1-800-211-7165 or
Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance's 2008 Vacation Planner
Build My Williamsburg Vacation Package
Lamb's artiller 3
First shot!
Surrender Road
Artillery demo with ranger
Nelson House tour
Color Guard parade
Victory Monument
Yorktown Battlefield
The British surrendered and independence was won
Yorktown Battlefield is the site of the final major clash of the American Revolution and symbolic end of the colonial period of our nation's history. On these fields in the fall of 1781, General George Washington and his allied American and French army surrounded and besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis' British and german forces at the port of Yorktown. The ensuring British surrender resulted in the war's end, granting independence to the United States of America.
Administered by the National Park Service as part of Colonial National Historical Park, the Yorktown Battlefield allows viistors the unique opportunity to follow in the footsteps of General Washington and walk the actual ground where these important historic events took place.
The Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center is the orientation point for your visit to Yorktown and the Yorktown Battlefield. A 16-minute film, Siege at Yorktown, depicts the battle and its significance, while an illuminated battlefield map highlights the movements of British and American troops during the conflict. Walk the quarterdeck of a full-sized replica of a British warship and examine a collection of artifacts from the battle, including a variety of flags and weapons surrendered by the British at the end of the siege.
Be sure to see the exhibit of tents used by General Washington during the campaign. Recently returned to Yorktown after an extensive five-year restoration, the tents are housed in a new, state-of-the-art exhibit case, allowing visitors not only to view the tents, but actually to enter the walls within which General Washington planned one of the most momentous events in our nation's history.
Walking tours of the battlefield and the historic town are offered daily. A nine-mile self-guided driving tour winds through the cannons, fortifications and markers of the battlefield for a chronological tour of the seige. See original and reconstructed earthworks and siege lines built and defended by troops of both sides. Retrace the steps of the allied troops as they took British Redoubts 9 and 10 during a surprise night attack which helped turn the tide toward an Allied victory. At Surrender Field stand on the very site where the British troops laid down their arms on October 19, 1781, and effectively ended the American Revolution.
An audio tour that provides narrative and directions is available at the Visitor Center museum store for a nominal fee. Maps are available for those who wish to explore the 300-year-old town on foot.
The National Park Service also maintains historic houses in Yorktown. The home of Thomas Nelson, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence, is open daily and on summer afternoons, living history presentations highlight the lives of Nelson and other Yorktown residents. At the Moore House, see where the surrender of the British army was negotiated, ending the Seige of Yorktown.
The Yorktown Visitor Center is open daily 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Hours at the Nelson House and Moore House vary depending on the season.Learn more.