23. The weather saved Washington’s campaign one more time at Yorktown
In October 1781, the British army under Lord Cornwallis was trapped in Yorktown, Virginia, outnumbered 2:1, and under continuous bombardment by American and French artillery. A small detachment of British troops occupied Gloucester Point opposite Yorktown on the York River. It was watched by a small detachment of American troops. Cornwallis decided to evacuate his army under cover of darkness to Gloucester, break through the American troops there, and march to the north, escaping Washington and Rochambeau’s entrenched forces and moving through eastern Virginia to Maryland. He believed a relief column could be dispatched from New York, moving southward to meet him.
On the evening of October 16, Cornwallis assembled his troops below Yorktown along the riverfront. Boats from Gloucester and Yorktown were filled with British troops and sent across the river. After delivering the troops to Gloucester the boats were returning for another load when a storm arose, abruptly and unexpectedly, with high winds and heavy rain turning the river into a raging torrent. The boats were widely scattered, few managed to make it back to Yorktown. At dawn, the movement was noted by the Americans and French, and guns were directed toward the river. Unable to escape, as Washington had at New York five years earlier, Cornwallis was forced to face reality and ask for surrender terms. Washington’s carefully laid siege at Yorktown was saved by the sudden storm of October 16, which led to the surrender three days later.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Air Dominance from Normandy to the Bulge”. Richard P. Hallion, Air Force Magazine. January 30, 2013
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“Valley Forge”. Entry, George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Online
“Soldiers perish in avalanche as World War I rages”. Article, History.com. Online
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“Rainmaking Is Used As Weapon by U.S.” Seymour Hersh, The New York Times. July 3, 1972.
“How Dutch Engineers Saved Napoleon’s Grand Armee from Annihilation”. Article, History Hit. Online
“The Campaigns of Napoleon”. David Chandler. 1966
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“History of the Siege. Article, Yorktown Battlefield, National Park Service. Online
