In 1781, a British warship sailed up the Potomac River and docked at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home. Many of the enslaved people kept by Washington escaped aboard the ship, and his farm supplied the British enemy with food. Meanwhile, Washington and his army, joined by 4,000 French soldiers, camped north of New York City. Despite many British citizens desires for peace, King George III remained determined to suppress the colonies, and shifted focus to capturing the Southern colonies. These British advances in Georgia and South Carolina were met with resistance from Patriots like Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” and General Nathaniel Greene.

Greene’s strategic maneuvers outpaced British General Cornwallis, who eventually retreated northward in 1781. A formerly enslaved man named James Armistead served as a double agent, ostensibly aiding the British but actually reporting to French General Marquis de Lafayette. On the British side, disagreements between Cornwallis and General Henry Clinton, the British commander in New York City, led to a compromise: Cornwallis would control Yorktown in the Chesapeake Bay. This would enable British troops to move easily between New York and Virginia by boat. Meanwhile a French fleet under Count de Grasse moved from the Caribbean toward Chesapeake Bay.