F36.5A

F36.5A =﻿ The Tables Have Turned at Yorktown =

﻿ Virginia, October 22,1781
By:Nick Ferrando, Devin Bradley, and Tyler Finkenthal

.....It was a cold, stormy night. The British had retreated to Yorktown to get a surplus of reinforcements. The Americans waited for the signal. Then the flare lit up the sky. The colonist army of 8,800 charged the stockades that accompanied the British. From there on, the night was filled with lights and sounds of gunfire. .....The Americans could not win the war alone. The British had Navy reinforcements that would give them ammunition and help on the waters. The French helped out the Americans juristically. The French generals Lafayette and Comte De Rochambeau were siding with the Americans

.....Many people are still against the war. When we asked why the soldiers were fighting, the soldiers would reply, "For liberty!" Benjamin Franklin once said, " Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety." Recently, the battle of Yorktown was questioned by many colonists. Not why we were fighting, but why the French helped us. The British and French were and are currently fighting for super powers and are arch enemies. When the French saw the chance to help us out, and pounce on the British, they took it. The British were camping out in Yorktown because of the recent failures in the Carolinas. They were an easy target for the Americans. The army was right, and when the British ran out of supplies, they surrendered.

.....There were many different things that happened in different locations to make the difference of this battle. Yes, the battle was fought in Yorktown, Virginia, but the battle was also fought in Chesapeake Bay, were the French Navy and the British navy had fought. The British were expecting reinforcements on land but the French won this war. All of these components helped out America.

.....The battle of Yorktown began in the spring of 1781, when Cornwallis and his troops moved into Virginia. At this point in the war, the Patriots were not doing so well against the British. When General Washington of America heard General Cornwallis of the British was heading to Yorktown he had an idea. This idea sprouted because Washington knew why Cornwallis was going there, to get reinforcements on the sea. Washington knew from his French ally General Rochambeau, that the French Navy ran Cornwallis's reinforcements out of the Chesapeake Bay. Washington then knew that he could win the battle against Cornwallis if he did not have reinforcements. In May 1871, Rochambeau and Washington met for the first time and planned how they were going to attack the British at Yorktown. Then, on August 22nd, 1871 Rochambeau and his troops, and Washington and troops marched from White Plains, New York to Yorktown. They arrived sometime in September of 1871. Next, on September 28th, 1871, the Patriots and French attacked the British. They now fought for many excruciating days. Then, in the middle of October 1871 the Patriots overwhelmed the British because they were running low on supplies. Finally, on October 19th, 1871 Cornwallis and his troops surrendered to Washington, Rochambeau, and their troops due to the British's surplus of provisions, and their arsenal being diminished from all the days of fighting. It was a great win for the Americans and the French.

.....The Battle of Yorktown happened by the British making a very costly move. The loss of the Carolinas was huge. The British General, Cornwallis, didn’t go to New York and meet up with General O' Hara; instead he went to a peninsula off the Chesapeake Bay called Yorktown. The spy system that General Washington had created with French and Americans in New York worked perfectly. The Americans and French could have never known and this war could have never started because of the spy system.

.....The main people that really had an impact in the win in Yorktown were the French. The French generals at the time were, Lafayette, Comte De Rochambeau. Also, another huge factor was King Louis XVI who supplied the Americans with the guns of the century. The Americans then were prepared for the fight in Yorktown. They also had a better chance because of General Cornwallis's bad decision in retreating to Yorktown for supplies and reinforcements. He thought by sea he could get the backup by General O' Hara. He then was attacked over sea by the French Naval Fleet. Then on land, the Americans and the French attacked by surrounding them. ......We will fill you in with more interesting information soon. Reported by Devin Bradley, Nick Ferrando, and Tyler Finkenthal of Mr. Frankmann's 3rd period class.