Early on September 28, 1781, Washington led the army out of Williamsburg to surround Yorktown. The French took the positions on the left while the Americans took the position of honor on the right. Cornwallis had received a letter from Clinton that promised relief force of 5,000 men within a week. After nightfall on October 6, American troops moved out to dig the first parallel. By October 9, all of the French and American guns were in place. At 3:00 pm, the French guns opened the barrage and drove the British frigate HMS Guadeloupe across the York River. At 5:00 pm, the Americans opened fire.

Washington’s officers devised a plan in which the French would launch a diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt, and then a half an hour later, the French would assault Redoubt No. 9 and the Americans Redoubt No. 10. At 6:30 pm, gunfire announced the diversionary attack on the Fusiliers redoubt. With bayonets fixed, the Americans marched towards Redoubt No. 10 commanded by Alexander Hamilton and took the redoubt.

On the morning of October 17, a drummer appeared, followed by an officer waving a white handkerchief. The bombardment ceased, and the officer was blindfolded and led behind the French and American lines. Negotiations began at the Moore House on October 18. The next day the British soldiers marched out and laid down their arms in between the French and American armies, while many civilians watched. In all, 8,000 soldiers, 214 artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, 24 transport ships, wagons, and horses were captured.

The Yorktown battlefield is not limited to the final surrender ceremony. The earthworks, roads, fields and riverfront explain why Cornwallis chose this place and how American and French commanders trapped his army. French naval victory at the Chesapeake prevented the expected relief by sea. French troops occupied one wing of the allied siege line and American troops the other. The surrounding civilian town endured gunfire and destruction during the operation.

Today the National Park Service interprets the siege alongside Yorktown’s longer colonial history. Visitors can follow the opposing lines, the sites of redoubts 9 and 10, the Moore House where surrender terms were negotiated, and the ground where the British marched out. Later monuments and reconstructed earthworks convey memory as well as military geography; original traces, altered ground and commemorative works require careful distinction. Archaeology, maps and surviving topography together show how the allied siege transformed a functioning town into a military objective.