Program

Lafayette Trail

Subject

Event, People, Site

Location

220 VA-33, West Point, VA 23181, USA

Lat/Long

37.53613, -76.80074

Grant Recipient

The Lafayette Trail, Inc.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), was a French nobleman and captain in the French Dragoons. In April 1777, Lafayette sailed on the Victoire, a ship built with his personal funds, for North America to serve as a military leader in the American Revolution, despite a royal decree prohibiting French officers from serving. Shortly after his arrival, the Continental Congress commissioned him as a major general serving under George Washington.  Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, Lafayette managed to organize a successful Patriot retreat. Early in 1779, he returned to France to negotiate an increase in support from the French government, securing thousands of French troops to fight for the American cause. As one of three division commanders, Lafayette played a pivotal role in the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. He succeeded in containing Lord Cornwallis’s men, allowing time for additional French and American forces to arrive and lay siege to the British troops, forcing Cornwallis to surrender and ensuring American victory.

On August 11, 1781, Lafayette reported to General Washington that Lord Cornwallis had entrenched himself at York and Gloucester, along the York River. He and his troops began to observe the British movements while Washington organized the military to take action. The next day, August 12, Lafayette reported to the Governor of Virginia that he and his Continental Army troops would take a position between the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers. By August 14, the army had made their camp between the forks of the York River, 25 miles northeast of Lord Cornwallis.

Lafayette and his troops remained here until at least August 20^th, when he began to report from various scouting locations along the York River and nearby areas. He reported from locations along the branches of the York, stating that the Continental army had been holding the location at West Point to be able to survey both travel routes. He also sent reports from Frazier’s Ferry and Colonel Braxton’s nearby home. The main body of the army under his command marched to Frazier’s Ferry on August 21, 7 miles closer to York.

On August 24, Lafayette returned to the camp at the forks of the York River, and remained there for another two days before he joined his troops at Frazier’s Ferry. With Lafayette and his troops holding the York River to the east, and Admiral de Grasse’s ships blocking the western entrance to the River, Lord Cornwallis was gradually surrounded at York during August and September. Generals Rochambeau and Washington arrived in late September with their troops, fully surrounding Cornwallis on the northern and southern sides. The Battle of Yorktown would occur only a few weeks later, in October 1781.