Research Catalog

Title

The guns of independence : the siege of Yorktown, 1781 / Jerome A. Greene.

Author

Greene, Jerome A.

Publication

El Dorado Hills, CA : Savas Beatie, [2013]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 507 pages : illustrations, maps; 23 cm

Summary

In early 1781, after his victories in the Southern Colonies, Lord Cornwallis marched his army north into Virginia. He believed the Americans could be decisively defeated in Virginia and the war brought to an end. George Washington believed Cornwallis's move was a strategic blunder, and he moved vigorously to exploit it. Feinting against General Clinton and the British stronghold of New York, Washington marched his army quickly south. With the assistance of Rochambeau's infantry and a key French naval victory at the Battle off the Capes in September, Washington trapped Cornwallis on the tip of a narrow Virginia peninsula at a place called Yorktown. And so it began. Operating on the belief that Clinton would arrive with reinforcements, Cornwallis confidently remained within Yorktown's inadequate defenses. Determined that nothing short of outright surrender would suffice, his opponent labored day and night to achieve that end. Washington's brilliance was on display as he skillfully constricted Cornwallis's position by digging entrenchments, erecting redoubts and artillery batteries, and launching well-timed attacks to capture key enemy positions. The nearly flawless Allied campaign sealed Cornwallis's fate. Trapped inside crumbling defenses, he surrendered on October 19, 1781, effectively ending the war in North America.

Subject

• 1781
• Yorktown (Va.) > History > Siege, 1781
• Virginia > Yorktown

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 475-496) and index.

Contents

The campaign of the allies -- The lion comes to Yorktown -- The British positions -- Washington takes command -- Investment -- The noose tightens -- The lion at bay -- On the verge -- The guns of October -- The earth trembles -- Night of heroes -- Hopes bright and dim -- Britain against the sky -- Broken sword -- Endings, beginnings -- Postscript: Thereafter -- Appendix 1. Modern photographic gallery -- Appendix 2. The Washington and Cornwallis correspondence -- Appendix 3. The Articles of Capitulation, October 19, 1781 -- Appendix 4. The archaeology of the Grand French Battery complex -- Appendix 5. The artillery at Yorktown.

ISBN

• 9781932714685
• 1932714685

OCLC

• 971133844
• ocn971133844

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library