Revisiting the Battle of Yorktown: Part of the Battlefield is Missing!

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The World Turned Upside Down: Revisiting the Archaeology of the American Revolution" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The last major battle of the American Revolution took place in Yorktown, Virginia, ending with the surrender of the Southern British Army under the command of General Charles Earle Cornwallis. The remains of the British, French, and Colonial earthworks are preserved by the National Park Service and are visited by thousands of people each year. However, when the battlefield is examined from a landscape perspective it becomes evident that a large portion of the battlefield has been essentially ignored for more than two centuries. The missing portion lies beneath the waters of the York River, and it contains the remains of numerous British ships that were involved in the battle. Archaeological excavations have located eleven of these wrecks and are developing a much more comprehensive view of the battlefield and the event that launched the American Colonies toward independence.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The World Turned Upside Down: Revisiting the Archaeology of the American Revolution   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology