Yorktown Travel Guide Analysis of the Battle of Yorktown

Yorktown is an ancient city of great historical significance. It was also an early North American colonial base. The Battle of Yorktown was also a classic anti-colonial battle and had far-reaching significance for the formation of modern American independence. , let me share with you the Yorktown travel guide and detailed analysis of historical battles.

As we all know, July 4, 1776, is the Independence Day of the United States.

In fact, it is just a small group of dissatisfied and dissatisfied "American independence elements" who issued a "Declaration of Independence" without authorization, which is nothing more than a wishful "self-declaration".

Similar to the "traitors who subvert state power" in the eyes of today's official media, the "heroes who seek to establish an independent country" in the hearts of the people.

"Declaration of Independence"

At that time, the British Empire was at its peak, and its military strength dominated the world. No one could challenge it.

It firmly controls the North American continent.

After eight years of resistance, until 1783, the United States finally forced its sovereign, the British Empire, to recognize it and become an independent country.

What an arduous and thrilling war is this?

(2) During the 2017 Thanksgiving holiday, we traveled from Maryland to North Carolina, along the Atlantic coastline, in pursuit of late autumn. Faint red leaves, strolling through the clear blue sea in early winter.

Passing through Virginia, the 37-kilometer-long Bridge-Tunnel (Bridge-Tunnel) has four sections of bridges connecting two sections of tunnels and a small island. Like a dragon, it sometimes flies high in the sea and sky, and sometimes Dive into the ocean floor, quickly escape, and bravely cross the wide Chesapeake Bay (Chesapeake

Bay), which is the Virginia Beach and Hampton metropolitan areas.

Chesapeake Bridge

Having seen the sea many times, Wan Jin has never been able to understand how "facing the sea" can bring "spring flowers blooming", but every time Walking on the beach, with the gentle sea breeze and surging waves, you can't help but feel the artistic conception of "the wider your horizons, the broader your mind", which is brighter and more cheerful than "Jimu Chutianshu".

There are many lighthouses on the east and west coastlines of the United States, which are unique cultural and natural landscapes and historical memories of the Age of Discovery.

There is a lighthouse at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach. As a rule, I always have to visit.

At dusk, follow the map and look forward to spending our sunset time there.

Unexpectedly, it has become the most inaccessible lighthouse in Wanjin’s travel memories.

First, two roads were closed. Unwilling to give in, I walked around again and finally saw the guard box at the entrance of the park, and I couldn't help but feel happy.

Then, the person who stopped us was not the usual park rangers, but active duty members of the U.S. Navy.

While being surprised, I felt secretly worried.

The car was already in front of us, and there was no way to turn back, so we had to bite the bullet and ask timidly, "We want to see the lighthouse, can we?"

The unsmiling soldier was not embarrassed at all. People, please tell us that the opening time has passed, please turn around and leave immediately!

After returning from traveling to the Outer Banks, NC, I still couldn't forget it, so I tried to visit the Cape Henry Lighthouse again.

This time I finally got my wish.

It’s just that the procedures are complicated. You need to register and have your driver’s license impounded. You also have to go through extremely strict car security checks that even open the hood and trunk. You can only walk on designated routes and you are only allowed to visit two attractions. , and can only stay for no more than three hours

It turns out that the Cape Henry Lighthouse is enclosed within the US Naval Base and is a military restricted area.

(3) When we enter the garden, we are greeted by the two lighthouses we want to visit, one old and one new.

The old pagoda stands on a small mound, with a height of 27 meters. The tower body is an octagonal brick structure, brown and gray. The navigation lampshade on the top of the tower is glowing with patina. At a glance, it is full of history and vicissitudes.

It was built in 1792 and was the first lighthouse approved by Congress after the founding of the United States. It has guided countless ships in and out of the Chesapeake Bay.

90 years have passed like this, and the lighthouse is also "old".

In 1881, a new lighthouse was built just a hundred meters away from the old tower. It was 48 meters high and also had an octagonal shape. It was painted in black and white to make it look slimmer and taller.

The new tower still guides the course, but as a tourist, you can only look at it from a distance and not get close.

The old tower is open to tourists. You can enter the tower by purchasing a ticket, go up the stairs, and reach the top of the tower.

Ships on the sea can easily see the lighthouse. Standing on the top of the tower, you can have an unobstructed view of the boundless Atlantic Ocean.

The weather was particularly good that day, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the blue sky was extremely transparent. In the vast blue ocean, ships and ships shuttle back and forth, and gulls, herons and pelicans soar in the wind.

When you climb high and look into the distance, you feel relaxed and happy.

(4) Go down to the lighthouse and continue towards the sea. Not far away is an attraction called "First Landing (Fisrt Landing)".

It’s not big, just over a hundred meters square.

I just came back from Roanoke Island (Roanoke Is., NC). Didn’t I agree that that was the place where British colonists first landed on the North American continent? Why did the "first" pop up again? What about "Landing Point"?

There is a bronze statue and an ocher red stone tablet on both sides of the attraction.

After carefully reading the inscriptions and the naval battle pictures on the stone tablet, it turns out that this place commemorates the story of French Vice Admiral Comte de Grasse leading warships and soldiers to the aid of the US military during the American Revolutionary War.

"I hope I have the right to express to Congress my gratitude to the Earl of Glass and his fleet."

G.Washington said sincerely.

(5) How come North American immigrants, who have the same roots and ancestors, have embarked on the path of "dead struggle" with the British Empire?

All over the world, Throughout the dynasties, the truth has been the same. The rulers verbally chanted that "the people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the most important." But in their hearts, they whitewashed the brutal expropriation as "national interests" and euphemistically called the bloody and brutal "revolutionary dictatorship". If you don’t treat your own people as human beings, there will be resistance wherever there is oppression.

Those common people and gentry who were persecuted by the British rulers at that time sang with tears in their eyes something like, "Big rat, big rat, no food for me! Three-year-old girl, no one I care about. She will pass away." He resolutely crossed the turbulent Atlantic Ocean and fled to North America, becoming a colonist and pioneer.

After experiencing countless tests such as famine, disease, and death, he finally survived in the wilderness. It lasted more than a hundred years and created a paradise.

However, North America is not a paradise after all, let alone "I don't know the Han Dynasty, no matter the Wei and Jin Dynasties", the claws of the British Empire have always strangled the necks of the colonies.

In the famous "Seven Years' War" (1756~1763) in the mid-eighteenth century, the British Empire defeated its old enemies France and Spain and became the world's hegemon, but it also exhausted its treasury.

Not only did the rulers not allow the people who were actually suffering from the war to recuperate, but they passed on the huge deficit to the people of North America, resorted to plunder and forced the most perverted taxes in history.

The people of North America have put forward reasonable demands such as "no representation, no taxation" and "sovereignty belongs to the king, and governance belongs to me", and strive for democracy, freedom, equality and human rights.

King George III, who believed in "violent suppression", turned a deaf ear to public opinion and shouted hysterically, "I would rather lose the crown than give up the war." He mobilized the troops that were supposed to defend the country and mobilized them. He openly shot and killed civilians at gunpoint, causing the "Boston Massacre" that shocked the world.

The executioner who raises his butcher knife to civilians will never end well! No matter how powerful it is at the moment.

This is an irrefutable truth.

So, on April 19, 1775, the "Lexington Gun" fired the first shot in resistance to British rule. It was the starting point of the American Revolutionary War and opened a magnificent scene.

In October 1777, the U.S. Continental Army turned defeat into victory at the Battle of Saratoga, which became a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

The decisive battle was the surrender of the British army at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, which was the victory point of the war. It finally forced Britain and the United States to sign the Treaty of Paris and had to recognize the independence of the United States.

(6) Yorktown, VA, is located at the mouth of the York River where it flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Not far northwest of Virginia Beach, an hour's drive.

Let’s go to Yorktown!

York River Scenery

This is a quiet and beautiful town, managed by the National Park Service (NPS) Protected and managed as a historic site. The streets and many buildings at that time, as well as the town hall, were grand and solemn. Even from today's perspective, it is not inferior to any other small town.

Old City Hall

Through the town, in the middle of a wide lawn on the river bank, stands a towering white monument, with the achievements of that decisive battle engraved on the square base. , a 26-meter-high marble column, holding a 4.3-meter-high statue of the goddess symbolizing "Liberty", as if standing in the clouds.

Walking around, I can no longer smell the smoke of the past, but only the solemnity and peace.

(7) In the visitor center, you can relive the ups and downs of that battle through videos and exhibitions.

Compared with the most powerful British army, the U.S. Continental Army during the Revolutionary War was not even as good as the "Tuba Road". Most of them were militiamen who were "soldiers in wartime and civilians in peacetime" and were poorly trained. , the equipment is poor, and most of them are mercenaries who fight as soldiers for food and salary. The raising and distribution of food and wages are the responsibility of the state parliaments. It is conceivable that although he was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, Washington's orders were not always implemented.

Fortunately, a group of outstanding elites played a vital role. T.

Jefferson was a thinker with great wisdom. He drafted the Declaration of Independence and wrote many articles to rally people's hearts and inspire morale.

It was almost impossible for the Continental Army, which lacked sea control, to defeat the British Army, which had strong ships and powerful artillery.

B. Franklin used his superior lobbying ability to persuade France and others to form a military alliance with the United States.

There are two reasons why France is trying its best to help the United States. First, King Louis XVI is a true "internationalist warrior" who "does not benefit himself but only benefits others"; second, France has just passed He was defeated by the British in the "Seven Years' War". The old grudge has not been avenged, and new grudges have been added.

France contributed the army, navy, guns, ships, money, and food, which played a key role in the American War of Independence and contributed the most.

In 1781, the American War of Independence had been fighting for more than five years, and the war was in full swing.

After landing, 5,500 French troops joined the US military north of New York City.

Washington planned to attack the British troops occupying New York City, but the French commander Comte de Rochambeau told Washington that his operation was almost impossible to succeed.

Washington and Rochambeau in Yorktown, source: wikipedia

Washington accepted the suggestion and pretended to continue attacking New York, secretly deciding to look for fighters in Virginia.

By early August, the British army commanded by General C. Cornwallis had stationed 7,200 troops in Yorktown. Previously, the British army captured the city and was invincible, forcing the Virginia government to flee west twice.

At the end of August, the French Count de Grasse led 28 battleships and 3,000 soldiers into the Chesapeake Bay from the south, together with the Count of Barras (Comtede)

Barras Twelve French warships came from the north, and the U.S.-French coalition posed a huge threat to Yorktown.

Cornwallis asked Sir H. Clinton, the commander-in-chief of the British army in New York, for help, and the British army sent General T. Graves to lead 19 ships. Battleships rushed to the rescue, but were successfully blocked by the French navy.

Beguiled by Washington's feint attack conspiracy, the British fleet withdrew in order to protect New York. This also eliminated Cornwallis's idea of ????escaping from the sea.

Washington’s other “secret plan” was also successfully implemented. The 3,000 Continental troops he led and the 4,800 French troops led by Rochambeau were united and quietly transported by sea to the vicinity of Yorktown at the end of September. Including previous troops, the total number of coalition troops reached 16,650.

Although the coalition forces are twice as powerful as the British army, with its strong fortresses, fortifications and fort groups, the British army is definitely not weak.

Battle of Yorktown map, source: mountvernon.org

Yorktown is located at the mouth of the York River, facing water on both sides.

The city was besieged by the coalition forces on land. The two sides fought fiercely for more than 20 days, with equal amounts of attack and defense.

But Cornwallis's timidity led him to constantly ask for help from the British Commander-in-Chief Clinton. Although Clinton promised reinforcements, Cornwallis was worried that he would not be able to hold on for long, so he ordered his sergeants to scuttle more than a dozen warships to avoid being captured by the coalition forces, and killed hundreds of war horses to reduce food consumption.

Washington took the lead and personally lit the first artillery shell fired at the British army.

Amidst the increasing sound of artillery fire from the coalition forces and the charging of officers and soldiers, Cornwallis was finally frightened.

On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis decided to surrender to the coalition forces with 7,171 officers and soldiers and 840 sailors.

At the end of the day, Cornwallis, who was afraid of death and wanted to lose face, also played a little trick. He refused to attend the surrender ceremony on the grounds of illness. He also took the opportunity to drive a wedge between the French army and the US military, and asked the deputy general to take him with him. War Knife went to surrender to the French commander Rochambeau.

But loyal and wise Rochambeau shook his head and pointed to Washington.

Washington also refused and signaled his adjutant to go and accept the surrender.

British Army Surrender Ceremony

Ironically, the "surrender" scene that Cornwallis deliberately avoided was often "surrendered" when later painters reproduced this historical moment. "In vain to consider historical facts," he insisted on depicting Cornwallis surrendering to Washington. If there is knowledge in the underground, I wonder if this good-looking Commander Kang will be so angry that he will get up and sue the painter for "reputation infringement".

"Cornwallis surrenders to Washington"

(8) Well, the story is over.

The reason why the rulers of the British Empire failed completely in North America was because they did not treat their people as human beings.

Those who follow the people's will will prosper, and those who go against the people's will will perish. If you gain the right path, you will get a lot of help, but if you get the wrong path, you will get little help. The world is right.

From Henry III to modern tyrants such as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ceausescu, Bashir, and Gaddafi, as well as dictators of authoritarian countries currently in power , shouting "democracy and constitutional government", but in fact "the party governs the world and rules the world". It is too superstitious to have a strong fist, and it will inevitably become a piece of dirt in the history of human civilization.

Dictators are the most stupid when they are blinded by their power. It is also the most reasonable thing in the world.

Let us take a look at the beautiful scenery, read beautiful articles, and appreciate all the beautiful things.