Yorktown
In seventeen eighty-one, the winds of war did blow...
Great American battles during the Revolutionary War are legendary. This piece was inspired by the story of the great American victory at Yorktown, NY.
Yorktown
(Verse 1)
In seventeen eighty-one, the winds of war did blow,
Cornwallis marched to Yorktown, where the York and James rivers flow.
From the Carolinas' bloody fields, he sought a harbor strong,
But Washington and Rochambeau came marching all along.
Lafayette in Virginia held the line with steady hand,
De Grasse's fleet upon the waves, blockading sea and sand.
The French and Yankees side by side, through Philadelphia's cheer,
Demanded coin for weary feet, their alliance drawing near.
(Chorus)
Oh, Yorktown! Yorktown! The world turned upside down!
Cannons roar and banners fall upon Virginia's ground.
From redoubt walls to surrender calls, the British lay their arms,
In Yorktown's siege, the tide did turn, and freedom rang alarms!
Yorktown! Yorktown! Where empires cracked and broke,
The drums of war beat one last time, in victory's final stroke.
(Verse 2)
September's end, the allies struck, trenches dug through night,
Washington fired the first great gun, under autumn's light.
Bombardment shook the earthen walls, malaria claimed its toll,
Half Cornwallis' men lay sick in marshy, fevered hole.
October fourteenth, bold assault on redoubts nine and ten,
Hamilton led the charge with bayonets, brave American men.
French under Deux-Ponts stormed the breach, the night alive with fire,
Closer crept the allied lines, sealing Britain's dire.
(Chorus)
Oh, Yorktown! Yorktown! The world turned upside down!
Cannons roar and banners fall upon Virginia's ground.
From redoubt walls to surrender calls, the British lay their arms,
In Yorktown's siege, the tide did turn, and freedom rang alarms!
Yorktown! Yorktown! Where empires cracked and broke,
The drums of war beat one last time, in victory's final stroke.
(Bridge)
On the seventeenth, the white flag waved, terms at Moore House drawn,
No honors full for Cornwallis' host, like Charleston at the dawn.
O'Hara rode in Cornwallis' stead, feigning illness deep,
Offered sword to Rochambeau, who pointed where to keep.
Washington refused the blade, to Lincoln it was passed,
British marched with colors cased, their pride broken at last.
They threw their muskets to the earth in sullen, bitter spite,
While Yankee Doodle played aloud, through the fading light.
(Verse 3)
October nineteenth sealed the fate, seven thousand captives bound,
To camps in Maryland and Penn, their empire's end was found.
No more the redcoats ruled the land, Parliament heard the cry,
"Oh God, it's over!" North exclaimed, beneath the London sky.
Two years more till Paris' treaty, independence won at last,
From Yorktown's fields, a nation born, shadows of the past.
The slaves who fled to British lines, rounded up once more,
Yet freedom's bell began to toll, on that Virginia shore.
(Final Chorus)
Oh, Yorktown! Yorktown! The world turned upside down!
Cannons roar and banners fall upon Virginia's ground.
From redoubt walls to surrender calls, the British lay their arms,
In Yorktown's siege, the tide did turn, and freedom rang alarms!
Yorktown! Yorktown! Echoes through the years,
A choral cry of liberty, drowning out the fears.
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