Arriving outside the town later that day, the two commanders deployed their forces with the Americans on the right and the French on the left.įor three days, the Continental/French armies pounded the British lines around the clock. With the army assembled, Washington and Rochambeau began the march to Yorktown on September 28. Once there, they joined with Lafayette’s forces who had been shadowing Cornwallis' movements. Washington chose to concentrate his forces at Williamsburg. These events are covered in Chernow’s biography on pages 160-165.
This song captures the events that occurred during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Yet We negotiate the terms of surrender I see George Washington smile We escort their men out of Yorktown They stagger home single file Tens of thousands of people flood the streets There are screams and church bells ringing And as our fallen foes retreat I hear the drinking song they’re singing… The world turned upside down The world turned upside down The world turned upside down The world turned upside down Down Down, down, down Freedom for America, freedom for France! Down, down, down Gotta start a new nation Gotta meet my son Down, down, down We won! We won! We won! We won! The world turned upside down! We tend to our wounded, we count our dead Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom Not. That’s right Hercules Mulligan! A tailor spyin’ on the British government! I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it Up To my brother's revolutionary covenant I’m runnin’ with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin’ it! See, that’s what happens when you up against the ruffians We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it! Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again! Left! Right! Hold! Go! What! What! What! After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief And just like that, it’s over.
Rochambeau! You have your orders now, go, man, go! And so the American experiment begins With my friends all scattered to the winds Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav’ry We’ll never be free until we end slavery! When we finally drive the British away Lafayette is there waiting- In Chesapeake Bay! How did we know that this plan would work? We had a spy on the inside.