The Surrender at Yorktown, 1781
The Marblehead Museum Lecture series will continue on Thursday, March 24 at the Old Town House with a lecture by Standley Goodwin. Goodwin’s interest in Marblehead history led him to study the American Revolution, and its conclusion at Yorktown, with the success of the American Patriots and the surrender of British General Cornwallis.
Cornwallis had been very successful against the Patriots for most of the war. But when he moved into Virginia his troops were weary. General George Washington instructed the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in Virginia with an American army, to block Cornwallis’ escape from Yorktown by land. In the meantime, Washington’s troops in New York were joined by a French army under the command of Count de Rochambeau. Admiral de Grasse transported Washington and de Rochambeau’s men to Virginia, where they joined Lafayette and completed the encirclement of Yorktown. The Franco-American troops gradually overcame the fortified British positions with the aid of de Grasse’s warships. On October 19, 1781, British General Cornwallis surrendered. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British band played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.” It was indeed an unlikely and unexpected end to the war, as Goodwin will present.
The Marblehead Museum Spring Lecture Series is sponsored by Marble Harbor Investment Counsel. The lecture will take place at 7:30 pm at the Old Town House at 1 Market Square. Admission to the lecture is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. Reservations are suggested at 781-631-1768.
