it's all over." He was right. On March 4, 1782, Parliament passed a motion to end offensive warfare in North America. Lord North and his government resigned on March 20. Washington moved th...

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Image: S. G. Goodrich | Public domain