One shining yet overlooked moment that changed the course of the Revolutionary War
In the opening months of 1781, General George Washington feared his army would fail to survive another campaign season.
The spring and summer only served to reinforce his despair, but in late summer the changing circumstances of war presented a once-in-a-war opportunity for a French armada to hold off the mighty British navy while his own troops with French reinforcements drove Lord Cornwallis’s forces to the Chesapeake.
The Battle of the Capes would prove the only time the French ever fought the Royal Navy to a draw, and for the British army it was a catastrophe.
Cornwallis confidently retreated to Yorktown, expecting to be evacuated by a British fleet that never arrived. In the end he had no choice but to surrender.
Although the war sputtered on another two years, its outcome was never in doubt after Yorktown.
Author : James L. Nelson
Hardback : 376 pages
SKU : P32703