Violent But True Siege of Yorktown

So, it’s 1781, and the revolutionary war has already been in full swing for several years. To adequately explain why the battle had such a huge impact, you need to understand that as battles go, Yorktown was like the white guy at an interracial orgy. Not the biggest – but with an impressive credit score. 

Cornwallis had gotten his ass so thoroughly wrecked all over South Carolina he basically ran like a bitch full speed to the North, desperately hoping to find some sort of safety from the Southern Militias. Spoiler alert: they shot his ass up into Virginia, where he ran into different problems. Namely, George Washington, who was waiting on him.

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OOPS!

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By October 9th, all guns were in place. Washington fired the first cannon himself: that’s a historical fact – and it is said that this shot smashed into a table where British officers were eating.

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Finally, redoubts 9 and 10 were taken, which meant the Americans could put all their cannons within “fuck you” distance of the British and bombard them into itty-bitty meat particles. Cornwallis didn’t want to die via cannonball to the scrotum and decided, “well – it’s white flag time.” Then he gave his sword to a subordinate and cried in his room.

The Seige of Yorktown

By September 1781, Washington and Rochambeau approached Yorktown, where Cornwallis's troops had fortified themselves with redoubts and trenches. In desperation, Cornwallis requested reinforcements from Clinton, who pledged a rescue fleet. Meanwhile, with a reduced presence in New York, American and French forces, outnumbered but not outmaneuvered, began their siege 800 yards from the British, launching a relentless artillery bombardment on October 9. As the British defenses began to crumble, Clinton's delayed reinforcements compounded Cornwallis's woes. Washington saw an opportunity and on October 11, pushed for a closer trench, which necessitated a strategic assault on British redoubts No. 9 and No. 10.

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