In October 1781, the allied American and French campaign in Virginia reached its decisive moment at Yorktown. After weeks of coordinated movement, siege work, and pressure on British positions, the campaign culminated on October 19, 1781, when the British army under Lord Cornwallis surrendered. For patriots and their communities—Continental soldiers, militia, and those supporting the cause—Yorktown became a defining victory that helped bring the war to a close.
This page is part of Honoring Our Patriots—a community project that keeps the spotlight on the patriots and the history itself. Here, “community” isn’t built around profiles or personal pages. It’s built around shared connections: the same patriot, the same commander, the same county, and the same campaign moment.
What you can do here
- Honor a Patriot connected to the Yorktown surrender moment (as best the records allow).
- See how many descendants have honored each patriot.
- Optionally select a lineage branch (which child you descend from), creating a simple, non-invasive way to “line up” under the same patriot.
A note on certainty (High / Medium / Low)
Revolutionary War records vary widely in detail. Some patriots can be tied to Yorktown with strong documentation; others are linked more generally to the Virginia campaign; many are recorded only under local commanders without specific dates or locations. This project is not a lineage-proving tool. Instead, each patriot is tagged with a general likelihood:
- High: strong evidence places the patriot in the Yorktown vicinity during the campaign/surrender moment.
- Medium: credible campaign-era service in Virginia, but the exact proximity to Yorktown is less certain.
- Low: service is real, but available details are too limited to confidently place the patriot at Yorktown; included to honor service and invite careful interpretation.
Visitors should use the details of their own patriot’s service to make final judgments.
Call to action
Explore the Yorktown Victory wall to browse patriots associated with this culminating moment, honor a patriot, and discover others connected to the same names and commanders.
As we approach America 250, this is a small public way to return the spotlight to the people who served—and to the victory they helped secure.