-
Washington starts moving South
Washington hears about the British plan and starts secretly moving his army south to stop them. -
British navy withdrew from Virginia coast
A French fleet under Admiral de Grasse defeated a British fleet, so Cornwallis stopped getting his necessary supplies for his army and were therefore isolated from other British troops. -
American and French army arrived at Yorktown
They had heard about the new plan to take over the New England colonies, so they had been moving South to meet them and stop them from taking over their land. -
Americans started fighting
Mostly attacking redoubts (forts) to weaken the British army. -
American army made British unable to leave
Because the Virginia Coast had been recovered by the Americans, the British army was fully surrounded and unable to leave. General Cornwallis attempted to sneak through the barriers of Patriot soldiers, but was caught and sent back to his own camp. -
British carried out a "sortie"
Much like the hit-and-runs that the American army had been doing, the British were able to regain some of their redoubts back, but weren't close to defeating the Patriots. -
Cornwallis surrenders
General Cornwallis surrenders because he realizes that he's running out of supplies to support his army, and that General Clinton was probably not coming to his rescue in time, which was why he waited instead of attacking the Patriots at sight. -
British taken hostage
Some British soldiers were taken to Winchester, Virginia; Frederick, Maryland; and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. -
Clinton's relieving force arrived
That's right, 5 days after Cornwallis surrendered, his rescuers came. They heard the news and left as soon as possible. -
Treaty of Paris signed
The Treaty of Paris was an official agreement between the colonies and Britain that Britain would give up all their claims on land and recognize America as an independent country, and that Americans would give all rights back to the Loyalists.
