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Survey of
Historic Sites and Buildings

	YORKTOWN BATTLEFIELD (park of Colonial National Historical Park) Virginia	Yorktown
Location: 13 miles east of Williamsburg on U.S. 17; address, P.O. Box 210, Yorktown, Va. 23490. Colonial National Historical Park Historical Handbook

In the spring of 1781 Lord Cornwallis transferred the scene of his operations from the Carolinas to Virginia, and in July, receiving orders to move his army to New York, he established a base at Yorktown preparatory to embarkation. The Americans and their French allies moved swiftly to trap Cornwallis in Yorktown. The French Fleet under Admiral de Grasse blockaded Chesapeake Bay and cut off the British from all aid by sea. Washington and Rochambeau dropped down from the North and laid siege to Yorktown. With superiority of numbers—15,700 to 7,500—Washington quickly rendered the British position untenable. On October 17, after 2 weeks of siege operations, Cornwallis asked for terms. On the 19th the British Army marched out of its fortifications and surrendered. Although a treaty of peace was not signed until 2 years later, Yorktown was the decisive military event of the Revolution and virtually ended the fighting.

Yorktown Battlefield lies in and around the colonial town of Yorktown. The park contains the restored fortifications and gun emplacements of the opposing armies. A self-guiding tour road with interpretive markers and field exhibits leads to the principal historic features. One mile from Yorktown is the restored Moore House, where the articles of capitulation for Cornwallis' army were drafted. Several historic buildings within the town itself have also been restored. A visitor center provides information and orientation service and houses museum exhibits relating to the events that ended the Revolution. Yorktown Battlefield is linked with Jamestown Island, scene of the first permanent English colony in America, by the Colonial Parkway, and all three units are administered as Colonial National Historical Park. Together with nearby Williamsburg, the park offers a unique panorama of America's colonial and Revolutionary history.