The World Turned Upside Down

The World Turned Upside Down is a historical non-fiction book published in 1999 by the American historian and author Richard Ferrie. Subtitled George Washington and the Battle of Yorktown, it examines the role played by the American general in winning the pivotal Yorktown battle which ended up being the decisive catalyst in bringing about an end to the Revolutionary War. The title is taken from the song played by the British band as their troops marched to their surrender.

Before getting into the details of the battle, the author sets a scene that details the considerably low morale of General George Washington and the Continental Army as a whole. In 1781, the Americans were running out of money and were unable to pay the vast majority of its officers and soldiers. Meanwhile, General Charles Cornwallis of the British Army had stitched together a number of tactical victories, particularly at the Battle of Guilford Court House in North Carolina, where 2,100 British troops defeated a whopping 4,500 American soldiers led by General Nathaniel Greene. The lopsided nature of the defeat had led to a huge dip in morale within the Continental Army in New York City. From there, Washington could only sit back and observe as the traitor Benedict Arnold destroyed a considerable amount of Continental supplies in Virginia, forcing the general into a defensive position as Cornwallis continued to tear through the Southern theater.

As Washington waited for what he thought would be an inevitable attack on New York City by Cornwallis, he was surprised to see Cornwallis stall his army's advancement in Yorktown and Gloucester Point in Virginia. There, the British army hunkered down to wait for reinforcements. Meanwhile, on September 5 of that year, the French navy defeated a major fleet of British ships at the Battle of the Chesapeake. Now in control of the Chesapeake Bay, America's French allies could prevent the British navy from providing aid to Cornwallis' troops, who were still ailing from the aftermath of the Guilford Court House battle. At the urging of French Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau, Washington went on the offense and decided to march his army to Virginia. By joining forces with French Major General Marquis de Lafayette's forces, Washington planned to trap Cornwallis' entrenched army on the peninsula of the York and James Rivers.



By September 26, Washington had amassed a fighting force just outside the peninsula that was made up of 8,000 Continentals, 7,800 Frenchmen, and an additional 3,100 militiamen. Meanwhile, Cornwallis only had command of around 9,000 total men, which included a high number of German forces. However, Cornwallis still expected relief from 5,000 British reinforcements within a week. He had also recently defeated a much larger group of Continental forces in North Carolina, and so he was feeling confident in his position.

Meanwhile, Washington began digging trenches around the area occupied by Cornwallis' army. Though Cornwallis was aware of the trench activity and responded with light artillery fire and German troop assaults, he didn't realize how close Washington's closest trench was to the British army. By the evening of October 14, the Continental and French troops were able to break through the British defenses on three sides. The closest attack was led by Alexander Hamilton, who insisted on leading the charge over the protests of Lafayatte. But Washington trusted Hamilton, whose tactical decision-making during the siege would prove to be significant. For example, Hamilton stationed Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens in a key position during the siege which ended up pinning the British into a smaller area.

By the morning of October 16, Cornwallis was desperate. He tried to evacuate his troops across the York River where the Continental Army's lines would be easier to breach, he believed. And it might have worked, the author writes, if not for a squall that made the river prohibitively difficult to navigate. Stuck between Washington's forces and the York River, Cornwallis believed he had little choice but to surrender. On the morning of October 17, a British officer ran out with a white flag, accompanied by a drummer. Washington ordered the artillery bombardment to cease, and the 7,000 British troops that remained surrendered.



Although this didn't immediately end the Revolutionary War, such a demoralizing defeat of Britain's top general drastically changed the political calculus for Britain's leaders back home regarding the prospects of winning the war. The British Prime Minister, Lord North, was even reported to have exclaimed, "Oh, God, it's all over," after hearing of Cornwallis' surrender. While a number of battles would still be fought, particularly at sea, the Yorktown victory was decisive because it reflected a major tactical victory for Washington over Britain's most-respected general.

The World Turned Upside Down is a valuable and thrilling read for those interested in the Revolutionary War or in military strategy in general.