Worlds Collide: The Siege of Yorktown

Some people call it the Miracle of Yorktown, that they could actually arrive with all these different units at the same time. 

In this episode of Revolution Revisited, host Maggie Creech and historian Dr. Iris de Rode trace how the Franco-American alliance made the 1781 Siege of Yorktown possible, featuring Dr. de Rode's research on French Major General François Jean de Chastellux. After Cornwallis entrenched at Yorktown, Washington and Rochambeau weighed attacking New York or the South, but French reconnaissance and relationship-building—led by Chastellux, a key English-speaking liaison and strategist—helped shift the plan. 

Inside the Episode:

The episode follows the complex coordination of Washington and Rochambeau’s 9,000-man march, deceptive tactics to mislead the British, and the decisive naval role of Admiral de Grasse, whose fleet controlled the Chesapeake after the Battle of the Capes. It highlights the brutal fighting for Redoubts 9 and 10, Cornwallis’ surrender on October 19, and the war’s continuation until the 1783 Treaty of Paris, plus Chastellux’s friendship and correspondence with Washington and the rediscovery of his long-lost archive.

Guest:

• Dr. Iris de Rode, Historian, Author, & Speaker
• Dr. Iris de Rode is a historian of the French role in the American Revolution. In the family château of Major General François-Jean de Chastellux in Burgundy, she uncovered his unpublished papers. Chastellux, a French officer in Rochambeau’s army and close friend of George Washington, became the focus of her PhD (2019) and her book (2022), which received the Prix Guizot of the Académie Française in 2023. She has held more than twenty research fellowships, appears in Ken Burns’s PBS series The American Revolution, advises major museums and digital-heritage projects on both sides of the Atlantic, and is now completing a book on the French in the American Revolution.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Welcome to Revolution Revisited
• 00:35 Yorktown in Context
• 01:11 Meet Dr. Iris de Rode
• 01:44 Alliance Strategy Takes Shape
• 03:57 Chastellux Archive Discovery
• 07:59 Winning Trust in Newport
• 10:17 Chastellux Meets Washington
• 14:51 Choosing the Southern Campaign
• 16:40 French Fleet to Chesapeake
• 18:01 The March to Virginia
• 21:00 Deception and British Delays
• 23:25 Siege Lines at Yorktown
• 25:02 Battle of the Capes
• 29:15 Bombardment Begins
• 30:04 Storming Redoubts 9 and 10
• 33:32 Cornwallis Surrenders
• 35:56 Aftermath and Human Cost
• 36:51 Why Yorktown Mattered
• 40:03 Treaty of Paris and Legacy
• 40:43 Washington and Chastellux Farewell
• 42:42 Why Chastellux Was Forgotten
• 45:42 Closing Credits