The Battle at Yorktown–Ending the Revolutionary War

When we visited Philadelphia a few weeks back, we toured Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed, signaling the beginning of the American Revolution.  Last weekend, we visited the Battlefield at Yorktown, site of the last major battle, which effectively ended the Revolution.

Crossing the bridge to Newport News, we could see the Norfolk Naval Station across the Chesapeake Bay.

The town of Yorktown, along the York River, was established in 1691 and by the early 1700s it had become a major port to supporting Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia at the time.

The town was nearly destroyed during the siege of Yorktown during the Revolution, and again during the Civil War, but it has managed to maintain some of the colonial structures and the small community hosts many events on the York River during the summer. 

Yorktown is home to the Colonial National Historic Park, which encompasses the Colonial Parkway which follows the York River north to Jamestown,

as well as the Yorktown Battlefield.

We stopped in town for lunch at the Yorktown Pub,

and took a walk through the small Farmer’s Market.

As we were walking along the riverfront,

I spotted a Bald Eagle land on one of those posts out in the water.  I grabbed my phone to take a picture (forgot to bring my camera!), but he flew off before I could catch a photo.  We watched him fly off screeching, and then realized that there was another eagle chasing him! 

They were both flying around over the river and over our heads, screeching at each other and chasing each other, and as we watched, we noticed that there were two more eagles flying around – a total of FOUR eagles!

We were amazed!  We hardly ever see eagles, and we could not believe we were seeing four at one time!

They were flying around so fast – I had a really hard time catching them in photos, but managed to get a few . . . not too close, though!

One last photo of the other pair overhead before they got too far away to see anymore.

That was one of the coolest experiences we’ve had on the road!!

From there, we went to the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center.

We watched the movie in the Visitor Center and walked through the exhibits, which included the actual tent that George Washington used during the Revolutionary War.

He was a very tall man!

It was getting late in the day, so we picked up a map of the battlefield and started out.

I

In 1781, British General Cornwallis was instructed to establish a British Naval Base along the lower Chesapeake Bay.  He crossed Virginia and selected Yorktown as his location.

He established fortifications along the river, but as the French and American armies started closing in, he moved all of his troops into a concentrated area along his Inner Defense Line.

The French troops moved in and set up their Battery of guns along the first siege line,

and began to bombard the British Army on October 9th.  The French and American forces then captured two strategic areas along the York River, effectively cutting off the British Army’s escape across the river.

The French and Americans continued their bombardment of the British, from two siege lines,

until Cornwallis signaled his desire to discuss surrender terms.

On October 18, 1781, both sides met at the home of Augustine Moore to negotiate the surrender agreement. 

Although General Washington maintained American Troops for 2 more years until the Treaty of Paris was signed, the siege of Yorktown effectively ended the American Revolution

The rest of the driving tour took us down some dirt roads that Nicolas thought were fun . . . even in his truck! 

This was the area where the Armies brought in and stored their equipment and supplies for fighting the war, hiding them in ditches along the creek.

Wormley Creek and Pond were very pretty with the fall colors and setting sun,

and there were lots of deer around as the sun dipped deeper in the sky.

There was more driving tour, but since it was getting dark, we decided to skip the rest and head home.  On the way out, we stopped at Yorktown National Cemetery,

It was a beautiful fall day, and all three of us enjoyed our visit to Yorktown and the Battlefield . . . and we picked up a little history, too!