Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

YORKTOWN

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 937 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

YORKTOWN , a See also:

town and the See also:county-seat of See also:York county, See also:Virginia, U.S.A., on the York See also:river Io m. from its mouth, and about 6o m. E.S.E. of See also:Richmond. Pop. (191o) 136. It is served by the See also:Baltimore, Chesapeake & Richmond steamship See also:line, and about 61 m. distant is See also:Lee See also:Hall, a station on the Chesapeake & See also:Ohio railway. Large deposits of See also:marl near the town are used for the manufacture of See also:cement. In the See also:main See also:street is the See also:oldest See also:custom-See also:house in the See also:United States, and the house of See also:Thomas See also:Nelson (1938-1789), a signer of the See also:Declaration of See also:Independence. In See also:commemoration of the surrender of See also:Lord See also:Cornwallis in See also:October 1781, there is a See also:monument of See also:Maine See also:granite (too ft. 6 in. high) designed by R. M. See also:Hunt and J. Q.

A. See also:

Ward; its corner-See also:stone was laid in 1881 during the centennial celebration of the surrender, and it was completed in 1883. Yorktown was founded in 1691, as a See also:port of entry for York county. It became the county-seat in 1696, and although it never had more than about 200 houses its See also:trade was considerable until it was ruined by the See also:War of Independence. In that war the final victory of the Americans and their See also:French See also:allies took See also:place at Yorktown. Baffled by See also:General See also:Nathanael See also:Greene in his See also:campaign in the Carolinas, his diminished force (fewer than 1400) sadly in need of reinforcement, and persuaded that the more See also:southern colonies could not be held until Virginia had been reduced, Lord Cornwallis marched out of See also:Wilmington, N. Carolina, See also:April 25th, 1781, arrived at See also:Petersburg, Virginia, on May loth, and there with the troops which had been under See also:William See also:Phillips and See also:Benedict See also:Arnold and with further reinforcements from New York raised his See also:army to more than 7000 men. Facing him in Richmond was See also:Lafayette, whom See also:Washington had sent earlier in the See also:year with a small force of See also:light See also:infantry to check Arnold, and who had now been placed in command of all the See also:American troops in Virginia. Cornwallis's first See also:attempt was to prevent the See also:union of Lafayette and General See also:Anthony See also:Wayne. Failing in this, he retired down the See also:James in the See also:hope, it is thought, of receiving further reinforcements from General See also:Henry See also:Clinton. Clinton, who had not approved Cornwallis's See also:plan against Virginia, at first ordered him to send a portion of his troops to aid in the See also:defence of New York; but as other reinforcements came to New York, and as the See also:home See also:government approved Cornwallis's plan, Clinton resolved to establish a permanent See also:base in the Chesapeake and directed Cornwallis to fortify a See also:post for the See also:protection of the See also:British See also:navy. Cornwallis seized Yorktown and See also:Gloucester See also:early in See also:August and immediately began to fortify them.

While Cornwallis was marching from N. Carolina to Virginia, Washington learned that a large French See also:

fleet under See also:Count de See also:Grasse was to come up from the See also:West Indies in the summer and for a brief See also:period co-operate with the American and French Yorktown armies. At a See also:conference (May 21st) at See also:Wethersfield, campaign, See also:Connecticut, with the French commanders, Washington See also:cam 171 favoured a plan for a See also:joint attack on New York when De Grasse should arrive. An attack on the British ih Virginia was, however, considered, and the minutes of the conference with some suggestions from See also:Rochambeau having been sent to De Grasse, he announced in a See also:letter received the 14th of August that he should See also:sail for the Chesapeake for united See also:action against Cornwallis. About the same See also:time Washington learned from Lafayette that Cornwallis was fortifying Yorktown. See also:Sir See also:Samuel See also:Hood with 14 See also:ships-of-the-line arrived at the Chesapeake from the West Indies three days ahead of De Grasse, and proceeding to New York warned See also:Admiral Thomas See also:Graves of the danger. Graves took command of the combined fleet, 19 ships-of-the-line, and on the 31st of August sailed for the Chesapeake in the hope of preventing the union of the French fleet from See also:Newport, under Count de See also:Barras, with that under De Grasse. He arrived at the Chesapeake ahead of De Barras, but after an encounter with De Grasse alone (See also:September 5th), who had 24 ships-of-the-line, hewas obliged to return to New York to refit, and the French were See also:left in See also:control of the See also:coast. Leaving only about 4000 men to guard the forts on the See also:Hudson, Washington set out for Virginia with the See also:remainder of his army immediately after learning of De Grasse's plan, and the French See also:land forces followed. The French fleet transported the allied army from the See also:head of the Chesapeake to the vicinity of See also:Williamsburg, and on the 28th of September it marched to Yorktown. Receiving, on the same See also:day, a despatch from Clinton promising See also:relief, and fearing the enemy might out-flank him, Cornwallis abandoned his outposts during the following See also:night and withdrew to his inner defences, consisting of sever, redoubts and six batteries connected by intrenchments, besides batteries along the river See also:bank. The allies, 16,000 strong, took See also:possession of the abandoned posts and closed in on the town in a semicircle extending from Wormley See also:Creek below it to about a mile above it, the Americans holding the right and the French the left.

On the night of October 5th–6th the allies opened the first parallel about 600 yds. from the British See also:

works, and extending from a deep See also:ravine on the N.W. to the river bank on the S.E., a distance of nearly 2 m. Six days later the second parallel was begun within 300 yds. of the British lines, and it was practically completed on the night of the 14th and 15th, when two British redoubts were carried by See also:assault, one by the Americans led by See also:Alexander See also:Hamilton and one by the French led by Lieut.-See also:Colonel G. de Deux-Ponts. In the See also:morning of the 16th Cornwallis ordered Lieut.-Colonel See also:Abercrombie to make an assault on two French batteries. I-Ie carried them and spiked eleven guns, but they were recovered and the guns were ready for service again twelve See also:hours later. On the night of the 16th and 17th Cornwallis attempted to See also:escape with his army to Gloucester on the opposite See also:side of the river, but a See also:storm ruined what little See also:chance of success there was in this venture. In See also:grave danger of an assault from the allies, Cornwallis offered to surrender on the 17th; two days later his whole army, consisting of 7073 See also:officers and men, was surrendered, and American Independence was practically assured. The British loss during the See also:siege was about 156 killed and 326 wounded; the American and French losses were 85 killed and 199 wounded. In 1862 the Confederate defences about Yorktown were besieged for a See also:month (April 4-May 3) by the Army of the See also:Potomac under General AVClellan. There was no intention on the See also:part of the Confederate See also:commander-in-See also:chief, See also:Joseph See also:Johnston, to do more than gain time by holding Yorktown and the line of the See also:Warwick river as See also:long as possible without serious fighting, and without imperilling the line of See also:retreat en Richmond; and when after many delays M`Clellan was in a position to assault with full assistance from his heavy siege guns, the Confederates See also:fell back on Williamsburg. See T. N. See also:Page, " Old Yorktown," in Scribner's See also:Magazine (October, 1881) ; H.

P. Johnston, The Yorktown Campaign and tke Surrender of Cornwallis (New York, 1881) ; A. S. See also:

Webb, The See also:Peninsular Campaign (New York, 1882); and J. C. See also:Ropes, See also:Story of the See also:Civil War, vol. ii. YORUBAS; YORUBALAND. The Yoruba, a See also:group of See also:Negro tribes, have given their name to an extensive See also:area in West See also:Africa, in the See also:hinterland of See also:Lagos. The Yoruba are of true Negro stock, in many respects typical of the See also:race, but among them are found persons with lighter skins and features recalling the Hamitic or Semitic peoples. This arises, in all See also:probability, from an infiltration of See also:Berber and Arab See also:blood through the See also:Fula (q.v.). The Yoruba themselves have traditions of an See also:Oriental origin. They are divided into many tribes, among the best known being the Oyo=Yoruba proper, the Egba, Jebu, Ife and See also:Ibadan.

They are sometimes called by the French Nago, and are known to the Sierra Leonis, many of whom are of Yoruba descent, as Aku. A considerable proportion of the American negroes are also said to he of Yoruba origin. For a long period the Yoruba were raided by the Dahomeyans and other coast tribes, to sell as slaves to the See also:

white traders. They are both an See also:urban and agricultural See also:people. Pottery, See also:weaving, tanning, See also:dyeing, and See also:forging are among their See also:industries. The houses of chiefs, often containing fifty rooms, are well built, and decorated with carvings representing symbolic devices, fabulous animals and scenes of war or the See also:chase. The Yoruba have considerable administrative ability. Their See also:system of government places the See also:power in a See also:council of elders pre-sided over by a chief who owes his position to a See also:combination of the principles of See also:heredity and See also:election.' The ruling chief must ' R. E. Dennett states that the government is based on the See also:rule of four See also:great chiefs who respectively represent the phases of See also:family See also:life, namely, (I) the deified head of the family, called See also:Geisha; (2) the always be taken rrom the members of one of two families, the See also:succession in many cases passing from one to the other family alternately. See also:Primogeniture is not necessarily considered. Before the introduction of letters the Yoruba are said to have employed knotted strings for recording events.

Their See also:

language, which has been reduced to See also:writing and carefully studied, has penetrated as far E. as See also:Kano in the See also:Hausa See also:country. The best known See also:dialectic varieties are those of Egba, Jebu, Ondo, Ife, See also:Illorin and Oyo (Yoruba proper, called also Nago) ; but the discrepancies are slight. The most marked feature, a strong tendency towards monosyllabism—produced by phonetic decay—has given rise to the principle of intonation, required to distinguish words originally different but reduced by corruption to the See also:condition of homophones. Besides the tines, of which there are three,—high, See also:low and See also:middle,—Yoruba has also See also:developed a degree of vocalic See also:harmony, in which the vowels of the affixes are assimilated to that of the See also:root. See also:Inflexion, as in See also:Bantu, is effected chiefly by prefixes; and there is a remarkable power of word-formation by the See also:fusion of several relational elements in a single See also:compound See also:term. The See also:Bible and several other books have been translated into Yoruba, which as a See also:medium of general intercourse in West Africa ranks in importance next to Hausa and Mandingan. The Yoruba See also:religion is that usually known as See also:fetishism. The Yoruoa country extends from See also:Benin on the E. to See also:Dahomey on the W. (where it somewhat overlaps the French frontier), being bounded N. by See also:Borgu and S. by the coastlands of Lagos. It covers about 25,000 sq. m. Most of it is included in the British See also:protectorate of Southern See also:Nigeria. The land is moderately elevated and a large, part of it is densely forested.

It is well watered; the See also:

rivers belong mainly to the coast systems, though some drain to the See also:Niger. The See also:history of Yorubaland, as known to Europeans, does not go back beyond the See also:close of the 17th See also:century. At that time it was a powerful See also:empire, and had indirectly come—through its connexion with Benin and Dahomey —to some extent under See also:European See also:influence. There was also a much slighter Moslem influence. One tradition brought the founder of the nation from See also:Bornu. The Yoruba appear to have inhabited their See also:present country at least as early as A.D. 1000. In the 18th century the Yoruba were constantly engaged in warfare with their Dahomeyan neighbours, and in 1738 they captured Kana, the sacred See also:city of the See also:kings of Dahomey. From 1747 to the time of See also:King Gezo (1818) the Dahomeyans paid See also:tribute to Yoruba. It was not until the early years of the 19th century that the Yoruba came as far S. as the See also:sea, when they founded a See also:colony at Lagos. About 1825 the See also:province of Illorin, already permeated by Moslem influences from the See also:north, declared itself See also:independent of the Yoruba, and shortly afterwards Yorubaland was overrun by Fula invaders. From this time (1830-35) the Yoruba empire—there had been six confederate kingdoms—was broken up into a number of comparatively weak states, who warred with one another, with the Dahomeyans and with their Moslem neighbours.

The See also:

advent of the British at first led to further complications and fighting, but gradually the various tribes gained confidence in the colonial government and sought its services as peacemaker. A treaty placing their country under British protection was signed by the Egba in See also:January 1893, and the subsequent See also:extension of British control over the other portions of Yorubaland met with no opposition. Though divided into semi-independent states, the Yoruba retain a feeble sense of See also:common See also:nationality. The See also:direct representative of the old Yoruba power is the alafin or king of Oyo occupying the N. and central parts of the whole region. See also:Round this central See also:state, which has lost much of its importance, are grouped the kingdoms of Illorin, Ijesa, Ife and Ondo in the E., Mahin and Jebu in the S. and Egba in the W. The ruler of each of these states has a See also:title characteristic of his See also:office. Thus the chief of If e bears the title of oni (a term indicating spiritual supremacy)-. To the oni of Ife or the alafin of Oyo all the other great chiefs announce their succession. The oni, says Sir William See also:MacGregor, is regarded as the See also:fountain of See also:honour, and without his consent no chief can assume the See also:privilege of wearing a See also:crown. The most important of the Yoruba fatherhood; (3) motherhood; (4) sonship. The chief representing motherhood is See also:brother to the See also:mother, and in the developed state has become the Balogun or war lord. states is Egba, the ruling chief of which is the alake of See also:Abeokuta (see ABEOKUTA).

Yorubaland is a country of comparatively large cities. The alafin resides at Oyo, on a headstream of the Oshun, a place which has succeeded the older capitals, Bohu and Katunga, lying farther N. and destroyed during the See also:

wars with the Fula. Oyo is exceeded in See also:size by several other places in Yorubaland, where the inhabitants have grouped themselves together for mutual protection in walled towns. Thus have sprung up the important towns of Abeokuta on the Ogun, due N. of Lagos; Ibadan on a See also:branch of the Omi, 30 M. S. of Oyo; and Illorin, See also:capital of the Illorin state, besides several other towns with a See also:population of some 40,000. See A. Dalzell, The History of Dahomey (See also:London, 1793) ; A. B See also:Ellis, The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (London, 1894) ; R. E. Dennett, Nigerian Studies, or the Religions and See also:Political System of the Yoruba (London, 191o); C. F. Harford-Batte{sby, Niger and Yoruba Routes (London, 1895-96) ; and LAGOS and NIGERIA.

End of Article: YORKTOWN

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
YORKSHIRE 		[next]
YOSAI [Kikuchi] (1781-1878)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries