1781 in Great Britain

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1781 English cricket season

Events from the year 1781 in Great Britain.

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Events

13 March: Uranus discovered [image in false colour]. Uranus with rings PIA01280.jpg
13 March: Uranus discovered [image in false colour].

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1781</span> Calendar year

1781 (MDCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1781st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 781st year of the 2nd millennium, the 81st year of the 18th century, and the 2nd year of the 1780s decade. As of the start of 1781, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Chesapeake</span> 1781 naval battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781. The combatants were a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral François Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse. The battle was strategically decisive, in that it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the besieged forces of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French were able to achieve control of the sea lanes against the British and provided the Franco-American army with siege artillery and French reinforcements. These proved decisive in the Siege of Yorktown, effectively securing independence for the Thirteen Colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Yorktown</span> 1781 American Revolutionary War battle

The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, began September 28, 1781, and ended on October 19, 1781, at exactly 10:30 am in Yorktown, Virginia. It was a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau and a French naval force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney</span> British naval officer (1718–1792)

Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB, was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Joseph Paul de Grasse</span> French admiral

François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly SMOM was a career French officer who achieved the rank of admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 in the last year of the American Revolutionary War. It led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown and helped gain the rebels' victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sint Eustatius</span> Dutch Caribbean island

Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France in the American Revolutionary War</span>

French involvement in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783 began in 1776 when the Kingdom of France secretly shipped supplies to the Continental Army of the Thirteen Colonies when it was established in June 1775. France was a long-term historical rival with the Kingdom of Great Britain, from which the Colonies were attempting to separate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles O'Hara</span> 18th/19th century British military officer

General Charles O'Hara was a British Army officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary War and later served as governor of Gibraltar. He served with distinction during the American War of Independence, commanding a brigade of Foot Guards as part of the army of Charles Cornwallis and was wounded during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. He offered the British surrender during the siege of Yorktown on behalf of his superior Charles Cornwallis and is depicted in the eponymous painting by John Trumbull. During his career O'Hara personally surrendered to both George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorktown campaign</span> 1781 military campaign of the American Revolutionary War

The Yorktown campaign, also known as the Virginia campaign, was a series of military maneuvers and battles during the American Revolutionary War that culminated in the siege of Yorktown in October 1781. The result of the campaign was the surrender of the British Army force of General Charles Earl Cornwallis, an event that led directly to the beginning of serious peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. The campaign was marked by disagreements, indecision, and miscommunication on the part of British leaders, and by a remarkable set of cooperative decisions, at times in violation of orders, by the French and Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis</span> Spanish government official and soldier

Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis (1746–1819) was a Spanish government official and soldier whose work in Cuba during the American Revolutionary War laid the foundations for the defeat of British forces in Florida and at Yorktown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorktown order of battle</span>

The siege of Yorktown was the culminating act of the Yorktown campaign, a series of military operations occupying much of 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. The siege was a decisive Franco-American victory: after the surrender of British Lt. Gen. Charles, Earl Cornwallis on October 17, the government of Lord North fell, and its replacement entered into peace negotiations that resulted in British recognition of American independence with the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

<i>Expédition Particulière</i> 1780–82 French expedition of the American Revolutionary War

The Special Expedition was an expeditionary force deployed by France to North America to support the Thirteen Colonies against Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Arriving on 11 July 1780 under the leadership of the Comte de Rochambeau, it numbered up to 5,500 troops and played a decisive role in the final battles of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco-American alliance</span> Alliance between the Kingdom of France and the United States

The Franco-American alliance was the 1778 alliance between the Kingdom of France and the United States during the American Revolutionary War. Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which the French provided many supplies for the Americans. The Netherlands and Spain later joined as allies of France; Britain had no European allies. The French alliance was possible once the Americans captured a British invasion army at Saratoga in October 1777, demonstrating the viability of the American cause. The alliance became controversial after 1793 when Great Britain and Revolutionary France again went to war and the U.S. declared itself neutral. Relations between France and the United States worsened as the latter became closer to Britain in the Jay Treaty of 1795, leading to an undeclared Quasi War. The alliance was defunct by 1794 and formally ended in 1800.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis</span> British Army officer (1738–1805)

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, KG, PC was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and the United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading British general officers in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. Cornwallis later served as a civil and military governor in Ireland, where he helped bring about the Act of Union; and in India, where he helped enact the Cornwallis Code and the Permanent Settlement.

Events from the year 1781 in the United States. This year marked the beginning of government under the Articles of Confederation as well as the surrender of British armed forces in the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture of Sint Eustatius</span> Part of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1781)

The Capture of Sint Eustatius took place in February 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War when British army and naval forces under Lieutenant-General Sir John Vaughan and Admiral George Rodney seized the Dutch-owned Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius. The capture was controversial in Britain, as it was alleged that Vaughan and Rodney had used the opportunity to enrich themselves and had neglected more important military duties. The island was subsequently taken by Dutch-allied French forces in late 1781, ending the British occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia in the American Revolution</span>

The history of Virginia in the American Revolution begins with the role the Colony of Virginia played in early dissent against the British government and culminates with the defeat of General Cornwallis by the allied forces at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, an event that signaled the effective military end to the conflict. Numerous Virginians played key roles in the Revolution, including George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-French War (1778–1783)</span> Military conflict fought France and Great Britain between 1778 and 1783

The Anglo-French War, also known as the War of 1778 or the Bourbon War in Britain, was a military conflict fought between France and Great Britain, sometimes with their respective allies, between 1778 and 1783. As a consequence, Great Britain was forced to divert resources used to fight the American War of Independence to theatres in Europe, India, and the West Indies, and to rely on what turned out to be the chimera of Loyalist support in its North American operations. From 1778 to 1783, with or without their allies, France and Britain fought over dominance in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 4 February 1781</span> 1781 Fourth Anglo-Dutch War naval engagement

The action of 4 February 1781 was a minor naval engagement that occurred on 4 February 1781 off Sombrero, Anguilla, between a British force of two ships of the line and one frigate under the command of Captain Francis Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Baron Ducie and a Dutch ship of the line escorting thirty merchant ships under the command of Rear-Admiral Willem Krull, and resulted in the capture of all Dutch vessels present by the British. The battle occurred soon after a British expeditionary force under the command of Admiral George Brydges Rodney had captured the Dutch colony of Sint Eustatius during the opening stages of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, a conflict resulting from tensions between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic over Dutch support for the American rebels during the Revolutionary War.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp.  333–334. ISBN   0-304-35730-8.
  3. 1 2 3 Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN   0-14-102715-0.
  4. "Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society". Manchester Lit and Phil. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  5. "BBC History British History Timeline". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
  6. Baren, Maurice (1996). How It All Began Up the High Street. London: Michael O'Mara Books. p. 58. ISBN   1-85479-667-4.
  7. "Queen set to attend cabinet meeting in Downing Street". BBC News . 18 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  8. Driscoll, Michael; Hamilton, Meredith; Coons, Marie (2003). A Child's Introduction to Poetry. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 10. ISBN   1-57912-282-5 . Retrieved 26 January 2011.