Which state is yorktown located

It included two crucial battles, fought eighteen days apart, and was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary In the Battle of Trenton December 26 , Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts.

On the night They clashed with a larger force of American soldiers led by General Horatio Gates The Americans inflicted heavy Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. The Allied lines are now within musket range of the British and American and French artillery are in place. In the afternoon, the Allied barrage begins, with the French opening the salvo. On the American side, George Washington touches off the first cannon to commence their assault. His artillery consists of three pounders, three pounders, two 8-inch mm howitzers, and 6 mortars, totaling 14 guns.

For nearly a week the artillery barrage is ceaseless, shattering whatever nerve the British have remaining and punching holes in British defenses. October Washington orders troops to dig a second parallel yards closer to the British lines. British redoubts 9 and 10 prevent the second parallel from extending to the river and the British are still able to reinforce the garrisons inside the redoubts.

They have to be taken by force. The new line is in place by the morning of October On a moonless night, after firing incessant artillery to weaken British defenses, American and French forces prepare a surprise assault on redoubts 9 and To maintain stealth, soldiers do not to load or prime their weapons. Then, Lt. To prevent the British defenders from escaping the coming onslaught, Lt. As American troops hack at the abatis with axes, the British are alerted.

A British sentry fires at the Americans and the Americans proceeded to assault the fortification, climbing over the parapet and descending into the redoubt. Serious fighting ensues in close quarters, but the British are overwhelmed. It is a stunning victory with the Americans sustaining only 34 casualties.

The French simultaneously assault redoubt 9 and, after an equally fierce firefight, wrest control from the British. In a last-ditch effort, Cornwallis orders a futile counterattack on October 15, which fails miserably. Blindfolded and brought inside American lines, the British officer secures terms of surrender for the British Army. In a field outside of Yorktown, the capitulation takes place as British troops and their Hessian allies, with flags furled and cased, march sullenly between contingents of American and French forces.

The British seek honorable terms of surrender, but Washington refuses as American forces were denied the that honor in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier in the war. The Battle of Yorktown marks the collapse of the British war efforts. But the world truly changes that day as the military operations of the War for Independence cease. It is all over. How was Washington able to move his massive troops so quickly to Yorktown?

How did the French fleet know to move to its critical location at just the right moment? A visit to Yorktown's many historic sites will answer some of those questions and inspire even more questions along the way.

It's the culmination of the stories of Washington, Cornwallis, Lafayette, De Grasse, and the thousands of soldiers and sailors of the American, British, and French nations that make up the collective story of Yorktown.

Changing Positions The streets of Yorktown today bear little witness to the town's importance in and bear little resemblance to its appearance at that time. In early , Yorktown was still a bustling port and mercantile center - but it's heyday had clearly passed as other larger more convenient ports became more prominent. The town, however, still had homes, stores, warehouses, storage buildings, public buildings, and other structures packed tightly along its unpaved main street and side streets.

Along the river, numerous wharves and associated buildings stood as testament to Yorktown's importance, waning though it was. Buildings of every nature stood chock-a-block along the town's short main street with no thought of our present-day zoning concerns, and, in fact, were monuments to the town's professional, mercantile, and residential prosperity and prominence.

After October 19, , Yorktown was in a considerably different position after suffering dramatically during the siege, with numerous buildings either destroyed or heavily damaged.

Many of its occupants left the town, never to return, and several remaining damaged buildings were demolished with little thought of rebuilding. But thankfully, there were those who did stay and repair their homes and businesses. As a result, the story of Yorktown continued. In , a second disaster struck Yorktown when a major fire destroyed nearly all the buildings along the waterfront as well as many properties "on the hill" in the town--including the church and the courthouse.

During this time, the waterfront area was occupied, not by prominent businesses, but by the poorest of the residents of the community. As time and pride had passed Yorktown by, little was done to rebuild most of the destroyed buildings. Board on Geographic Names BGN , serves as the official repository for geographic names used by Federal departments and agencies. The U. Geological Survey provides staff to support the BGN. GNIS lists over 2. The GNIS also provides the location of each feature, the name of the USGS topographic map on which it is located, a citation for the name and, if known, any unofficial names for the feature.

The BGN also considers proposals to name unnamed geographic features and to correct existing names, spellings and locations. In , the BGN voted to approve a request to change the name of Phenix in Lincoln County, Arkansas, to Yorktown to recognize the newly approved post office name.

Although many renditions of Yorktown have taken hold of the nation, the first-known to the U.