1. The World Turned Upside Down

2. The World Turned Upside Down
The BIG mistake that cost the British…
The general in charge of British armies in the South was Lord Charles Cornwallis
Had spent a year chasing American forces in the South
Decided to move his army to Virginia
Felt he could defeat the soldiers in Virginia, and that would crush the Americans and end the war
Chose a small town called Yorktown for his base
Located on the York River, which flows into the ocean

3. The World Turned Upside Down
The general in charge of British armies in the South was Lord Charles Cornwallis
Had spent a year chasing American forces in the South
Decided to move his army to Virginia
Felt he could defeat the soldiers in Virginia, and that would crush the Americans and end the war
Chose a small town called Yorktown for his base
Located on the York River, which flows into the ocean
Ships could easily reach him to get him supplies
Also left his troops without a place to retreat. If they were attacked, they’d have to retreat toward the river and ocean, where they would get stuck!
But Cornwallis felt safe with the British navy nearby...

5. Washington responds
While Cornwallis was setting up his base at Yorktown, Washington was meeting with French general Rochambeau in Rhode Island
The French had already sent an army to help out, and had a large French fleet of ships on the way
Washington and General Rochambeau were making a plan to attack in New York City, when the news of Yorktown arrived
Washington recognized the mistake Cornwallis had made…

6. Washington responds
Washington decided to forget about attacking in New York City- the American and French armies should head to Virginia immediately!
The two armies combined could trap Cornwallis with his army’s back against the river
If the French fleet could arrive in time, they could prevent the British fleet from helping Cornwallis
Then Cornwallis would have to surrender! In one single victory, Washington could win the war!
But Yorktown was 500 miles away… Washington’s military career had begun with a 500 mile journey during the French & Indian War, and that journey ended in failure and disappointment- could this journey end in victory and success?

7. Traveling to Yorktown
It took more than a month for the American and French armies to get to Yorktown
Then, they took a few days to fortify Yorktown
Built trenches around the town, surrounding it by land

8. The battle October 9, 1781 at 5:00 PM
The first cannon was fired, and the battle began!
For once, the American army had more weapons and ammo, and the British were outnumbered:
British + Germans = 9,000 soldiers
Americans (about 11,000 soldiers) + French (about 8,800 soldiers) = nearly 20,000 soldiers!

9. The battle, cont. Cornwallis looked to the sea for help
No help came! The French fleet had driven off the British fleet!
Cornwallis and his army were on their own…
Each day, Washington moved his army closer and closer, tightening the half-ring a bit more
Washington rode back and forth amongst his men, taking the chance of being shot as he rode through the troops
His soldiers cheered him on, grateful for their leader

10. The battle, cont.
Cornwallis was trapped, his back to the water, amidst the fire of guns and the roar of cannons
On October 17, recognizing that it was useless to continue, General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington

11. The battle, cont.
Two days later, the American and French forces formed two long lines
The defeated British troops marched between the armies that had beaten them, as they left the town
While they marched out of Yorktown, a British army band played a tune they all knew, an old nursery rhyme…
Strange song to play, perhaps, but it was chosen for its words-

12. British Nursery Rhyme
If buttercups buzzed after the bee, If boats were on land, churches on sea, If ponies rode men, and if grass ate the corn, And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse, If the mammas sold babies for half a crown, If summer were spring, and the other way ‘round, Then all the world would be upside down

13. Victory & Independence
A ragtag collection of citizen soldiers had defeated one of the world’s greatest armies
For the first time in world history, colonists had defeated a mother country
The United States of America had been created, and the British Empire had been humbled
American colonies were now officially “free and independent states”

14. A Final Word…
The American Revolution produced many of the world’s finest heroes:
George Washington, John Paul Jones, Nathan Hale, to name just a few
Most of the heroes from the war were just ordinary people, whose names never made it to the history books
They were the Minutemen at Lexington
The soldiers shivering at Valley Forge
The women who cared for the ill and wounded, and kept farms and towns running
Farm families who shared food with soldiers
Townspeople who gave the soldiers housing
Women, children, and older men who made weapons and gunpowder
Ordinary people who did extraordinary things to raise the spirits of the soldiers, and to keep the war going

15. A Final Word…
At the beginning of the war, the question for Americans was, “Are we capable of winning?”
When the war was over, people across the world asked, “How could the American colonies have possibly won a war against the one of the world’s greatest military powers?”
The answer was obvious to the Americans… The main reason the Revolutionary War was won is that ordinary Americans refused to lose it.