Freedom is Won

Freedom is Won. . "I have the mortification to inform your Excellency that I have been forced to give up the posts of York and Gloucester, and to surrender the troops under my command, by capitulation on the 19th instant, as prisoners of war to the combined forces of America and France." Lt. General Charles Marquis Cornwallis, During the siege of Yorktown, a French force supported by 3,000 colonial militia encircled the British forces of Colonel Tarleton at Gloucester Point. One significant engagement took place on October 3, 1781, when the British forces conducting a food gathering mission into Gloucester County were overtaken by an Allied force and the 'Battle of the Hook' followed. During the battle, Colonel Tarleton was nearly captured when his horse was killed. The bottling up of British forces at the Point and siege in Yorktown cut off Cornwallis's supplies of food for men and horses., General Cornwallis had hoped to evacuate his troops through the Point during the night of October 17th, but a strong storm forced him to cancel the plan. Two days later, he was forced to surrender his forces and inform General Clinton of his actions.