A large British force under Lord Cornwallis marched from North Carolina and reached Virginia in May 1781, then after a summer of skirmishes with American forces under the Marquis de Lafayette took up positions near Yorktown while also constructing fortifications across the York River at Gloucester Point. In Gloucester, Brigadier General George Weedon organized militia and reserve forces to protect local citizens and restrict British foraging, despite severe shortages of cartridges, arms, equipment, and artillery. His command, numbering about 1,200 militiamen, was strengthened when Lauzun's Legion arrived in late September with hussars, infantry, and artillery, followed by additional French troops under General Gabriel de Choisy on October 1. These reinforcements enabled the Franco-American allies to push Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's forces back to Gloucester Point during the Battle of the Hook on October 3, confining them there for the rest of the siege. By mid-September Cornwallis understood that he faced a three-part allied investment: a French fleet in the Chesapeake Bay blocking evacuation, a Franco-American army near Yorktown, and Virginia militia reinforced by regular infantry, while Gloucester remained vital as a food source and his only land escape route. At 3:00 p.m. on October 19, 1781, one hour after the British surrender at Yorktown, the British troops at Gloucester Point laid down their weapons. The victory came at heavy cost to Gloucester, where three months of warfare left widespread destruction, including burned fences, pillaged homes, ruined crops, slaughtered animals, and the loss of 159 enslaved people in British raids, leading 100 local families to petition the governor for tax relief.

Photo: Brandon D Cross

Gloucester Point, Virginia · USA