The U.S. Army Campaigns of the Revolutionary War
CMH Pub 71-54
GPO S/N: Not Available

On the morning of 17 October 1781, a British officer climbed onto the forward defensive works protecting Yorktown, Virginia. To the sound of a drummer beating “parley,” the officer raised his sword. At its point, he had tied a makeshift white flag haphazardly fashioned out of a handkerchief.

It was not a position in which the British army had often found itself during the Revolutionary War—in scale, only their defeat at the Battle of Saratoga rivaled it. After nearly three weeks of besiegement, assault, and bombardment by the Continental Army, the French army, and the French fleet under the allied command of General George Washington, the British had reached their breaking point. Cut off from retreat by the weather, geography, and opposing forces, General Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis, begrudgingly conceded that the siege was over—even though he refused to surrender personally. Two days later, after several rounds of negotiations, nearly 8,000 British and German soldiers cased their colors and dropped their weapons in a pile at the feet of the American and French victors. Looking on, General Washington could reflect on the brutal six years his army had endured: the more than 400-mile secret march from New York to Virginia and the success of his victory at Yorktown.

Without any traditional campaigns or even significant battles in the United States, the time from late 1781 through 1783 often is banished to the shadows of military history. However, the military actions, diplomacy, and politics all were linked. Strategically, the 1783 Treaty of Paris literally set the borders of the new United States and shaped its place within the international order. Yet even more important for the American military, these years were crucial to reaffirming its character and ideals. Whether it was debating the morality of partisan fighting in the backcountry, suppressing a potential officers’ coup against Congress, or General Washington resigning his commission, these years saw soldiers do more than just win a war— the military built a tradition and established a nation. By reaffirming the principles of the revolution, establishing a standard for ethical leadership, and creating the blueprint for civilian-military relations that still exists today, the two years after Yorktown—and specifically the events of 1783—represent the ideological foundation of the modern U.S. military.