After “Valley Forge”

Howe stepped down to his second-in-command, Sir Henry Clinton. The word came in from spies that the British were leaving Philadelphia in a rush. Orders had been sent the British to leave quickly and head to New York. One of Washington's detractors, General Lee, who had been captured earlier in the war had been released.

On the 18th of June the British had crossed the Delaware and was heading to New York. General Lee was not impressed with how the army was insufficiently ready to fight face to face with the British.

The finances of the colonies was terrible. There was no way to raise funds for the army. The army was needed but the soldiers were not getting paid. The only thing keeping the army together was the officers good leadership and their patriotism. Inflation was making money almost useless. Things were getting desperate financially. Washington and Alexander Hamilton were suggesting ways for printed money that would have value. There were many proposals but were considered too novel. Nothing happened. The army was not taken care of properly.

It was getting so difficult, communications were nearly stopped because of the cost of feed for the horses making the trips.

10/9/1781  The Battle of Yorktown Yorktown, Virginia
                     > The Articles of Capitulation were signed on October 19, 1781. Cornwallis' British men were declared prisoners of war, promised good treatment in American camps, and officers were permitted to return home after taking their parole. At 2:00 pm the allied army entered the British positions, with the French on the left and the Americans on the right. The British and Hessian troops marched between them, while according to legend the British drummers and fifers played to the tune of "The World Turn'd Upside Down". The British soldiers had been issued with new uniforms hours before the surrender and until prevented by General O'Hara some threw down their muskets with the apparent intention of smashing them. Others wept or appeared to be drunk. 8,000 troops, 214 artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, 24 transport ships, wagons and horses were captured. Cornwallis refused to meet formally with Washington, and also refused to come to the ceremony of surrender, claiming illness. Instead, Brigadier General Charles O'Hara presented the sword of surrender to Rochambeau. Rochambeau shook his head and pointed to Washington. O'Hara offered it to Washington, but he refused to accept it, and motioned to his second in command, Benjamin Lincoln, who had been humiliated by the British at Charleston, to accept it. The British soldiers marched out and laid down their arms in between the French and American armies, while many civilians watched. At this time, the troops on the other side of the river in Gloucester also surrendered.    - - Click Here to Continue - -   

The British were hemmed in without escape due to the French ships creating a blockade. The battle went as the French planned with their new style of extra large canon that could fire rounds further than the British. The engineers dug an extremely distant trench to fire these long range canon. This tactic worked as planned and the first canon attack destroyed the British canon and earthworks without taking any hits from the British. The French gave George Washington the honor of firing the first canon.

As the French continued to build a closer trench system for more canon fire both the American and French troops were digging fortifications and new trenches for the 2nd phase of the siege. The British tried to escape at night but a storm stopped them.