Yorktown Order of Battle - American Army

American Army

The American forces that opposed Cornwallis at Yorktown also arrived in Virginia at different times, since most of the detachments were made in reaction to the British movements. After Arnold was sent to Virginia, Major General George Washington, the American commander-in-chief, in January 1781 sent the Marquis de Lafayette to Virginia with 900 men. He was to be followed promptly by troops from the Pennsylvania Line under the command of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, but Wayne did not arrive in Virginia until June. Lafayette's force included a substantial number of Virginia militia, and he shadowed Cornwallis during the movements that ended at Yorktown, with a skirmish at Spencer's Ordinary and a larger battle at Green Spring being their only significant encounters.

The main Continental Army of General Washington was at first stationed outside New York City, which Washington hoped to besiege with the assistance of the French army. However, word from Admiral Paul de Grasse of the French West Indies fleet would sail north to assist in operations on the Chesapeake Bay convinced Washington that action was best taken against Cornwallis's army in Virginia. Accordingly, the American and French armies set out in mid-August for Virginia. Some troops went overland the entire way; others were transported on the Chesapeake by ships of the French Navy. Washington arrived in Lafayette's camp before Yorktown on September 17.

Commander General George Washington, commanding

Headquarters

4th Continental Light Dragoons

Armand's Legion, Colonel Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouerie

Artillery
Brigadier General Henry Knox

1st Continental Artillery Regiment (1 company), Lieutenant Colonel Edward Carrington, Captain Whitehead Coleman

2nd Continental Artillery Regiment (9 companies), Colonel John Lamb

4th Continental Artillery Regiment (3 companies), Captains Patrick Duffy, William Ferguson, and James Smith

Sappers and miners (4 companies)

Infantry

Light Division
Major General Marquis de Lafayette

1st Brigade

Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg

Colonel Joseph Vose’s Battalion

(8 Massachusetts light infantry companies)

Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat’s Battalion

(5 Connecticut, 2 Massachusetts, and 1 Rhode Island light infantry companies)

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Barber’s Battalion

(2 New Hampshire, 2 New Jersey, and Canadian Regiment light infantry companies and 3 New Jersey line companies)

2nd Brigade

Brigadier General Moses Hazen

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Scammell's battalion

(2 New Hampshire, 3 Massachusetts, and 3 Connecticut light infantry companies)

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton's Battalion

(2 New York light infantry companies; 2 New York and 2 Connecticut provisional light infantry companies)

Hazen’s Canadian Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Antill

2nd Division
Major General Benjamin Lincoln

1st Brigade

Brigadier General James Clinton

1st New York Regiment, Colonel Goose Van Schaick

2nd New York Regiment, Colonel Philip Van Courtlandt

2nd Brigade

Colonel Elias Dayton

1st New Jersey Regiment and 2nd New Jersey Regiment, Colonel Matthias Ogden

Rhode Island Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Jeremiah Olney

3rd Division
Major General Baron von Steuben

1st Brigade

Brigadier General Anthony Wayne

1st Pennsylvania Battalion, Colonel Walter Stewart

2nd Pennsylvania Battalion, Colonel Richard Butler

2nd Brigade

Brigadier General Mordecai Gist

3rd Maryland Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Adams

4th Maryland Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Roxburg

Virginia Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gaskins

Virginia Militia
General Thomas Nelson

1st Brigade

Brigadier General George Weedon

2nd Brigade

Brigadier General Robert Lawson

3rd Brigade

Brigadier General Edward Stevens

Dabney’s State Legion, Charles Dabney