And the year is: 1781
And the place: Yorktown
What happened: the Siege of Yorktown
The town of Yorktown, being around for 90 years by then, was a flourishing port with beautiful European style houses. Wealthy tobacco merchants walked around, and taverns and shops lined the streets.
In 1781 the American Revolutionary War was 7 years underway. The British had abandoned their effort to reconquer the North and focused their attention to the South. British general Cornwallis let his eye fall on the Chesapeake Bay area, moved in and established a base in Yorktown. This to the displease of American Marquis de Lafayette who had only a small army under his command. But with help of the French fleet under command of Admiral de Grasse who blocked the bay entrance blocking the escape route, and Georges Washington’s large army under command of Comte de Rochambeau, chances changed. And the way it went in 1781, camp was established, trenches were dug, and canons were pointed in the right direction. 
Ten days of intense fighting followed until the British surrendered and Cornwallis cried:” Oh God, it is all over!” And so it was, the British went home and the independence of the USA was a fact. What did I do: I walk through Yorktown, visit the museum and drive through the battlefields.
Dag,
Iris (Yorktown, 26161 miles)
