Siege of Yorktown: A Low Point for Slaves in the American Revolution

In the autumn of 1781, General Lord Charles Cornwallis found himself, along with 6,000 British soldiers and 4,000 African Americans, trapped in Yorktown. Surrounded by American and French soldiers and hemmed in by the French navy, Cornwallis faced a grim situation that, a few years prior, was considered unthinkable by either side. The British were on the verge of a catastrophic defeat. This siege at Yorktown set the stage not only for American independence, but for a shocking event that remains neglected by most history books, yet is one of the lowest points in U.S. history, especially for African Americans. 

Most Americans today look at Yorktown as the place where American independence was realized. Yes, the Treaty of Paris, which formally recognized American independence, would not be signed until 1783, but the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 is what broke the back of the British and made recognition of American independence inevitable. Understandably, it's been seen accordingly as a high point in American history. Sadly, it was not a high point for the slaves in the American Revolution era.

Black auxiliaries started following the Southern British Army after the siege of Charleston. Most did camp work or quartermaster task, but many African Americans would also serve in the British Army. With good rations and decent pay by the time of Yorktown, thousands of freed blacks were assisting Cornwallis's Army. 

On October 9^th 1781, Allied cannons began to bombard the British positions at Yorktown. For over a week, listening to the whistles and the screams of cannonballs would be the norm for the fortified British.  The dead started to pile, and General Clinton's promised relief force was nowhere in site. With the British Army low on food and provisions, they would send their loyal African workers at gun point into the Continental lines. They did this in the slave state of Virginia.

Later, when the situation became hopeless, Cornwallis ordered the full surrender of his army. On a clear, sunny October day in 1781, the British bands played a tune “The World Turned Upside Down” for on this dreadful day their world was indeed upside down. As they marched in fife and drum and the music played, they laid down their arms in surrender. Over six thousand chosen British troops were now prisoners of the Americans. “If summer were spring and the other way round, then all the world would be upside down.” The Southern British Army had been defeated, most of the prisoners would be paroled or sent to work on farms, but what about the African Americans who assisted the British during this campaign? What became of them?

The aftermath of Yorktown for African Americans was not a pleasant one. Historians estimate that between 1,000 and 2,000 African Americans died during the siege of Yorktown, many due to malnutrition, disease (small pox is said to have been the cause of most of the deaths), exhaustion, or from battle wounds. A few of the African workers boarded the overly crowded British ship Bonetta, which sailed to New York City.  Most of those who were sent out of the British camp before the surrender would be returned to slavery. An accurate number of survivors is difficult for historians to find, but estimates of around 3,000 African American workers returned to slavery. 

This was indeed yet another example of the most tragic paradox of the American Revolution and the newly formed United States of America. Just five years before Yorktown, Thomas Jefferson had written into the Declaration of Independence the beautiful claim that "all men are created equal." The American Revolution would put America on the course to ultimately living out that ideal, but for African Americans, that course would be longer than the course for their white counterparts. This was especially the case for those African Americans betrayed by the British army at Yorktown.

**For more on the Siege of Yorktown, check out The Guns of Independence by Jerome Green.

Yorktown Victory Center to Get a New Name

The Board of Trustees of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation approved a new name for the Yorktown Victory Center. Visitors to the Yorktown battle site will soon experience the "American Revolution Museum at Yorktown." The new name will go into effect upon completion of the physical transformation that Yorktown's museum and center are now undergoing.

According to a press release issued by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, construction will begin in the second half of 2012 and will entail "an 80,000-square-foot structure that will encompass expanded exhibition galleries, classrooms and support functions, and reorganization of the 22-acre site, located at Route 1020 and the Colonial Parkway in Yorktown." The total cost is estimated at $46 million and will be funded primarily by sale of Virginia Public Building Authority bonds. Private donations will fund gallery and outdoor exhibits.

“The new name highlights the core offering of the museum, American Revolution history,” said Frank B. Atkinson, who chaired the naming study task force comprised of 11 members of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc., boards, “and the inclusion of the word ‘Yorktown’ provides a geographical anchor.  We arrived at this choice through a methodical process that began with compiling an extensive list of potential names, engaging our Museums and Programs Advisory Council and Foundation staff.  Key elements to include in the name were identified, and research was undertaken on names currently in use.  Selected names were tested with Yorktown Victory Center visitors and reviewed by a trademark attorney and branding consultant.”

“This name ideally reflects what we aim to achieve with the new museum,” said Foundation Chairman H. Benson Dendy III.  “The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will provide a renewed perspective on the meaning and impact of the Revolution and will have a nationally important role, along with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the National Park Service and other Historic Triangle partners, in interpreting events that transformed 13 British colonies into the United States of America.”

As the official press release noted, the Yorktown Victory Center has enjoyed "36 years of continuous operation" in which it has hosted "5.3 million visitors and has served more than 900,000 students with curriculum-based structured educational programs." In the early 1990s, the focus of the museum broadened to include the entire period, not just the events leading to Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.

The Yorktown Victory Center will remain in operation during construction.  The existing buildings will be demolished after the new building is complete, and new permanent gallery exhibits will be fabricated and installed after the new building is in use.  Upon completion of the entire project, with the new exhibition galleries ready for visitors, “American Revolution Museum at Yorktown” will be the museum’s name.