Friday, April 8, 2011

The War comes to its End

Cornwallis's Surrender

George Washington rapidly marched with his troops to the south, where he planned to trap Cornwallis's army at Yorktown, Virginia. This victory consisted of a combined assault of Patriot forces led by George Washington and French forces. On 1781 Washinton led his army out of Williamsburg to surround Yorktown. The french army took positions on the left, while the Americans took positions on the right. French General  Lafayette trapped the British in the peninsula. But George Washington's plan was going to work if and only if the French fleet arrived at the precise moment. The French fleet was extremely important because it was going to prevent the British navy to evacuate the army by the sea and it was also preventing the British from getting the support that was coming from the north. George Washington was not sure if the fleet was going to arrive in time, he could just wish they were going to. The fleet appeared on September 5th, 1781 just in time. This coordination was pure luck, because at that time there was no long-distance communication.
Trapped by land and by sea, Cornwallis surrendered his army on Oct 19th, 1781. Cornwallis's surrender prompted the British to put an end the conflict.



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