News of Victory

News of the Allies’ victory at Yorktown spread rapidly after Cornwallis’s defeat. On October 20, 1781, Washington sent his aide, Lieutenant Tench Tilghman, to Philadelphia to notify the Continental Congress. Tilghman left Yorktown by boat, landed near Annapolis on October 22, and rode day and night to reach Philadelphia early on October 24, sick with chills and fever. The bell of the Pennsylvania State House rang out in celebration. On November 3, Washington’s aide Colonel David Humphreys arrived in Philadelphia and presented Congress with 27 regimental flags and colors surrendered at Yorktown. Although the war continued for another two years, the victory led to peace negotiations, and with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States. After the surrender, more than 7,000 British and German prisoners were taken by the Allied forces. On October 21, 1781, all able-bodied prisoners marched from Yorktown toward internment camps in Virginia, Maryland, and ultimately Pennsylvania. Some escaped and others died, but most remained in the camps until the end of the war. Cornwallis received parole along with many of his officers, and when he returned to England expecting disgrace, he instead found overwhelming support, with King George III saying he did not lay anything at the charge of Lord Cornwallis.

Virginia · United States