Yorktown Battlefield

Yorktown was the site of the last major ground battle in the American Revolutionary War. The battle began on September 28, 1781 when General George Washington and his 17,000 Continental and French troops began the siege of 9,700 British troops commanded by General Lord Charles Cornwallis. The siege included a blockade of the York River by the French fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse to prevent the British Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the British troops at Yorktown and Gloucester. After bombardment weakened the British lines, two columns were dispatched on October 14^th to attack the last major remaining outer defenses of the British. A French column took redoubt #9 and an American column took redoubt #10. This allowed the allies to finish a second parallel and begin firing artillery from very close range. With around the clock bombardment, the British position was untenable. Cornwallis asked for capitulation terms on October 17^th. The surrender ceremony took place on October 19^th. Peace negotiations began in 1782 and culminated with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.

We visited the battlefield in October 2014. The visitor center houses an information desk, bookstore, theater, restrooms and offices. The 15 minute orientation film, "The Siege at Yorktown", is another excellent National Park Service production. We bicycled the seven mile Battlefield Tour Road as well as the nine mile Encampment Tour Road.

Reconstructed Redoubt on the high ground approaching Yorktown

Part of the Second Siege Line including a redoubt in the distance

Civil War era National Cemetery from the Second Siege Line

Redoubt #9

Walking path to Redoubt #9

Example of artillery used in the siege

Another example of artillery used in the siege

A final example of artillery used in the siege

Redoubt #10

Moore House, site of the surrender negotiations

Rear of the Moore House

Reflections on Wormley Pond

Pavilion at Surrender Field

Plaques at the pavilion provide details of letters from both commanders:

I have the honor to inform Congress, that a reduction of the British Army under the Command of Lord Cornwallis, is most happily effected. - General George Washington to the President of the Continental Congress, October 19,1781

I have the mortification to inform your Excellency that I have been forced to give up the posts of York and Gloucester, and to surrender the troops under my command, by capitulation on the 19th instant, as prisoners of war to the combined forces of America and France. - Lieutenant General Charles Lord Cornwallis to General Sir Henry Clinton, Commander in Chief British forces in America, October 20, 1781

Surrender Field from the pavilion

Approximate location of colonial roadway to Surrender Field

Trophies of War

Beaverdam Creek

Most of the tour is a one-way single-lane paved road

French Cemetery

Colonel D'Aboville's Headquarters, French Artillery

Agriculture covered most of the high ground around Yorktown

This two-way section of the loop road leads to the French Encampment area

The tents of the French Regiments Agenois, Gatinois and Touraine covered this field

Autumn colors on the edge of the field

More colors along the tour road

Driving back to Williamsburg along the Colonial National Historical Parkway, we passed the US Naval Weapons Station at Stony Point and saw a destroyer tied up at the pier. This one just happened to be one of very few American warships named for foreigners and a very famous one at that.

USS Winston S Churchill, DDG 81 from the Colonial Parkway

The entrance fee to the Yorktown Battlefield is $7 per person for seven consecutive days. Admission to the NPS area of Historic Jamestowne is included. Other options include a Colonial Annual Park Pass for $30, an Interagency Annual Pass for $80 and a lifetime Interagency Senior Pass for those age 62 and older for $10.

The battlefield park website is http://www.nps.gov/york/index.htm.

Historic Jamestowne

Historic Jamestowne is the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Three ships with 104 men and 39 crew sailed from England in late 1606. Sailing by way of Puerto Rico, the convoy reached Virginia in late April, 1607. Sealed orders from the Virginia Company of London named the men who would form the governing council and also specified that a defensible inland location be chosen as the site for the colony which was founded on May 14, 1607. The colonists lacked many of the skills required to be self-sustaining in the wilderness of Virginia. As a result, two-thirds of the men died before the First Supply mission arrived. The Second Supply mission also arrived in 1608, but both missions brought more settlers than much needed supplies. The Second Supply also brought the first two European women to the colony. Additional colonists arrived with the Third Supply mission, although most of the supplies were shipwrecked in Bermuda for several months. Due to a local drought and lack of English supplies, the winter of 1609-1610 has been called the Starving Time. Of the 500 colonists in autumn 1609, only 60 remained when the ships from Bermuda arrived in the spring. On June 7, 1610 the colony was abandoned as the survivors boarded ships to sail for England. However, they met yet another supply mission on the lower James River on June 9 and were forced to return to Jamestowne. Without the timely arrival of these supplies and a newly appointed governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, Jamestown would have failed like the Roanoke and Popham Colonies.

While an estimated 14,000 people of the Powhatan Confederacy were already living in the James River area in 1607, the tribes were nearly eliminated by 1646 due to war and disease. The first black slaves were brought to Jamestowne on a Portuguese slave ship that had been captured by the English. Interpretive signs attempt to weave the narratives of all of these people into a coherent history for the visitor.

Historic Jamestowne is managed by a public/private partnership between the National Park Service and Preservation Virginia. Preservation Virginia owns 22.5 acres including the site of the original James Fort and Old Towne while the NPS owns New Towne and the remaining 1178 acres of Jamestown Island. A modern visitor center includes a fee station, information desk, orientation film, museum, gift shop and restrooms. In addition to the 1607 James Fort, Old Towne and New Towne, the site has a five mile one-way Island Loop Drive which we chose to bicycle. The Preservation Virginia Dale House Café in Old Towne sells sandwiches and drinks. We visited Historic Jamestowne in late October 2014.

Visitor Center

Rear of Visitor Center

Boardwalk leads across the Pitch and Tar Swamp to the colony

Swamp and forest from the boardwalk

Monument commemorating 300th anniversary of Jamestown

Memorial Church built in 1907

Tower of 1690 church

Model of James Fort on top of current river bank

Archaeological digs continue to produce new artifacts and information

Site of several graves inside the fort

Captain John Smith, Governor of Virginia 1608

Location of additional graves near the eroded side of the fort

Foundations of the largest building in the fort

Reconstruction of a building frame

Dale House Café

River side of Dale House Café

View upstream of the James River

View downstream of the James River

Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Archaearium

The Archaearium is built over part of the foundations the 1665 first statehouse

Foundations of an expanded building for the General Assembly

Reconstructed foundations in New Towne

More foundations and fence rows

Reconstructed ruins of a building built for Ann Talbott around 1660

Typical lane with ditch and berm

Row houses from the 1650s

Site of the home of William May in the 1660s

This was an upper-class neighborhood on Backstreete from the 1630s

Ruins of the Ambler House built in the 1750s and burned in two wars

The Ambler House was "the centerpiece of a fine plantation estate"

Modern bracing and brick caps have been added to preserve the ruins

View of the James River from Backstreete

Another lane with ditches and berms

Foundations of the 1668 row house on Backstreete

Swann's Tavern 1670s

Back River from the Island Loop Drive

Another view of Back River

Passmore Creek and the James River

Kingsmill Creek

Entrance to Historic Jamestowne is $14 per person for seven consecutive days and includes entrance to Yorktown Battlefield. Visitors with Interagency Access, Golden Access or Interagency Military passes are admitted for free. Entrance for holders of all other NPS passes is $5 per person to cover the Preservation Virginia entrance fee. Preservation Virginia members must pay a $5 per person adult NPS fee.

The Preservation Virginia website is http://preservationvirginia.org/.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/jame/index.htm.