During the Yorktown campaign, a large portion of the Second Allied Siege Line was constructed under cover of darkness on October 11 and 12, 1781, bringing the Allied batteries to within point-blank artillery range of Cornwallis's forces, just 360 yards away. Colonel Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General of the Continental Army, had pressed to move nearer because firing from the previous distance would not materially lessen the enemy's force and would waste ammunition, and by daybreak the British saw their enemy much closer.