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11 unusual facts about Yorktown


1781 in the United States

October 19 – American Revolution: Following the Siege of Yorktown, General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the armed struggle of the American Revolution.

Adventure Cycling Association

Its most popular route is the TransAmerica Trail (formerly the Bikecentennial Trail) which runs between Astoria, Oregon and Yorktown, Virginia.

Brady Hoke

Hoke began his coaching career in 1982 as the defensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Yorktown High School in Yorktown, Indiana.

Francis M. Rotch

While on official business with the New York regiments of the Army of the Potomac, he contracted a fever in the swamps near Yorktown, Virginia.

Samuel Wilson

Samuel’s service to the Revolutionary Army most likely came to an end around October 19, 1781 with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves

During the American War of Independence, his fleet was defeated by the Comte de Grasse in the Battle of the Chesapeake at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781 leading to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Transportation in Williamsburg, Virginia

The system also provides paratransit services and operates replica trolley buses at the Yorktown Riverfront attraction.

Virginia State Route 312

SR 143 also heads northwest on Jefferson Avenue toward Williamsburg and US 17 follows the continuation of J. Clyde Morris Boulevard toward I-64 and Yorktown.

Western Express Bicycle Route

Combining the Western Express Route with the TransAmerica Trail forms a 3762 mile (6054 km) transcontinental bicycle route through nine U.S. states from San Francisco, California, to Yorktown, Virginia.

Yorktown, Indiana

The town was also served by an electric interurban line, the Union Traction Company of Indiana and its successor Indiana Railroad, in the early twentieth century.

In the mid twentieth century, many residents found employment in automotive plants in nearby Muncie and Anderson, most associated with General Motors.


16th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment

Regiment on duty at Fortress Monroe, Yorktown and Gloucester Point, Virginia, till June, 1864, as Heavy Artillery and Infantry.

2nd New Jersey Regiment

On 29 August 1781, the Continental army left Springfield, New Jersey, bound for Virginia in an effort to trap British forces under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Albert T. Harris

On March 10, 1942, the cruiser stood ready to protect Lexington, as that carrier and Yorktown (CV-5) launched a successful surprise attack on enemy shipping off the New Guinea settlements of Lae and Salamaua.

Alexandre Francois Auguste de Grasse

His father, Admiral de Grasse, commanded the French fleet which surprised Cornwallis at Yorktown and forced a surrender.

America's Critical Period

After the surrender of the British at Yorktown, Washington moved over 11,000 troops to the town of Newburgh in New York.

CSS Patrick Henry

Commander John Randolph Tucker, who commanded the newly organized James River Squadron, directed that Yorktown be converted into a gunboat and renamed Patrick Henry in honor of that revolutionary patriot.

Earl E. Anderson

With the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, Anderson and the Yorktown were transferred there, where they participated in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, the Salamaua-Lae campaign, and the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.

Ebenezer Huntington

Now a Lieutenant Colonel, he was given command of a light infantry regiment and marched with Washington to Yorktown where he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis.

In Front of Yorktown

In Front of Yorktown, 1862-1863 is an oil painting by Winslow Homer of men from McClellan's Army of the Potomac, before the Siege of Yorktown.

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Lackey, Virginia

During World War I, the properties of many primarily African American landowners along the former Yorktown-Williamsburg Road were taken to create a military reservation now known as Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.

Lee's Mill Earthworks

Confederate Major General John B. Magruder's extensive defensives beginning at Lee's Mill and extending to Yorktown along the Warwick River caused the Union Army of the Potomac Commander Major General George B. McClellan to initiate a month-long siege of the Warwick-Yorktown Line which lasted until May 3, 1862 and contributed to the eventual failure of McClellan's campaign.

Peter Aplin

He was still in her at Yorktown in the following October, when she was destroyed by the enemy's red-hot shot; after which he served, with his crew, on shore under the orders of Lord Cornwallis.

Peter G. Gyarmati

After their earlier work with Ferranti, then the successor ICL, in Manchester University he joined for research to IBM from 1972 until 1981, working in Poughkeepsie, Yorktown, New York, and the Delft University, the Netherlands.

Rhode Island Army National Guard

Over twenty Rhode Island units had fought for independence including the First Rhode Island Continentals who stood at Yorktown for the surrender of British General Cornwallis.

Samuel Underhill

In May 1942, when Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's Task Force 17 steamed in the Coral Sea seeking to foil Japan's attempt to extend her influence southward, Underhill was with VS-5 on board carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5).

Warwick Line

The Warwick Line (also known as the Warwick–Yorktown line) was a defensive works across the Virginia Peninsula maintained along the Warwick River by Confederate General John B. Magruder against much larger Union forces under General George B. McClellan during the American Civil War in 1861–62.

William Nelson Page

The circa 1730 Nelson House built by "Scotch Tom" Nelson in Yorktown, Virginia is a National Historical Landmark maintained by the Colonial National Historical Park of the U.S. National Park Service.

The Nelson lineage in Virginia began with Thomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson (1677–1745), a Scottish immigrant who settled at Yorktown in 1690.