Yorktown

“ Yorktown in 1754. From a sketch (now in the Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Va.) drawn by a British Naval Officer.
When fully extended and at peak prosperity, colonial Yorktown must have been a rather pleasant little town. At best, its population very likely never exceeded 3,000—a small number by present standards, yet sizeable 35 for that period. An English visitor who stopped here in 1736 wrote of it:
You perceive a great Air of Opulence amongst the Inhabitants, who have some of them built themselves Houses, equal in Magnificence to many of our superb ones at St. ”

“ Down on the bank of York River, not far from Chesapeake Bay, with a few remains of the British entrenchments still visible, is Yorktown, the scene of Cornwallis's surrender, the last conflict of the American Revolution. Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief in 1781, ordered Lord Cornwallis to occupy a strong defensible position in Virginia, and he established himself at Yorktown on 53 August 1st, with his army of eight thousand men, supported by several warships in York River, and strongly fortified not only Yorktown, but also Gloucester Point, across the river. ”

“ All Nature rejoiced, and sent forth a profusion of bloom and verdure as though to compensate the land for the bloody war waged throughout its length and breadth. For that great game, whose moves and counter-moves were to terminate so soon in the cul-de-sac of Yorktown, had begun. From the seacoast where Greene had sent him Cornwallis, recovered at last from the dearly bought victory of Guilford Court House, was moving rapidly across North Carolina for a junction with the forces in Virginia. There was no longer a doubt but that the subjugation of the state was the aim of the British. ”

“ Yorktown is historic ground. Going by water from Budd’s Ferry, the regiment landed upon the same shore which Washington’s Continentals had trodden eighty years earlier. Their progress thru the fields of yellow broom was over ground rendered memorable by the Revolutionary heroes. Near the present beautiful National cemetery and in sight of the present charming Yorktown battle-monument stood a Confederate intrenchment which occasioned annoyance to McClellan’s army. ”

“ The leaders of opinion in Yorktown were merchants who stood to suffer much as supporters of the patriotic cause. Their losses were heavy in many cases, but they stood behind the Revolution practically to a man.
As early as July 18, 1774, York County had called a meeting “to consider what was to be done in the present distressed and alarming situation of affairs throughout the British Colonies in America.” Five months later there was a miniature “tea party” in the Yorktown harbor. In 1775, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Dudley Digges were named as delegates to the Virginia Convention of that year. ”

“ Between 1691 and 1781, fortunes were made at Yorktown in the tobacco trade. But not everyone was a wealthy merchant or prosperous planter. There were men of all types and classes on the streets, in the 36 taverns, and on the wharves—merchants, planters, planter-merchants, propertied yeomen, unsuccessful merchants, shopkeepers and innkeepers in large number, indentured servants, and slaves. Apprentices rose to become partners, as in the case of Augustine Moore in the Nelson firm. In 1781, he was the owner of the Moore House, where the Articles of Capitulation were drafted. ”

“ Having imbibed from both types of tankard, I believe that the English (and Yorktown) technique is distinctly preferable. One's upper lip does most of the work; the paring of the inside of the vessel shapes the rim away from that lip and carries the ale smoothly into the mouth.
Figure 4.—Yorktown stoneware mug fragment marred by kiln drippings lodged above the handle. The fragment was found in Williamsburg. ”

“ Consequently, a Yorktown origin may reasonably be considered for any of the wares made from local clay that turn up in contexts of the appropriate period. In the Williamsburg collections are such varied lead-glazed, earthenware items as closestool pans, chamber pots, straight-sided dishes, lidded storage jars, wide-mouthed and double-handled storage bins, pipkins, and chafing dishes. But whether all these things were made, in fact, at Yorktown cannot be known until the factory site is found and excavated. ”

“ By sunrise they were on the road, General Heintzelman's corps leading the column. The roads were deep with mud, and the marching was heavy, but so enthusiastic were the soldiers that by ten o'clock the head of the column encountered the enemy's pickets in front of Yorktown.
Both armies were upon historic ground. It was at Yorktown that the British army under Lord Cornwallis laid down its arms in 1781. It was a flourishing village then. There were fine mansions, surrounded with shrubbery, shaded by old oaks and lindens. Virginia in those days had many wealthy families. ”

“ Swiftly as that well-instructed army moved to New York, they had only time to gain position, before they realized the value of their training in the trenches and redoubts around Boston; and no battle or siege, including the capture of Yorktown, is without its tribute to the far-reaching influence which that training assured. ”

“ While the events commemorated in other national parks are well worth the expense to the Government in commemorating them, and they all recall to the minds of the citizens important events in our history, as well as the heroism and devotion of our soldiers, they are at best only events, although important ones, in our history, while Yorktown marks the consummation of our national independence. ”

“ They contributed supplies, work, money, men, and life. They saw trade decline, “hard times” set in, property wantonly destroyed by thoughtless troops, and received the varying news of war with rejoicing, or with sorrow.
In the winter of 1779-80, French war vessels used the York River and may have found some comfort in the guns of the Yorktown fort. In March 1781, Lafayette stepped ashore here, after his trip down the bay at the beginning of his operations in Virginia. ”

“ The Yorktown Battlefield is a part of Colonial National Historical Park, which also includes the major part of Jamestown Island, together with some of the adjacent area, the Colonial Parkway, and the Cape Henry Memorial at Cape Henry, Va. ”

“ Many of the fortifications built then still stand. Being much more massive, they are in sharp contrast with the earlier Revolutionary works. In the early 20th century, residential suburban development around Yorktown was begun with a great flourish, but did not take hold. ”

“ Following this, the British Army marched down Surrender Road between columns of allied troops, Americans on the British left (east) and French on the British right (west) , to Surrender Field where the formal surrender was effected. “... we came directly onto a level field or large meadow, where ... we ... marched one regiment after another, stacked muskets and lay down all arms ...”, wrote one of the British soldiers. Thus, the siege of Yorktown ended, the climax of the Revolution had passed, and America could look forward toward a free and independent status. A new nation had been born! ”

“ The Confederates left behind them seventy spiked and shattered cannon, some powder, and a few splintered wagons; but in all material respects, their evacuation was thorough and creditable. Some deserters took the first tidings of the retreat to the astonished Federals, and they raised the national flag within the fortifications, in the gray of the morning of the 4th of May. Many negroes also escaped the vigilance of their taskmasters, and remained to welcome the victors. The fine works of Yorktown are monuments to negro labor, for they were the hewers and the diggers. ”

“ A North Devon oven is still in place, with its opening at the back of the fireplace.
YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA.
The National Park Service has excavated at various locations in Yorktown, both in the neighboring battlefield sites and the town itself. Yorktown, like Marlborough, was established by the Act for Ports in 1691. In several of the areas excavated, occasional sherds of North Devon gravel-tempered ware were found. In refuse behind the site of the Swan Tavern, opened as an inn in 1722 but probably occupied earlier, a single large fragment of a 15-inch sgraffito platter was discovered. ”

“ This church was used for various military purposes in the two wars that engulfed Yorktown, but parish organization has continued unbroken and services are held regularly. In its churchyard lie the remains of prominent men of Yorktown and of many others less well known. The church is normally open every day. ”

“ The final result was that he was the general favorite of all his comrades, the most popular man in the regiment, and modest, unassuming, and unspoiled by his success.
IV HE next scene in this drama opens on the Peninsula, between the York and the James rivers, in March, 1862. The sluggish Warwick River runs from its source, near Yorktown, across the Peninsula to its discharge. It formed at that time a line of defence, which had been fortified by General Magruder, and was held by him with a force of some twelve thousand Confederates. Yorktown was an important position to the Confederates. ”

“ F. French Army Encampment.
The French Cemetery in the battlefield encampment area. The cross marks the traditional burial site.
44
G. British Outer Works. Cornwallis constructed several positions between the headwaters of Yorktown and Wormley Creeks as a part of his outer line. One of these has been partly reconstructed and is visible from the tour road. Another is an original position which remains undisturbed. A spur road from the main tour route gives access to it in the area known as “Long Neck.” ”

“ The souls magnanimous, that knew not fear,
Flashed their effulgence on his dazzled eyes.
[592] Ah me! how dark the discipline of pain,
Were not the suffering followed by the sense
Of infinite rest and infinite release!
This is our consolation; and again
A great soul cries to us in our suspense,
"I came from martyrdom unto this peace!"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The hundredth anniversary of the surrender of the British at Yorktown was celebrated on October 19, 1881. The lyric for the occasion was written by Paul Hamilton Hayne.
YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL LYRIC
[October 19, 1881]
Hark! ”

“ Other blemishes include roof drippings on the handle and body which indicate that the bottle was fired without the protection of a sagger. The cordoning on the neck is well proportioned, and the handle terminates in a neatly fingered rat-tail. National Park Service collection from the Swan Tavern site at Yorktown; unstratified. S. T. 213.
[Pg 102]
Figure 14.—Brown lead-glazed earthenware creampan of typical Yorktown type, probably dating from the second quarter of the 18th century. ”

“ Nor do I find in the booklet any mention of the history of the city or the surrounding region—although that region includes places of the greatest beauty and interest: among them the glorious old manor houses of the James River; the ancient and charming town of Williamsburg, second capital of the Virginia colony, and seat of William and Mary College, the oldest college in the United States excepting Harvard; Yorktown, "Waterloo of the Revolution"; many important battlefields of the Civil War ”

“ The National Park System, of which Colonial National Historical Park is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people.
Contents Page THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN 1 Battle of Green Spring 6 The British Move to Yorktown 7 SIEGE OF YORKTOWN 9 Strategy of the Siege 9 Battle of the Virginia Capes 11 Assembly of the Allied Armies 15 Investment of Yorktown 18 British Position 18 Opening of the Siege 21 Gloucester Side 22 First Allied Siege Line 23 Second Allied Siege Line 25 Capture of Redoubts No. ”

“ The barriers were at length burst, and York entered the town, and then in the streets were heard the shouts of "A Warwick! a Warwick!" on the other side "A York! a York!" and in the midst the war cries of "King Henry! a Somerset! a Percy! a Clifford!" etc., all intermingled with the clash of swords upon armour and shield; the whir of arrows flying through the air; the groans of wounded and dying men, and the screams of flying women; whilst the market-place was strewn with the bodies of fallen men, and the streets flowed with blood. ”

“ It is the stern grandeur of the scarred hillsides and the wide mountainous views from the heights that give this part of Yorkshire such a fascination. If you climb to the top of Rogan's Seat, you have a huge panorama of desolate country spread out before you. The confused jumble of blue-grey mountains to the north-west is beyond the limits of Yorkshire at last, and in their strong embrace those stern Westmorland hills hold the charms of Lakeland.
If one stays in this mountainous region, there are new and exciting walks available for every day. ”

“ But to see so much of the country at once comes as a surprise to everyone. Stretching inland towards the backbone of England, there is spread out a huge tract of smiling country, covered with a most complex network of hedges, which gradually melt away into the indefinite blue edge of the world where the hills of Wensleydale rise from the plain. Looking across the little town of Guisborough, lying near the shelter of the hills, to the broad sweep of the North Sea, this piece of Yorkshire seems so small that one almost expects to see the Cheviots away in the north. ”

“ A vast medley, truly! and all to be manufactured into broadcloth in Yorkshire. No wonder that the Univers declares England is to perish by her commerce.
The walk to the town gives you such a view as can only be seen in a manufacturing district: hills, fields, meadows, and rough slopes, all bestrewn with cottages, factories, warehouses, sheds, clouded here and there by smoke; roads and paths wandering apparently anywhere; here and there a quarry, and piles of squared stone; heaps of refuse; wheat-fields among the houses ”