Yorktown Battlefield in Virginia

Victory for George Washington’s Continental Army against General Cornwallis and the British troops at Yorktown in 1781 became the decisive turning point in the American Revolutionary War for winning our independence as a nation. Today Yorktown still stands as the small community it originally was, yet its history is larger than life. The stories of citizens and soldiers who shaped a new nation really come to life at the Yorktown Victory Center. 

1781 Napoleon cannon overlooks York River

Redoubts were defense mounts made by the British

 The timeline and gallery exhibits chronicle America’s struggle for independence from the beginnings of unrest to the adoption of the Constitution. The outdoor historical interpreters engaged folks to muster with the troops and learn about a soldier’s life at a re-created Continental Army’s encampment.

 French allies aided the Americans during the Siege of Yorktown

Molly Pitcher helped carry water in the Revolution

Redoubt 9 was one of 13 defenses on the Yorktown Battlefield

There was a chance to learn the true story what happened during the Siege of Yorktown verses the sparse information told in textbooks, to drive the battlefield and encampment roads, to visit the Moore House where surrender negotiations took place, 






to see the site of the British surrender, and catch a glimpse of artifacts included in tents used by George Washington. Yorktown was like witnessing the History Channel brought to life.

Generals George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette  

A 1780 working farm in Yorktown 

Victory Monument today

Historic Yorktown houses