Yorktown, Virginia

Yorktown is a town in Virginia. It is the seat of York County and the site of the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.

History[]

Season 4[]

General Cornwallis visits Benedict Arnold’s quarters and informs Arnold that Clinton refused to send more men and instead wants them to establish a naval post in Yorktown. Arnold summons Abe and asks for his sales contacts before he heads to Yorktown. In a flashback, Arnold warns Cornwallis that their forces in Yorktown will be geographically vulnerable to French fleets. He draws a map to illustrate their weakness, but Cornwallis refuses to defy Clinton’s orders.^[1]

In Yorktown, Hewlett informs Cornwallis and the other army commanders that Clinton needs men for another campaign in York City. Cornwallis confirms he will send reserves to aid Clinton. In a medical tent, a doctor treats Simcoe and says that his outlook is grave. He tells Simcoe to get his affairs in order.

Meanwhile, in the Allied camp outside Yorktown, Abe reunites with Mary and Thomas. Anna, Caleb and Ben join them. “So much for Samuel Culper,” says Ben, now that Abe’s identity has been revealed. Abe asks for a moment alone with Mary. Abe urges her to return to Setauket with Thomas but she refuses to leave his side. In Ben’s tent, Abe debriefs Ben on the British army’s supply inventory, which he gleaned from Arnold’s ledger. He informs Ben that the British are low on munitions powder. Washington convenes his generals and devises a plan to defeat the British in Yorktown by using the enemy’s own entrenchments and overtaking the redoubts.

On the battlefield that night, Ben orders the Allied forces to reinforce the British entrenchments at Yorktown while fighting the British. The next day, the Allied forces advance on the British redoubts at Yorktown. The French fleet advances on the British fleet near Yorktown. British ship captains consult their signal books and communicate with each other using incorrect flags, as a result of Townsend’s sabotaging the signal books. The French bombard the confused British ships.

The battle at Yorktown continues on October 9th. Abe helps fortify the trenches amid heavy gunfire while Anna brings water to soldiers. Abe glimpses Washington giving orders nearby. When Anna is nearly shot, Abe runs towards her, but Abe is shot and falls to the ground. Caleb carries him off the battlefield.

In the British medical tent, Hewlett sneaks up to Simcoe’s cot with a dagger drawn, but hides when he hears Rangers coming. He eavesdrops as Simcoe urges his men to rejoin their former rebel units and avoid execution by claiming they were captured. Simcoe says he will ship out with the other commanding officers who are ill. Hewlett walks away.

Meanwhile, Ben informs Washington that the British are low on munitions powder, that they have enough for a march, but not for a siege. Washington capitalizes on this weakness by planning an attack on the redoubts that night. That night on October 11th, Allied forces – Ben, Caleb, and Alexander Hamilton among them – storm the British redoubts at Yorktown and overtake them in a ruthless battle. They seize control of the British cannons and fire them on the British forces in town.

In the morning, the British wave a white flag of surrender. In Surrender Field, the British army marches through a gauntlet of Continental and French forces to a drumline. Lafayette orders the Allied musicians to play “Yankee Doodle.” A British commanding officer presents Cornwallis’s sword to Washington. Washington says he is honored to accept their surrender. The British soldiers drop their guns as they march away while the Allied forces look on.^[2]