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Rare View of Cornwallis' Surrender At Yorktown

A rare and highly imaginative French engraving commemorating the surrender of British forces under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, the decisive moment in the American Revolutionary War. Issued in Paris shortly after the event, this rare view is one of very few contemporary visual representations of the siege and surrender, and among the earliest attempts to depict the scale and coordination of Franco-American operations that led to the British capitulation.

The title translates:

Surrender of the English Army Commanded by Mylord Count of Cornwallis to the Combined Armies of the United States of America and France under the orders of Generals Washington and Rochambeau at Yorktown and Gloucester in Virginia, October 19, 1781.

The perspective is symbolic rather than topographically accurate. The image is divided into two dramatic halves: at left, in dense and orderly formations, the British army is shown marching between massed French and American lines to surrender their arms. American troops are positioned toward the top, opposite French troops. British forces emerge from Yorktown (letter “C” in the legend). A yellow-highlighted area in the center (D) represents the location of the weapon surrender.

At right, the Chesapeake is filled with French warships under the command of the Comte de Grasse (identified in the legend as “G”). Their strategic role in blocking British naval support is visually emphasized by the proximity of the ships to the battlefield, reinforcing their importance in sealing Cornwallis’s fate.

The bottom of the print includes a detailed caption and key (A–I) that identifies Yorktown, Gloucester, the various national armies, and the anchored French fleet. The image was published in Paris by Louis-Joseph Mondhare at rue Saint-Jean-de-Beauvais.

Context: The Siege and Surrender at Yorktown

By mid-1781, the war in America had shifted decisively to Virginia. Lord Cornwallis, having conducted operations in the Carolinas, moved his army to the Chesapeake to establish a fortified position at Yorktown. Opposing him, the Marquis de Lafayette harassed British movements with a smaller American force. When news reached General George Washington that the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse was en route to the Chesapeake, he abandoned plans to assault New York and rapidly marched his army south, coordinating with French forces under General Rochambeau.

De Grasse’s fleet arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake in late August and landed several thousand troops. When the British fleet under Admiral Graves attempted to regain control of the bay in early September, it was decisively repelled in the Battle of the Capes. Cut off from relief by sea and soon surrounded on land, Cornwallis endured a sustained Franco-American siege.

The allied armies commenced full siege operations by the end of September. British lines were progressively reduced by artillery bombardment and trench advances. On October 17, Cornwallis requested terms. Formal surrender followed on October 19, 1781. More than 7,000 British and German troops were taken prisoner, along with large quantities of materiel: 160 cannon, 22 regimental colors, and over 40 ships.

This engraving captures the ceremonial aspect of the event, if not its literal geography. It stands as a French visual celebration of a shared triumph with the newly independent United States and remains one of the most visually compelling popular images of the end of the Revolutionary War.

Rarity

The present view is very rare on the market.