Timeline Leading Up to the BattleAmerican Victory at YorktownIn the summer of 1780, 5,500 French troops, with Comte de Rochambeau at the helm, landed in Newport, Rhode Island to aid the Americans. At the time, British forces were fighting on two fronts, with General Henry Clinton occupying New York City, and Cornwallis, who had already captured Charleston and Savannah, in South Carolina.“It was obvious that the Americans needed a big victory if they were to convince the peace conference in Europe that they had a right to demand independence for all thirteen colonies,” writes Thomas Fleming in his book,Yorktown. With the Continental Army positioned in New York, Washington and Rochambeau teamed to plan a timed attack on Clinton with the arrival of more French forces. When they found the French fleet was instead sailing to the Chesapeake Bay, Washington concocted a new plan. “He would fool Clinton into thinking the Continentals were planning to attack New York while instead sneaking away...
