Page 70 - ASM Book 9/2020

64
The World Turned Upside Down
1781
The French fleet defeated the British off the coast of Cape Henry, a short distance from Yorktown.
• JANUARY 17 - AMERICAN ACTION: American
regular army and militia led by General Daniel Morgan
defeated Banastre Tarleton’s loyalists forces at the Battle
of Cowpens in South Carolina.
• MARCH 15 - BRITISH ACTION: The British won the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina after the Americans abandoned the battlefield.
• MAY 22 to JUNE 18 - AMERICAN ACTION: The Continental Army led by Major General Nathanael Greene and “Light Horse” Harry Lee confronted British loyalists in a siege at Ninety-Six, South Carolina. The Americans withdrew on June 18.
• JUNE 10 - AMERICAN ACTION: Americans and French joined forces in Virginia to oppose British troops under Benedict Arnold and General Cornwallis.
• JUNE 11 - AMERICAN ACTION: Congress appointed a Peace Commission to join John Adams in his negotiations with the British.
• AUGUST 1 - BRITISH ACTION: General Cornwallis and his 10,000 tired soldiers stopped to rest at the small port of Yorktown, Virginia.
• AUGUST 14 - AMERICAN ACTION: General Washington abruptly changed plans and abandoned an attack on New York and instead marched to Yorktown.
• AUGUST 30 - FRENCH ACTION: Admiral de Grasse’s French fleet arrived off Yorktown, Virginia.
• SEPTEMBER 5 to 8 - FRENCH ACTION: Off the Yorktown coast, a major naval battle between the French and British fleets resulted in a major victory for the French. The British fleet retreated to New York.
• SEPTEMBER 14 to 24 - FRENCH ACTION: Admiral de Grasse sent his ships up the Chesapeake Bay to transport the armies of George Washington and General Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau to Yorktown.
• SEPTEMBER 26 - AMERICAN ACTION: Washington and Rochambeau joined forces near Williamsburg to prepare for battle against the British.
• SEPTEMBER 28 - AMERICAN ACTION: General Washington with a combined allied army of 17,000 men began the siege of Yorktown.
• OCTOBER 17 and 18 - BRITISH ACTION: As Allied forces tightened the circle, the British sent out a flag of truce. AMERICAN, FRENCH & BRITISH ACTION: American, French and British officers negotiated terms of General Cornwallis’ surrender.
• OCTOBER 19 - BRITISH ACTION: The British band played “The World Turned Upside Down” while the Redcoats laid down their weapons and surrendered.