On October 19, 1781, British troops, commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis, marched from heavily damaged Yorktown and surrendered on this field to the allied French and American armies under the command of General George Washington. Cornwallis, pleading illness, did not accompany his men. The pavilion ahead overlooks the scene of the laying down of weapons. The short, wheelchair-accessible trail leads past exhibits that describe the spectacle, mood, and pagentry of that momentous event. The British defeat at Yorktown was the culmination of the Revolutionary War.
SITE FEATURES
Reconstructions
On this site...
FARMS
EST. 1691
SURRENDER
Oct 19, 1781
BATTLEFIELD
Oct 19, 1781
HISTORIC PEOPLE
George Washington
Commander-in-Chief
Comte de Rochambeau
Major General
Benjamin Lincoln
Major General
Marquis de Lafayette
Major General
Friedrich von Steuben
Major General
Henry Knox
Major General
Anthony Wayne
Brigadier General
Alexander Hamilton
Lt Colonel
Tench Tilghman
Lt Colonel
James McHenry
Lt Colonel
John Laurens
Lt Colonel
Nicholas Fish
Joseph Plumb Martin
Private
James Craik
Surgeon
Lauzun, Armand Louis de Gontaut
Major General
Viomenil, Charles du Houx
Colonel
Noaillies, Louis Marie
Colonel
Thomas Nelson Sr
Delegate
George Wythe
Delegate
Thomas Nelson Jr
Governor VA
John "Jacky" Parke Custis
Delegate
Charles O'Hara
Brigadier General
Robert Abercromby
Lieutenant Colonel
John Graves Simcoe
Captain