Advanced Search

Current Criteria

    ›› Coverage People : Charles Cornwallis

Refine your search

Refine your search by adding another term. Type 'all' to view all options for the category.

Filter by Content Type.

Did not find what you were looking for?
return to the basic search, search for multimedia, or search the collection

Showing results 1 – 6 of 6
"The Bloody Massacre": Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre on March 5

Essay

The American Revolution, 1763–1783

With an introduction by Pauline Maier, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of American History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Glossary Term – Event

Battle of Camden

The Battle of Camden resulted in a major victory for the British. Consequently, Gen. Nathanael Greene succeeded Horatio Gates as commander of the Southern Army.

Glossary Term – Person

Henry Clinton

Henry Clinton (1730–1795) was the commander in chief of the British army from 1778 to 1782. Clinton was sent to the colonies in 1775 to serve under General Thomas Gage. When Gage was replaced by William Howe, Clinton assumed second in command. Clinton was responsible for the British success at Long Island in 1776 that nearly trapped Washington’s army. After Howe resigned in 1778, Clinton became commander in chief. In 1780, Clinton succeeded in capturing Charleston, but that victory was soon overshadowed by Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown...

Glossary Term – Person

Charles Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) was a leading British general during the American Revolution. Though he is best remembered for his surrender at Yorktown in 1781, Cornwallis also led British forces in many other major battles including Long Island (1776), Trenton and Princeton (1776 and 1777), Brandywine (1777), and Germantown (1777). In 1780, Cornwallis successfully took Charleston with Henry Clinton, and defeated American General Horatio Gates at the Battle of Camden. He was ultimately defeated at Yorktown in 1781 when French and American...

Glossary Term – Person

François-Joseph-Paul, count de Grasse

François-Joseph-Paul, count de Grasse (1722–1788) was a French naval commander during the American Revolution. De Grasse was instrumental in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, leading his fleet from the West Indies to the Chesapeake and blockading Cornwallis’s army while waiting for the arrival of Franco-American forces under Washington and Rochambeau.

Glossary Term – Place

Yorktown

Yorktown, Virginia, was the site of the surrender of British general Lord Charles Cornwallis to George Washington in October 1781. The surrender signaled the beginning of the end of the Revolutionary War.