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American Siege During the Battle of Yorktown

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The American Revolution began in 1765 and ended in 1783 with the signing of a peace treaty, which confirmed the separation from the British Empire. The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge lessons learned from the American siege that took place in Yorktown, Virginia, known as the Battle of Yorktown. The battle between the Franco-American forces and British Army began September 28, 1781 and lasted until the British surrender in October 19, 1781. In order to best do this, we must first get an understanding of the intended purpose of the battle, the Franco-American cooperation, events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, and the aftermath.
Prior to the historic Battle of Yorktown, General Washington had experienced a number of losses. These battles where along the upper east cost of the colonies in fairly strategically important places, such as New York and Boston. This is partly the reason why the British underestimated the strength and resiliency of the American forces. Additionally, they believed that the Americans would diplomatically end their rebellion, which unintentionally aided the American effort. Up until the Battle of Yorktown, the frustrations by the American forces were building up and a change in tactics was needed. Instead of the conventional combat tactics, General Washington began to use a guerrilla warfare methodology. Consequently, British forces were not expecting nor were accustomed to this type of attack and rapidly became exhausted.

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