Friday morning we left for the weekend, with our first stop at Yorktown Battlefield.  If anyone had ever told me I would be touring a battlefield on my birthday by choice, I would have thought they were nuts! However I have found this to be the most fascinating battlefield that I have ever toured!  One thing that sets this battlefield apart from the rest, are the redoubts, a form of earthworks, which are all over the park.

     Our first stop was the visitor center. We did not arrive until 11:00am.  I knew we wouldn't have time to do everything (major sadness) so I tried to plan our time to the utmost for the day.  While waiting for the movie to start, we toured the Visitor Center a little bit.  Every time I tried to read something, my kids kept calling me over to see this or that.  The first item they directed me to, with a huge grin, was the Lafayette Cannon!  I had to chuckle. While touring the Civil War battlefields around Fredericksburg last spring, we discovered the Napoleonic Cannon, which is a certain style of cannon.  (There's an inside joke here.) The Lafayette Cannon is not a style of cannon, but a cannon with a story that involves Lafayette's Grand Tour.   

     The movie we watched was probably the best I've seen at any of these parks. I forget all the details now, but one item that stuck out was the naval battle we got to see. The kids and I have read about many naval battles, but this is the first we've seen one.        

     There was a lot more to see in the Visitor Center than we had time for.  We spied a huge ship we could walk into behind the desk. Because the day was beautiful, I suggested we save the rest of the Visitor Center for a rainy day.  After lunch, we started the driving tour. The brochure says the main drive takes only 45 minutes, but it took us over 3 hours! 

     I should probably preface the driving tour with a little background. Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution, fought in October 1781. Earlier in the year, General Washington had sent Lafayette with his men into Virginia, while Cornwallis arrived to attack Lafayette West of Williamsburg, but failed.  Cornwallis then established operations in Yorktown, East of Williamsburg.  Lafayette sent word to General Washington in New York, who had been reinforced by General Rochambeau's French army. They headed south to Yorktown. Meanwhile, any hope for a British escape by sea was doomed, due to the arrival of a French fleet led by Comte de Grasse.  Cornwallis and his men were cornered at Yorktown. Lafayette waited in Williamsburg for the arrival of Washington and Rochambeau. When all the French and American soldiers had gathered, the 17,000 men moved on to Yorktown where they began a seige on Cornwallis and his 8,000 men.     

    The first stop was the redoubts the British had built for their defense.

     The next stop was the Grand French Battery, where on Oct 6, the first seige line was built.  On Oct 9, firing on the British began.  The different types of cannons are explained here.  We learned all about them during our CW EFT last year on Yorktown. 

Now we got to actually see them set up.  Nearly a year later, my kids were able to give my husband all the details on the differences of each one.

      Then we drove to the Second Allied Seige Line, closer in to the British position. However, there was a problem. British redoubts 9 and 10 were in the way. 

We drove to Redoubts 9 and 10, which we learned about in the Yorktown EFT.  Lafayette was the commander and Col John Laurens led the storming of Redoubt 10 while the French took Redoubt 9 on October 14.  Up to the attack, the cannons had been steadily firing upon the British without relief.  To prevent any accidents, the soldiers disarmed their guns yet engaged their bayonets. Suddenly the cannons were silenced, the soldiers attacked the redoubts which were captured within 30 minutes.  

It is amazing how quickly these structures were built. The technique goes back to the Middle Ages.

The York River is creeping up behind the redoubt.

 The Continental Army advanced and continued the bombardment. General Cornwallis surrendered three days later. Meeting at the Moore House, Lt. Col. John Laurens negotiated the surrender terms.  Because he, General Benjamin Lincoln and their men were captured the year before in South Carolina and denied the honors of war, Laurens insisted on the same for the British surrender. 

This house overlooks the York River.

Then we drove to the surrender site. This body of water was beautiful!

 This is the field where the British formally surrendered.  Denied the honors of war meant that the flags had to be cased and the losing army could not play the victor's music. General Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony and had his second in command hand over the ceremonial surrender sword. The British soldiers angrily laid down their arms.  This was the last major battle of the American Revolution.

 These are the British cannons that were turned over to the Americans.

 Although there was another driving tour to the French encampment and Washington's headquarters, the day was getting short. Instead we wrapped up our tour of Yorktown by  going into the town, to the Nelson House.  Thomas Nelson led a local "tea party" on the York River in 1774.  He was the third governor of Virginia, behind Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. While he was governor, he was also general of the Virignia militia during the Seige of Yorktown. He directed his men to shoot the artillery at the British, even if it meant his house would be destroyed. Apparently he also gave Washington a white horse, named Nelson. Here is his house today. While we walked up to the house, we heard a cannon blast which made me jump out of my skin!  I had to think a moment, then I realized it came from the Victory Center, the hands on Battle of Yorktown museum.  Considering the setting for the day, it sure seemed realistic!

There are scars from the seige today. Here's a cannon ball, that's been put in one of the scars.

We had a few minutes left so we walked down to the riverfront. The land on the other side is Gloucester Point, where Banastre Tarleton and his men were. We met Tarleton at Under the Redcoat.

Doesn't the boat ride look like fun?

Then we left for Williamsburg for the beginning of Prelude to Victory!