Washington Reports The Surrender at Yorktown

The last major battle of the American Revolutionary War ended on 19 October 1781 when Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia to a combined force from the Continental and French armies under the command of General George Washington.

Here's a letter that General Washington wrote to tell congress about the victory, from The Papers of the Continental Congress on Fold3:

And here are a few other interesting items related to the Battle of Yorktown from the Papers of the Continental Congress:

A list of clothing and other goods taken from the British captives.

An accounting of the prisoners by rank and unit.

A copy of the terms of the surrender.

The Gunboat Philadelphia

The National Museum of American History's website has this nice page about the Continental Gunboat Philadelphia.

The Gunboat Philadelphia is the oldest surviving American fighting vessel. Built in 1776, it was sunk in Lake Champlain during a naval battle with the British in the same year. The Continental Congress authorized the building of this 54 foot, 29-ton gunboat and eight other similar vessels for the defense of the Champlain Valley - the northern frontier of the colonies considered the key to the success or failure of the American Revolution. In the summer of 1776, under the leadership of the charismatic and controversial Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, Philadelphia and her sister-ships were hurriedly organized into what historians consider “the first American Navy.”

Here's the page from Transcript Journals of the Continental Congress (part of the Papers of the Continental Congress) where congress resolves, "that the president write to governor Cooke requesting him to order fifty ship carpenters to be engaged on the best terms at the expense of the continent and sent to general Schuyler at Albany as soon as possible, in order to build vessels for the defense of the lakes."

You can find some nice pictures of the Philadelphia here and more information about the history of the ship here.

Using Revolutionary War Pension Files

A nice post on the NARAtions blog today discusses the value of pension files and links to an interesting example from Footnote.

William Graham was 64 years old when he submitted this document in support of his Revolutionary War pension application in 1820. The pension laws in effect then required him to prove not only his service, but also his need for monetary support. The inventory seen here lists his personal property.