Download or read book The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles the Siege of Yorktown written by Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes historic art depicting the siege of Yorktown and important people and events. *Includes the final surrender document. *Includes an account of the siege by American soldier Ebenezer Deezy *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. Yorktown was a former tobacco trading post now in decline, not much bigger than a large village. But Yorktown was tucked away on the northern edge of the York peninsula in rural Virginia, and in 1781 it became the site of a brief siege between two small armies, fought with all the decorum and formality of 18th century European warfare. About 5,000 British and Germans faced perhaps 18,000 Americans and French. After only three weeks the smaller garrison surrendered, tired and low on ammunition. Casualties for both sides totaled less than 1,000 dead and wounded. By contrast, at the siege of Stalingrad 161 years later, 107,000 Germans surrendered to 1.2 million Russians after five months of desperate fighting. At least a million died. At Waterloo in 1815, 190,000 troops slugged it out, leaving 14,000 dead in 10 hours. Another siege would take place at Yorktown during the Civil War 81 years after the more famous siege. Yorktown does not rank as a major military engagement by the conventional criteria of size, duration or casualties, but this small scale encounter was one of the most decisive battles in military history. The fact that it was the last major battle of the American Revolution has ensured that every Briton and American has heard of it. Yorktown's importance has led to a legacy full of legends, but as a campaign and siege, the history of the fighting at Yorktown is a fascinating story. Trapped at Yorktown by a combination of brilliant Allied generalship and a measure of bad luck, the British might still have hoped for rescue. They faced a mixed force, many of whom were ill-trained and ill equipped militia, while the British Army was then regarded as the most tactically proficient in the world. Lord Charles Cornwallis, their commander, had beaten a much larger American force that same spring, with his crack redcoats striding through the woods to eject Nathaniel Greene's well-positioned army from Guildford Courthouse. As he made his dispositions at Yorktown in September 1781, he had every reason to expect another British success. The ensuing siege panned out rather differently. On October 19, 1781, for just the second time during the war (the other at Saratoga), an entire British field army surrendered to the rebel patriots. The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The Siege of Yorktown comprehensively covers the events that led up to the siege, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the Revolution's last major conflict. Along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Yorktown like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Siege of Yorktown written by Henry Freeman and published by . This book was released on 2017-02-28 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What kind of impact does a battle and siege from more than 200 years ago have on the world today? Yorktown held the key to the end of the American Revolution and allowed America to become not only a sovereign nation, but also set the stage for it to become a world power, worth keeping an eye on. Inside you will read about... ✓ The Road to Yorktown ✓ Opening Moves ✓ The Troops in Motion ✓ The Battle at Sea ✓ The Calm Before the Storm ✓ The Siege Commences ✓ The Fall When Washington moved against Cornwallis, the entire world held its breath. And when surrender was offered – first to the French – things could have ended very differently. One city. One long siege in the fall of the year – would change everything.
Download or read book The Guns of Independence written by Jerome Greene and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2005-04-19 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In early 1781, after his victories in the Southern Colonies, Lord Cornwallis marched his army north into Virginia. He believed the Americans could be decisively defeated in Virginia and the war brought to an end. George Washington believed Cornwallis's move was a strategic blunder, and he moved vigorously to exploit it. Feinting against General Clinton and the British stronghold of New York, Washington marched his army quickly south. With the assistance of Rochambeau's infantry and a key French naval victory at the Battle off the Capes in September, Washington trapped Cornwallis on the tip of a narrow Virginia peninsula at a place called Yorktown. And so it began. Operating on the belief that Clinton would arrive with reinforcements, Cornwallis confidently remained within Yorktown's inadequate defenses. Determined that nothing short of outright surrender would suffice, his opponent labored day and night to achieve that end. Washington's brilliance was on display as he skillfully constricted Cornwallis's position by digging entrenchments, erecting redoubts and artillery batteries, and launching well-timed attacks to capture key enemy positions. The nearly flawless Allied campaign sealed Cornwallis's fate. Trapped inside crumbling defenses, he surrendered on October 19, 1781, effectively ending the war in North America.
Download or read book A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution written by Theodore P. Savas and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2006-08-19 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A well-organized and concise introduction to the war’s major battles” (The Journal of America’s Military Past). Winner of the Gold Star Book Award for History from the Military Writers Society of America This is the first comprehensive account of every engagement of the Revolution, a war that began with a brief skirmish at Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, and concluded on the battlefield at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781. In between were six long years of bitter fighting on land and at sea. The wide variety of combats blanketed the North American continent from Canada to the Southern colonies, from the winding coastal lowlands to the Appalachian Mountains, and from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean. Every entry begins with introductory details including the date of the battle, its location, commanders, opposing forces, terrain, weather, and time of day. The detailed body of each entry offers both a Colonial and a British perspective of the unfolding military situation, a detailed and unbiased account of what actually transpired, a discussion of numbers and losses, an assessment of the consequences of the battle, and suggestions for further reading. Many of the entries are supported and enriched by original maps and photos.
Download or read book Victory at Yorktown written by Richard M. Ketchum and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From "the finest historian of the American Revolution" (Douglas Brinkley) comes Richard M. Ketchum's Victory at Yorktown, the definitive account of the battle and unlikely triumph that led to American independence. In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington's army lay idle for want of supplies, food, and money. All hope seemed lost until a powerful French force landed at Newport in July. Then, under Washington's directives, Nathanael Greene began a series of hit-and-run operations against the British. The damage the guerrilla fighters inflicted would help drive the enemy to Yorktown, where Greene and Lafayette would trap them before Washington and Rochambeau, supported by the French fleet, arrived to deliver the coup de grâce. Richard M. Ketchum illuminates, for the first time, the strategies and heroic personalities--American and French--that led to the surprise victory, only the second major battle the Americans would win in almost seven horrific years. Relying on good fortune, daring, and sheer determination never to give up, American and French fighters--many of whom walked from Newport and New York to Virginia--brought about that rarest of military operations: a race against time and distance, on land and at sea. Ketchum brings to life the gripping and inspirational story of how the rebels defeated the world's finest army against all odds.
Download or read book The Glory of Yorktown written by Jean Henri Clos and published by . This book was released on 1924 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-06-12 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the fighting around New York City *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents After the siege of Boston forced the British to evacuate that city in March 1776, Continental Army commander George Washington suspected that the British would move by sea to New York City, the next logical target in an attempt to end a colonial insurrection. He thus rushed his army south to defend the city. Washington guessed correctly, but it would be to no avail. Unlike Boston, New York City's terrain featured few defensible positions. The city lacked a high point from which to launch a siege, as the peninsula of Boston was fortunate to have. Moreover, Washington wasn't sure defending the city was necessary, hoping that an expedition launched toward Quebec like the one Benedict Arnold had led in late 1775 would keep the British away from New York anyway. However, Congress thought otherwise, and demanded that Washington defend New York. Washington thus did what he was told, and it nearly resulted in the army's demise. In the summer of 1776, the British conducted the largest amphibious expedition in North America's history at the time, landing over 20,000 troops on Long Island. British General William Howe, who had led the British at Bunker Hill and would later become commander in chief of the armies in North America, easily captured Staten Island, which Washington was incapable of defending without a proper navy. Washington's army attempted to fight, but Washington was badly outmaneuvered, and his army was nearly cut off from escape. The withdrawal across New York City was enormously disorderly, with many of Washington's troops so scared that they deserted. Others were sick as a result of the dysentery and smallpox plaguing the Continental Army in New York. In what was arguably the worst defeat of the Revolution, Washington was ashamed, and he also felt betrayed, by both his troops and Congress. To escape from New York, Washington led a tactical retreat across the East River and off Long Island in the middle of the night without British knowledge. This retreat prevented the annihilation of the colonial army in New York, but with Washington being pushed west across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia. And with this string of crucial British successes in 1776, the Revolution was on the brink of failure. The Continental Army, now in Pennsylvania, had lost over 5,000 men during its retreat through New York and New Jersey and now had fewer than 5,000 able soldiers. That winter, one of the men in camp, Thomas Paine, would write The American Crisis, beginning with the famous words, "These are the times that try men's souls." However, Washington would famously cross the Delaware River on Christmas night to attack British forces at Trenton, and he was able to compel the British to suspend the winter campaign after fighting around Princeton. Nonetheless, in the early months of 1777, the colonists were in dire straits and the British were plotting a campaign in the coming months to put down the revolution once and for all. The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The New York-New Jersey Campaign comprehensively covers the events that led up to the campaign, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the conflict. Along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the campaign like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book A Devil of a Whipping written by Lawrence E. Babits and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war. On 17 January 1781, Daniel Morgan's force of Continental troops and militia routed British regulars and Loyalists under the command of Banastre Tarleton. The victory at Cowpens helped put the British army on the road to the Yorktown surrender and, ultimately, cleared the way for American independence. Here, Lawrence Babits provides a brand-new interpretation of this pivotal South Carolina battle. Whereas previous accounts relied on often inaccurate histories and a small sampling of participant narratives, Babits uses veterans' sworn pension statements, long-forgotten published accounts, and a thorough knowledge of weaponry, tactics, and the art of moving men across the landscape. He identifies where individuals were on the battlefield, when they were there, and what they saw--creating an absorbing common soldier's version of the conflict. His minute-by-minute account of the fighting explains what happened and why and, in the process, refutes much of the mythology that has clouded our picture of the battle. Babits put the events at Cowpens into a sequence that makes sense given the landscape, the drill manual, the time frame, and participants' accounts. He presents an accurate accounting of the numbers involved and the battle's length. Using veterans' statements and an analysis of wounds, he shows how actions by North Carolina militia and American cavalry affected the battle at critical times. And, by fitting together clues from a number of incomplete and disparate narratives, he answers questions the participants themselves could not, such as why South Carolina militiamen ran toward dragoons they feared and what caused the "mistaken order" on the Continental right flank.
Download or read book The Battle of Yorktown written by Russell Roberts and published by Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Revolutionary War, a combined force of American and French soldiers under George Washington defeated the British at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, winning independence for the new nation of the United States. Which American general influenced the British to march to Yorktown in the first place? What convinced Washington to go to Yorktown instead of defending New York? And how did the critical Battle of the Chesapeake influence the battle in Virginia? Find out what types of weapons and strategies worked and which ones did not in this detailed story of the Battle of Yorktown.
Download or read book The Biggest Battles of the Revolutionary War written by Christopher Forest and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2012-07 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Describes causes and outcomes of key battles of the Revolutionary War"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book The Battle of Yorktown written by Dale Anderson and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2004-12-15 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, describing the events at Yorktown and their impact on the history of America.
Download or read book The Battle of Yorktown written by Dennis B. Fradin and published by Marshall Cavendish. This book was released on 2009 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the events that led to the battle where Great Britain was defeated and the Americans won the Revolutionary War.
Download or read book The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-15 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Discusses some of the famous legends of the battle and whether they are accurate. *Includes pictures of the battle's important generals. *Includes several maps of the battle. *Includes accounts of the fighting written by witnesses and soldiers. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "We have... learned one melancholy truth, which is, that the Americans, if they were equally well commanded, are full as good soldiers as ours." - A British officer after the Battle of Bunker Hill On April 19, 1775, the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired at Lexington, officially starting the Revolutionary War between the colonists and the British Empire. Though Lexington and Concord were the scenes of the first fighting, contingency plans had been made on both sides for war, and immediately after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the colonial militia men who had poured in from across the countryside converged on Boston, which at the time was a peninsula with a small neck attaching it to the rest of Massachusetts. With the Charles River surrounding it on three sides, Boston was an ideal city to lay siege to. Initially, the militias blocked off the land approaches to Boston, but when 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, the American forces fell back to adjacent hills on the Charlestown Peninsula, Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill. At this time, the colonists and colonial forces were still unclear of their ultimate goals; the Second Continental Congress would not formally declare independence for another year. During the first few months of the fighting, the British tried on several occasions to lift the siege with force, and the most memorable attempt was what became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, the British Navy fired on Charlestown from the Charles River and then landed an estimated 3,000 British regulars on the peninsula. The British soldiers attempted multiple charges against about 1,500 defenders who were fairly well entrenched on Breed's Hill, one of the hills behind Charlestown, and it took three attempts to force the colonists back to Cambridge. The British suffered a heavy price, losing over 1,000 British soldiers killed or wounded, compared to only 450 casualties for the colonists, who had stood toe to toe with the vaunted redcoats until ammunition ran low. Bunker Hill would end up being the bloodiest battle of the entire Revolutionary War, and it had a critical impact on the morale of what would become the Continental Army and the ultimately successful siege of Boston. Given its importance, the battle remains well known among all Americans, and perhaps not surprisingly some of the myths and legends surrounding the battle and its participants remain the best known aspects of the fighting. The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The Battle of Bunker Hill comprehensively covers the events that led up to the battle, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the battle. Along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Battle of Bunker Hill like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles the Battle of Bunker Hill written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Discusses some of the famous legends of the battle and whether they are accurate. *Includes pictures of the battle's important generals. *Includes several maps of the battle. *Includes accounts of the fighting written by witnesses and soldiers. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "We have... learned one melancholy truth, which is, that the Americans, if they were equally well commanded, are full as good soldiers as ours." - A British officer after the Battle of Bunker Hill On April 19, 1775, the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired at Lexington, officially starting the Revolutionary War between the colonists and the British Empire. Though Lexington and Concord were the scenes of the first fighting, contingency plans had been made on both sides for war, and immediately after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the colonial militia men who had poured in from across the countryside converged on Boston, which at the time was a peninsula with a small neck attaching it to the rest of Massachusetts. With the Charles River surrounding it on three sides, Boston was an ideal city to lay siege to. Initially, the militias blocked off the land approaches to Boston, but when 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, the American forces fell back to adjacent hills on the Charlestown Peninsula, Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill. At this time, the colonists and colonial forces were still unclear of their ultimate goals; the Second Continental Congress would not formally declare independence for another year. During the first few months of the fighting, the British tried on several occasions to lift the siege with force, and the most memorable attempt was what became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, the British Navy fired on Charlestown from the Charles River and then landed an estimated 3,000 British regulars on the peninsula. The British soldiers attempted multiple charges against about 1,500 defenders who were fairly well entrenched on Breed's Hill, one of the hills behind Charlestown, and it took three attempts to force the colonists back to Cambridge. The British suffered a heavy price, losing over 1,000 British soldiers killed or wounded, compared to only 450 casualties for the colonists, who had stood toe to toe with the vaunted redcoats until ammunition ran low. Bunker Hill would end up being the bloodiest battle of the entire Revolutionary War, and it had a critical impact on the morale of what would become the Continental Army and the ultimately successful siege of Boston. Given its importance, the battle remains well known among all Americans, and perhaps not surprisingly some of the myths and legends surrounding the battle and its participants remain the best known aspects of the fighting. The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The Battle of Bunker Hill comprehensively covers the events that led up to the battle, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the battle. Along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Battle of Bunker Hill like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Men Who Lost America written by Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-11 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questioning popular belief, a historian and re-examines what exactly led to the British Empire’s loss of the American Revolution. The loss of America was an unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory. In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire. “A remarkable book about an important but curiously underappreciated subject: the British side of the American Revolution. With meticulous scholarship and an eloquent writing style, O'Shaughnessy gives us a fresh and compelling view of a critical aspect of the struggle that changed the world.”—Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
Download or read book Victory at Yorktown written by Donald Barr Chidsey and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Donald Barr Chidsey explores the events leading up to the surrender of Cornwallis and the end of the American Revolution.
Download or read book In the Hurricane s Eye written by Nathaniel Philbrick and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Nathaniel Philbrick is a masterly storyteller. Here he seeks to elevate the naval battles between the French and British to a central place in the history of the American Revolution. He succeeds, marvelously."--The New York Times Book Review The thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War from the New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower. In the concluding volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick tells the thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1780, after five frustrating years of war, George Washington had come to realize that the only way to defeat the British Empire was with the help of the French navy. But coordinating his army's movements with those of a fleet of warships based thousands of miles away was next to impossible. And then, on September 5, 1781, the impossible happened. Recognized today as one of the most important naval engagements in the history of the world, the Battle of the Chesapeake—fought without a single American ship—made the subsequent victory of the Americans at Yorktown a virtual inevitability. A riveting and wide-ranging story, full of dramatic, unexpected turns, In the Hurricane's Eye reveals that the fate of the American Revolution depended, in the end, on Washington and the sea.
