The C linton– C ornwallis Controversy and Responsibility for the B ritish Surrender at Y orktown

The B ritish surrender at Y orktown proved one of the most decisive engagements in the history of the A tlantic world. While the A merican conduct of the campaign has been endlessly studied, the B ritish side has been studiously neglected. This article seeks to show how the B ritish army came to be stationed at Y orktown and why its occupation ended in disaster. Many accusations were made at the time as to who was responsible for the debacle. However, the most public recriminations were those exchanged by the two leading generals, Sir H enry C linton and E arl C ornwallis. C linton charged C ornwallis with responsibility for Y orktown on three counts. Firstly, he had entered Virginia without authorization, thereby dangerously extending B ritain's military commitments. Secondly, it was C ornwallis who had chosen Y orktown as the site for an operational base in Virginia. Finally C ornwallis had failed to exercise proper judgement when faced by imminent danger of entrapment. However, analysis of the evidence reveals that Y orktown was a disaster principally of C linton's making. It was C linton who did most to extend the B ritish effort in V irginia, and C linton who changed the nature of the war there by insisting on the establishment of an enlarged naval facility. Finally it was C linton who failed to see the impending danger or the need for revised orders to C ornwallis once that danger was clear

Judgement · Political science · Surrender · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Military History and Strategy · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

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