Yorktown Battlefield National Historical Park

1000 Colonial Nat'l Historical Pkwy, Yorktown, VA 23690, USA

Virginia

state

VA - York

county

VA - Williamsburg

city

MUSEUM

TICKETED:

YES

PARKING:

YES

RESTROOMS:

YES

HOURS

TICKET INFO

The park includes the Colonial Parkway, a scenic 23-mile parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle: Jamestown and Yorktown and running through the historic district of Colonial Williamsburg. The park operates the Yorktown Battlefield at the eastern end of the Colonial Parkway in York County at Yorktown. The Thomas Nelson House was built around 1724 and served as Cornwallis's headquarters during the final battle of the Revolutionary War. The battlefield was the site of the British defeat. Both the house and the historic siege earthworks were restored in 1976. The Moore House is where surrender negotiations took place in 1781, located in the eastern part of the park. Nearby are the state-operated American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and the Yorktown Riverwalk Landing area.

SITE FEATURES

Reconstructions, Surviving Structures, Gift Shop, Programs, Exhibits, Tours

On this site...

Yorktown was named for the ancient city of York in Yorkshire, Northern England. It was founded in 1691 as a port on the York River for English colonists to export tobacco to Europe. The lawyer Thomas Ballard was the principal founder of the city along with Joseph Ring. It became the county seat in 1696, and although it never had more than about 200 houses its trade was considerable until the American Revolutionary War. It was called "York" until after the war, when the name "Yorktown" came into common use. The town reached the height of its development around 1750, when it had 250 to 300 buildings and a population of almost 2,000 people.

PORT

EST. 1691

FORTIFICATION

SEP 1781

BATTLEFIELD

October 1781

Early on September 28, 1781, Washington led the army out of Williamsburg to surround Yorktown.The French took the positions on the left while the Americans took the position of honor on the right. Cornwallis had received a letter from Clinton that promised relief force of 5,000 men within a week. After nightfall on October 6, American troops moved out to dig the first parallel. By October 9, all of the French and American guns were in place. At 3:00 pm, the French guns opened the barrage and drove the British frigate HMS Guadeloupe across the York River. At 5:00 pm, the Americans opened fire. Washington fired the first gun.

Washington’s officers devised a plan in which the French would launch a diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt, and then a half an hour later, the French would assault Redoubt No. 9 and the Americans Redoubt No. 10. At 6:30 pm, gunfire announced the diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt. With bayonets fixed, the Americans marched towards Redoubt No. 10 commanded by Alexander Hamilton and took the redoubt.

On the morning of October 17, a drummer appeared, followed by an officer waving a white handkerchief. The bombardment ceased, and the officer was blindfolded and led behind the French and American lines. Negotiations began at the Moore House on October 18. The next day the British soldiers marched out and laid down their arms in between the French and American armies, while many civilians watched. In all, 8,000 soldiers, 214 artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, 24 transport ships, wagons, and horses were captured.