9 Chapter 8 Victory

Chapter 8 Victory The Continental Army was in a shambles in the spring of 1781, yet only seven months later, the war ended. One battle changed everything.

For a long time Washington had dreamed of retaking New York City, which had been captured by the British. Washington wanted a "big win" badly. But wisely, he now focused on victory in the South, in Virginia. The British commanding general—Lord Charles Cornwallis—had just moved his entire army to Yorktown, Virginia. It was on a peninsula, which meant his army was surrounded on three sides by water. As American ships headed into the area, a fleet of French ships joined them. Then Washington sent two thousand troops to join forces with French soldiers at the tip of the peninsula. All told, Washington had the strength of twenty-one thousand men; Cornwallis had only about seven thousand. Cornwallis's army was not only outnumbered, it was hemmed in on all sides. The British were trapped! The battle began. And on October 17, on the eighth day of bombardment, General Cornwallis

surrendered. Two days later, George Washington sat on his favorite horse, Nelson, watching the defeated British soldiers march out of Yorktown.

He did not realize right then that this victory spelled the end of the war. But it had. The Americans had won independence! It took two years before a treaty between Britain and the United States was signed in Paris, France.

As soon as word of the treaty came, Washington said farewell to his army. First he said good-bye to the ordinary soldiers. He called them a "patriotic band of brothers." A month later he met with his officers in Fraunces Tavern, in New York City. (The tavern is still there.) He broke down in tears—here were men who had stood by him through the long years of war. Each officer stood before him for a handshake, then a kiss on the cheek.

George Washington resigned from the army. On Christmas Eve, 1783, he arrived home. Martha was there at Mount Vernon to greet him. He planned to take up farming again and spend the rest of his days in Virginia. He was fifty-one years old. It was time to retire.