named for Christopher Wormley, a local property owner and a member of
the council of colonial Virginia. On the west side of this inlet, a
little town (perhaps best described as a small settlement) took form. It
seemingly grew up around “Yorke Fort,” built on the point formed by
Wormley Creek and York River. In 1633, “Yorke” was selected as a
receiving point, and stores were ordered built to serve this settlement
and that of Chiskiack just up the river. “Yorke” was separate and
distinct from present Yorktown, but actually a direct antecedent. Early
courts convened here, and there were a church and a courthouse with its
customary instruments of justice (stocks, a pillory, and a ducking
stool). The tomb of Maj. William Gooch here is one of the oldest
existing dated tombs in the United States.
In establishing his survey of Yorktown in 1691, Lawrence Smith proceeded
to the high bluffs above the river and laid out 85 half-acre lots
arranged along a principal street (Main Street) running parallel with
the river and seven streets which intersected Main. Many of the original
street names still remain, as do original lot lines. In proceeding to
the high ground to make the survey, a strip of land, described in 1691
as “a Common Shore of no value,” was left between the town and the
river. This area actually proved of considerable value. Here, Water
Street took form as the second Yorktown street running parallel with the
river. Along it developed wharves, loading places, ships, stores,
lodging accommodations, and considerable miscellaneous development. It
was officially made a part of the town in 1738, but designated a commons
until surveyed into lots in 1788.
Yorktown’s history has been continuous since 1691, although its
prosperous era of growth was not destined to extend beyond the colonial
period. Soon after its establishment lots were taken up, homes began to
appear, and a number of vigorous families settled in the town. Public
activities for the county were soon concentrated here. In 1697, the
meeting place for York County Court was moved to a building on Lot 24,
and this lot still functions for county purposes. About the same time,
too, the York Parish Church was erected on Lot 35.
The excellent harbor in the York River, plus restrictive legislation on
trade, stimulated the growth of the town as the framers of the Port Act
had hoped. It became a tobacco port of first importance as it drew on
the crops grown on the plantations round about. None was better known,
perhaps, than the famous “E. D.” brand grown on the Digges estate (later
Bellfield) just above Yorktown. Ships came singly and in fleets to get
hogsheads of tobacco which had been duly examined by the inspectors
provided through the Colonial Government. Warehouses and wharves were
busy with tobacco shipments, and later in the century, with other crops.
Incoming freight for the town residents, plantation owners, and others
included clothing of latest fashion, wines and liquor, furniture,
jewelry and silver plate, riding gear and coaches, swords and firearms,
books, and slaves for the fields and kitchens. This was the trade that
made Yorktown a thriving business center in the 18th century—a port that
led in Chesapeake Bay commerce until it was later outstripped by its
rivals.
Yorktown stood overlooking the York River, with the better homes, inns,
and public buildings on the bluffs in the town proper. Below the bluffs
on the waterfront wharves, warehouses, small stores, and drinking places
predominated. Along the water’s edge, too, were establishments such as
that of Charles Chiswell, who was given a patent for land there on which
to build accommodations “for his greater Conveniency in Victualing His
Majesties Ships of War according to his Contract.”
[Illustration: _Yorktown in 1754. From a sketch (now in the
Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Va.) drawn by a British Naval
Officer._]
When fully extended and at peak prosperity, colonial Yorktown must have
been a rather pleasant little town. At best, its population very likely
never exceeded 3,000—a small number by present standards, yet sizeable
for that period. An English visitor who stopped here in 1736 wrote of
it:
You perceive a great Air of Opulence amongst the Inhabitants, who have
some of them built themselves Houses, equal in Magnificence to many of
our superb ones at _St. James’s_.... Almost every considerable Man
keeps an Equipage.... The Taverns are many here, and much
frequented.... The Court-House is the only considerable publick
Building, and is no unhandsome Structure.... The most considerable
Houses are of Brick; some handsome ones of Wood, all built in the
modern Taste; and the lesser Sort, of Plaister. There are some very
pretty Garden Spots in the Town; and the Avenues leading to
Williamsburg, Norfolk, &c., are prodigiously agreeable.
Between 1691 and 1781, fortunes were made at Yorktown in the tobacco
trade. But not everyone was a wealthy merchant or prosperous planter.
There were men of all types and classes on the streets, in the taverns,
and on the wharves—merchants, planters, planter-merchants, propertied
yeomen, unsuccessful merchants, shopkeepers and innkeepers in large
number, indentured servants, and slaves. Apprentices rose to become
partners, as in the case of Augustine Moore in the Nelson firm. In 1781,
he was the owner of the Moore House, where the Articles of Capitulation
were drafted.
The more prominent families were united by marriage with all the noted
Tidewater families. The most famous son of Yorktown was Thomas Nelson,
Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Virginia,
and commander of the militia at the siege of 1781. His remains rest in
the churchyard of Grace Church in Yorktown.
From the point of view of growth and prosperity, Yorktown was at its
peak about 1750. The shops continued busy and the wharves full, perhaps
for another quarter of a century; yet, even before the Revolution,
evidences of decline were discernible. Whatever commercial good fortune
may have been expected for the town was rendered difficult by the
destruction and waste that came with the siege of 1781. Other forces of
decline, however, were also at work. Rival points of trade, because of
location, took much of the produce that might have come to Yorktown. The
soil of the surrounding country was worn thin, and the center of tobacco
culture moved southwest. All in all, it meant that Yorktown would not
continue to grow.
The events of September and October 1781 gave Yorktown its position of
first rank in the story of the American Revolution, yet its earlier and
less publicized history in that war is both interesting and significant.
The leaders of opinion in Yorktown were merchants who stood to suffer
much as supporters of the patriotic cause. Their losses were heavy in
many cases, but they stood behind the Revolution practically to a man.
As early as July 18, 1774, York County had called a meeting “to consider
what was to be done in the present distressed and alarming situation of
affairs throughout the _British_ Colonies in _America_.” Five months
later there was a miniature “tea party” in the Yorktown harbor. In 1775,
Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Dudley Digges were named as delegates to the
Virginia Convention of that year. In 1776, Nelson went on to the
Continental Congress, became a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and in 1781 was elected Governor of Virginia. Other
Yorktown personalities prominent on the political scene during the
Revolution include David Jameson, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in
1781; Thomas Everard, a commissioner of accounts from 1776 to 1781;
Dudley Digges, councilor and leader; Jaquelin Ambler, a councilor and
then, in 1781, State Treasurer; and Thomas Nelson, Sr., made Secretary
of the Commonwealth in 1776.
In the spring of 1775, Governor Dunmore of Virginia became fearful of
the vulnerability of the powder stores in Williamsburg and, during the
night of April 20-21, he had them moved secretly to the man-of-war,
_Fowey_, anchored off Yorktown. This was the spark that set off the
Revolution in Virginia. Then came Patrick Henry’s march on Williamsburg
and more alarm. At this point Dunmore became greatly disturbed. He sent
his family aboard the _Fowey_, still at Yorktown, and he himself set up
headquarters on this warship in the harbor on June 6. The assembly
refused to meet in Yorktown, as Dunmore suggested, and proceeded to do
business without the governor. It was mid-July before Dunmore finally
left Yorktown harbor, thus ending royal government in Virginia.
The enlistment of troops soon got under way in York County. The first
move was for two companies of minutemen. The one with Yorktown men was
to be captained by William Goosley. The council ordered Yorktown to be
garrisoned in June 1776, since the strategic location and value of the
port were recognized from the very beginning. These troops were soon
sent elsewhere, however, and the barracks at Yorktown were often
woefully empty. The garrison apparently continued active until the
British occupied the town in 1781. The battery built here and manned,
first in 1776, to protect the town and “to command the River,”
particularly the means of “trade and commerce,” suffered varying
fortunes, but mostly, it seems, from “too little and too late.” In 1777,
a troop hospital was set up in the town in time to render service in the
smallpox epidemic of that year.
From 1776 to mid-1781, Yorktown residents heard the drums roll, became
familiar with the tread of marching columns, and witnessed periodic
scares of attack and invasion. They contributed supplies, work, money,
men, and life. They saw trade decline, “hard times” set in, property
wantonly destroyed by thoughtless troops, and received the varying news
of war with rejoicing, or with sorrow.
In the winter of 1779-80, French war vessels used the York River and may
have found some comfort in the guns of the Yorktown fort. In March 1781,
Lafayette stepped ashore here, after his trip down the bay at the
beginning of his operations in Virginia. The raid on Yorktown by
Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe and his Queen’s Rangers in April of the same
year was a foretaste of what was soon to come, as was Cornwallis’
preliminary inspection of the post on June 28. There was little active
campaigning, however, and the full meaning of conquest and occupation by
the enemy was not understood until the advance units of Cornwallis’ army
entered the town in August 1781.
When the siege of 1781 was over, Yorktown quickly entered upon its
decline. The damages of the siege had been devastating, trade fell off,
and citizens—even whole families—moved away. It quickly became a village
with no major commercial or business activity. In this category it has
continued. Its history in the 19th century was punctuated by only an
occasional significant event or development.
[Illustration: _A park historian tells visitors about this original
siege cannon overlooking the York River. (Courtesy, Thomas L.
Williams.)_]
[Illustration: _The Ship Exhibit—a section of a gun deck and a part
of the Captain’s Cabin (reconstructed) of the 44-gun British
frigate_ CHARON.]
In 1814, a great fire began on the waterfront and swept into the town
destroying many of the old buildings, rich in colonial associations.
Lafayette visited Yorktown in 1824, and there was a celebration in
commemoration of the events of 43 years earlier. By 1840 the sandy beach
before the town had begun to attract visitors, as it does today, in
increasing numbers. In 1862, there was a second siege of Yorktown—a
lesser engagement in the Civil War. Many of the fortifications built
then still stand. Being much more massive, they are in sharp contrast
with the earlier Revolutionary works. In the early 20th century,
residential suburban development around Yorktown was begun with a great
flourish, but did not take hold.
The Centennial Celebration staged at Yorktown in 1881 once more brought
the town into national prominence. Large crowds journeyed to the little
village to attend and to participate in exercises which extended over a
period of several days. Fifty years later, in 1931, there was the larger
Sesquicentennial Celebration. Visitors came from far and near to
participate in this extensive observance of the American and French
victory at Yorktown. Another major observance was in 1957 when Yorktown
contributed its part to the year-long activities marking the 350th
anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, 20 miles away, in 1607.
_Guide to the Area_
At Yorktown, the National Park Service is seeking to preserve and to
interpret all surviving features and reminders of the 18th century and
to restore the scene as closely as possible to what it was in
1781—before and during the siege. Accordingly, development has included
the reconstruction and restoration of buildings, fortifications, roads,
and other features after prolonged historical research. Where needed,
archeological excavations have revealed additional information on
location and identification. In addition to the program affecting the
area administered by the Service, every effort is made to encourage
private building and development in the neighborhood to follow a pattern
that will add to and enhance the picture and the atmosphere which are
being sought.
The following numbers correspond to those on the guide map (pages 28 and
29):
1. VISITOR CENTER. It is suggested that you stop first at the Visitor
Center located high above the York River and nestled in a curve of
existing fortifications. It is on the southeast edge of town with
convenient connection to the Colonial Parkway. Park personnel is
available here to assist you in planning your visit, as well as an
information desk, literature, a series of exhibits including
_Washington’s Tent_, and several dioramas. An introductory program of
slides and motion pictures is featured. Included, too, is the _Ship
Exhibit_—a reconstructed section of a gundeck and of the captain’s cabin
of a British 44-gun frigate, the _Charon_, which was sunk at Yorktown in
1781. It aids in the display of objects salvaged from the river. On the
roof of the Visitor Center is an _observation deck_ where you can view
the town, the battlefield, and the river. Adjacent to the building are
old existing embarkments on which are Revolutionary War artillery
pieces. One is the _Lafayette Cannon_, a piece taken from the British at
Yorktown by troops under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette and
later recognized by him in 1824 when he saw it at the Watervliet Arsenal
in New York.
Battlefield Tour.
A self-guiding auto tour begins and ends at the Visitor Center. Along
the drive are the major points of interest which are briefly described
below. The complete tour is some 15 miles long but you can take a
shorter tour of the 5-mile inner loop. It embraces the battlegrounds,
the French and American encampment areas, and the village of Yorktown.
The route is marked by uniform signs.
2. REDOUBT NO. 9 (reconstructed). A detachment of 400 French soldiers
distinguished itself on the night of October 14 by storming this British
strong point. The fall of this redoubt, and its neighbor, Redoubt No.
10, which was stormed by the Americans on the same night, was a decisive
action of the siege.
3. AMERICAN BATTERY NO. 2, SECOND ALLIED SIEGE LINE. Erected after the
capture of Redoubts Nos. 9 and 10, it was one of the most important
positions of the second siege line. There are several original artillery
pieces mounted in this reconstructed battery.
[Illustration: _French sailors visit British Redoubt No. 9 which
their countrymen captured in 1781._]
[Illustration: _The Lafayette Cannon—a 12-pounder made by W. Bowen
in 1759._]
4. REDOUBT NO. 10. Close to the edge of the riverbank, a small part of
the moat of this siege position is preserved and the parapet has been
rebuilt. This is all that now remains. The rest of the position has been
destroyed by erosion of the cliffs in the years since 1781. It was
captured from the British on the night of October 14 in a bayonet attack
led by Alexander Hamilton. Among those who distinguished themselves was
Sgt. William Brown who later was the recipient of one of the first
Purple Heart awards ever made. This award then was made only for
extraordinary bravery in action.
Five days after its capture, the allied leaders met in Redoubt No. 10
and affixed their signatures to the Articles of Capitulation which
already had been signed by the British commanders. This is, perhaps, the
most memorable spot on the Yorktown Battlefield.
5. AMERICAN SECTOR, FIRST ALLIED SIEGE LINE. The route now leads
across the field, open as in 1781, between the allied lines. Part of the
reconstructed communicating trench is visible. The next stop is in the
American sector of the first siege line at a point where the Americans
began to build their entrenchments (partly reconstructed).
6. AMERICAN APPROACH ROAD. The tour now follows the road used by the
American troops as they approached the fighting line. It passes the
location of their temporary supply depot. It is of interest to note that
the road is well down in a ravine and this gave protection from
shellfire. It led to the encampment area where troops bivouacked and
lived. Before crossing Wormley Creek, however, the road turns back
toward the York River.
7. MOORE HOUSE. Here in the private home of Augustine Moore on October
18, 1781, commissioners met to draft the Articles of Capitulation.
Constructed about 1725, the restored house is furnished as a home of the
1776-81 period. It is open daily.
8. MOORES MILL DAM. On the return from the Moore House the tour
crosses Wormley Creek over a dam where Augustine Moore had a grist mill,
as part of his 600-acre plantation. Ice for storage was probably cut
here in winter.
[Illustration: _Mill dam road across Wormley Creek._]
The marked drive now passes through a section of the American
encampment. Markers identify the more significant sites including:
9. BENJAMIN LINCOLN’S HEADQUARTERS SITE and 10. LAFAYETTE’S HEADQUARTERS SITE.
[Illustration: _“Surrender Room” in Moore House where the Articles
of Capitulation were drafted._]
11. SURRENDER FIELD. The next stop is at the south end of the field
where the British laid down their arms as called for in the Articles of
Capitulation. A sweeping view of a part of this field is possible from a
raised platform especially designed for the purpose. In front of this is
the trace of the old Warwick Road and bounding it on the right is the
still existing York-Hampton Road. It was along the latter that the
British troops marched out from Yorktown and this section of it is now
known as Surrender Road.
12. SURRENDER ROAD. From Surrender Field it is possible to go directly
back to Yorktown. It is suggested, however, that the route through the
encampment area and to the British outer works be chosen.
13. ENCAMPMENT DRIVE. Here the road passes through historically
interesting, and scenically beautiful, countryside. This is the only
access to such areas as:
A. _Von Steuben’s Headquarters Site._ Major General von Steuben, like
Lincoln and Lafayette, commanded a division of American troops.
B. _Rochambeau’s Headquarters Site._ Rochambeau commanded the French
Army under Washington.
C. _Washington’s Headquarters Site._ This is reached by a spur road from
the main tour drive. The ford, restored to use as it was in 1781, is
safe for vehicular travel.
D. _French Cemetery._ This is thought to be the burial site of a number
of the French soldiers killed during the siege.
E. _French Artillery Park._ This was a place for repairing and storing
cannon. Existing ground evidences indicate the manner in which carriages
were parked.
F. _French Army Encampment._
[Illustration: _The French Cemetery in the battlefield encampment
area. The cross marks the traditional burial site._]
G. _British Outer Works._ Cornwallis constructed several positions
between the headwaters of Yorktown and Wormley Creeks as a part of his
outer line. One of these has been partly reconstructed and is visible
from the tour road. Another is _an original position which remains
undisturbed_. A spur road from the main tour route gives access to it in
the area known as “Long Neck.”
14. GRAND FRENCH BATTERY. This position was the largest and one of the
most effective in the First Allied Siege Line. A part of it, including
gun platforms and magazines (powder and ammunition storage points), has
been reconstructed. The artillery now mounted here (a trench mortar,
siege cannon, mortars, and howitzers) are types used in the
Revolutionary period. Some of the pieces were actually used at Yorktown
during the siege.
15. NATIONAL CEMETERY. Established in 1866, this is chiefly a burial
ground for Union soldiers killed in the vicinity in the Civil War.
16. SECOND ALLIED SIEGE LINE. This is another point on the same
encircling line that came to include British Redoubts Nos. 9 and 10.
17. YORKTOWN. The tour now enters Yorktown proper where the British
army was encamped and in which it made its stand. The old Civil War line
rings the town today and under it is the British line of 1781.
[Illustration: _The figure of “Liberty” atop the Yorktown Victory
Monument. Sculptured by Oskar J. W. Hansen._]
[Illustration: _The Nelson House where Cornwallis may have had his
headquarters in the last days of the siege._]
A. _Site of Secretary Nelson’s House._ Here Cornwallis had his
headquarters when the siege opened. He remained until allied artillery
forced him out. Secretary Thomas Nelson was, for many years, Secretary
of the Colony of Virginia. The site has been marked by the Yorktown
Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
B. _Victory Monument._ Authorized by Congress in 1781, the shaft was not
begun until 1881 (completed 3 years later) as a part of the Yorktown
Centennial Celebration. The original figure of “Liberty” was damaged by
lightning in 1942 and replaced by a new figure in 1956.
C. _Cornwallis Cave._ This natural cave in a marl cliff was undoubtedly
used by the British in 1781. Staff conferences could have been held here
late in the siege.
D. _Nelson House._ This residence is believed to have been Cornwallis’
headquarters in the last days of the siege. It was built prior to 1745
by “Scotch Tom” Nelson and was later the home of his grandson, Gen.
Thomas Nelson, Jr. The house has cannonballs imbedded in its east wall
that are thought to have been fired during the siege of 1781.
[Illustration: OLD HOUSES AND OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST
IN THE
“TOWN OF YORK”]
[Illustration: _The West House—owned by the Digges family for a long
time._]
18. FUSILIERS REDOUBT. Located on the west side of Yorktown, it
protected the road to Williamsburg. Because of erosion of the bluffs at
this point, it has been possible to reconstruct only a part of the
original position.
“TOWN OF YORK” Much of the old has continued, or is being recaptured,
in Yorktown and many of its buildings and sites have their individual
messages. In the following text, the letters correspond to those on the
map of the “Town of York,” page 46.
A. _West House._ This residence is one of the few remaining colonial
frame structures in Yorktown. Its inner timbers bear the scars of
artillery fire to which it was subjected in 1781. It is thought to date
from the mid-18th century.
B. _Archer Cottage._ Below the bluffs is a small cottage thought to be
of colonial origin and to have been property of the Archer family. This
is the only surviving structure in this once busy waterfront section of
the port of Yorktown.
C. _Remains of Town Wharf._ Rock piles and some of the timber crib of
the public wharf which served Yorktown before the Revolution can be seen
at exceptionally low tide near the foot of Read Street.
[Illustration: _Grace Church. In the foreground are the Nelson
family tombs, including Thomas Nelson, Jr.’s._]
D. _Digges House._ This brick dwelling, constructed early in the 18th
century, stands at the once busy corner of Main and Read Streets.
E. _Somerwell House._ This restored residence, built, it is thought,
before 1707 by Mungo Somerwell, was at one time a part of the Lightfoot
family holdings.
Many of the fine old homes are no longer standing, such as the Lightfoot
mansion that is shown so prominently on the sketch of Yorktown made from
a vessel in the harbor about 1754 (see pages 34 and 35). The Buckner
residence in the west end of town, a second Lightfoot townhouse, two of
the spacious home of the Nelsons, and the Ambler dwelling have long
since been destroyed, except for foundation remains below ground.