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Format is approximately 6 inches by 9.25 inches. vi, 26 pages, plus covers. Map. Illustrations. Bibliography. This is Number One of the National Park Service Source Book Series. Stamp on front cover. Minor cover wear and soiling. The story of the last great act in the drama of American Independence has been told many times, but never more vividly than in the works of the actors themselves. This booklet is an attempt to portray the crowning campaign of the American Revolution in the language of the participants. Cornwallis, commander of the British forces, and Tarleton, his dashing cavalry leader, have been called upon to describe scenes and events inside Yorktown, during the campaign which culminated in the surrender of Cornwallis's army and was followed by the abandonment of British efforts to reduce the revolting American colonies to their old allegiance. Washington, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, Surgeon Thacher, Count William de Deux-Ponts, and others recount for us American and French operations around Yorktown, for the most part in words penned while the events themselves were transpiring. Lafayette writes exultantly, on the heels of the surrender, that "the play is over," and Washington congratulates the army on its success. The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle, ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and French Army troops led by Comte de Rochambeau over a British army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American region, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. In the beginning of September, Admiral de Grasse defeated a British fleet led by Sir Thomas Graves that came to relieve Cornwallis at the Battle of the Chesapeake. As a result of this victory, de Grasse blocked any reinforcement or escape by sea for Cornwallis and also disembarked the heavy siege guns required by the allied land forces. By late September, Washington and Rochambeau arrived, and the army and naval forces completely surrounded Cornwallis. After initial preparations, the Americans and French built their first parallel and began the bombardment. With the British defense weakened, on October 14, 1781, Washington sent two columns to attack the last major remaining British outer defenses. A French column under Wilhelm of the Palatinate-Zweibrücken took Redoubt No. 9 and an American column under Alexander Hamilton took Redoubt No. 10. With these defenses taken, the allies were able to finish their second parallel. With the Franco-American artillery closer and its bombardment more intense than ever, the British position began to deteriorate rapidly. Cornwallis asked for capitulation terms on October 17. After two days of negotiation, the surrender ceremony occurred on October 19; Cornwallis was absent from the ceremony. With the capture of more than 7,000 British soldiers, negotiations between the United States and Great Britain began, resulting in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
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