Washington informs Congress of the French Fleet's arrival in Chesapeake Bay 1781
£340
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[Prelude to the Battle of Yorktown. Report of the Battle of Groton Heights, and correspondence from George Washington to Congress informing them of the arrival of the French Fleet in Chespeake Bay, and from General Clinton to Lord Germaine informing him of the same, an action which prevented the withdrawal or resupply of the British Army under Cornwallis at Yorktown, and which precipitated their defeat].
Prelude to the Battle of Yorktown: These pages contain a report on the Battle of Groton Heights and critical correspondence from both the American and British sides, offering valuable insight into the decisive days leading up to the British defeat at Yorktown in 1781. Among the documents are dispatches from General George Washington to the Continental Congress, announcing the timely arrival of the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse in Chesapeake Bay. This naval reinforcement marked a turning point in the war, effectively blocking British naval access and preventing the withdrawal or resupply of General Cornwallis’s forces, then entrenched at Yorktown, Virginia. Also included are dispatches from British General Sir Henry Clinton to Lord George Germain, in which Clinton reports the same development with growing alarm, and a letter from Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who acknowledges that the strength of the French fleet is too great for him to attempt a relief operation without additional reinforcements. The French fleet’s control of the Chesapeake sealed off any possibility of escape or reinforcement for Cornwallis. This strategic entrapment—coordinated by Washington’s combined American and French land forces and the French navy at sea—led to the siege and eventual surrender of Cornwallis’s army in October 1781, effectively ending major military operations in the American Revolutionary War.
Size 20 x 13 cm | 8.0 x 5.0 inches
Date Published: October 1781
Type: Five antique copperplate pages, on three sheets
Author: Washington, George & Clinton, Henry
Publication: Gentleman's Magazine
Condition: Good |
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