Battle Of Yorktown Research Paper

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The Battle of Yorktown was a military conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in North America during the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Yorktown took place on Tuesday, October 09, 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia and ended in victory for the American colonists. In August 1781, General George Washington learned that Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis ' army was near Yorktown, Virginia and positioned his troops behind the fortifications at the town of Yorktown. Washington decided to quietly move his army away from New York City. He had a goal of crushing Cornwallis ' isolated force. British control of Virginia could disrupt the flow of patriot supplies from the north to forces in the …show more content…

The Continental Army wore blue uniform coats, but the militia continued in rough clothing. The Americans had a fighting force of approximately 8,800 who were aided by 7,800 French soldiers against a British force of about 6,000. Both sides were armed with muskets and guns. The backcountry riflemen carried long, small calibre rifles, weapons of greater accuracy than ordinary muskets. The British had a regular, trained and salaried army. This army had well-trained officers who knew how to make their soldiers obey their orders. The soldiers were disciplined and the British army was extremely organized, yet the American’s strengths in the Battle of Yorktown over-powered the British and helped the Colonists win the Revolutionary War. The total number of soldiers fighting for the Americans were two and a half times the number of people fighting for the British. The American troops had other advantages, one being that General George Washington, who led the American troops, was an experienced leader. The American soldiers were very motivated fighters, as they tried to regain their rights they had lost as Englishmen when they left England to come to the colonies- they had a better reason to win and a worse reason to lose.