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With
the blockade of Boston Harbor and the meeting of the First
Continental Congress, many were ready to declare
independence. King George felt the "dye is now cast." War
would follow which tested the will of both the British and
the Americans.
From
the Battle at Lexington in 1775 to the Surrender of
Cornwalis at Yorktown in 1781, war raged in the American
colonies. Eventually perseverance by the Americans and the
alliance of France helped trap a major British army at
Yorktown, not far from Williamsburg. These cannons shelled
the British troops during the siege.
Dirt
redoubts were constructed to repel the British troops when
they tried to escape from the town.
Mortars
also bombarded the English forces until they must either
surrender or be annihilated.
Outside
Yorktown lies Surrender Field where Cornwalis sent his
second-in-command to surrender his sword, the symbol of
defeat. The second first tried to surrender to the French,
who refused, sending him to General George Washington.
Recognizing that he was being insulted by the absence of
Cornwalis, Washington had his second-in-command receive the
sword. As the British disarmed and marched out of Yorktown,
their military band played a song entitled The World
Turned Upside Down.
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