Yorktown in York County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Trophies of War
Colonial National Historical Park
An army … consisting of more than seven thousand choice troops, were obliged to surrender their arms to an enemy as much despised as hated; twelve thousand muskets, more than two hundred pieces of iron and brass cannon, and a prodigious quantity of warlike stores ….
Chaplain Abbe Robin, French Army
These mounted trophies, engraved with the inscription: “SURRENDERED BY THE CAPITULATION OF YORKTOWN OCTr 19:1781” represent a fraction of the spoils of war captured by the Allied forces. Displayed here are British brass guns, howitzers, and mortars. Washington’s official report to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia accounted for 244 artillery pieces in all, as well as thousands of military supplies and other implements of war.
This portrait by artist James Peale of Washington at Yorktown, painted not long after the surrender, depicts the commander standing among the British and German spoils of war. Peale visited Yorktown soon after Cornwallis’s defeat and recorded the background scene for his historic painting.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable Events • Notable Places • War, US Revolutionary.
Location. 37° 12.504′ N, 76° 30.328′ W. Marker is in Yorktown, Virginia, in York County. Marker can be reached from Historical Tour Road, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located on the Yorktown Battlefield in Colonial National Historical Park, at stop F on the Battlefield Tour. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Yorktown VA 23690, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Ground Your Firelocks! (a few steps from this marker); In Solemn Step (within shouting distance of this marker); Surrender Field (within shouting distance of this marker); Brotherhood Preserved (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); News of Victory (about 300 feet away); Surrender Road (about 700 feet away); American Field Hospital (approx. 0.3 miles away); Marquis de Lafayette and His Division (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Yorktown.
More about this marker. The left of the marker contains a picture of an engraved cannon, and the lower right of the marker is the Washington at Yorktown painting, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Also see . . .
1. Yorktown Battlefield. National Park Service. (Submitted on August 30, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
2. The Battle of Yorktown. The Patriot Resource website. (Submitted on August 30, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
3. The Battle of Yorktown 1781. A British perspective of the Battle of Yorktown from BritishBattles.com. (Submitted on August 30, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 30, 2022. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 1,649 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 30, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.