Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Yorktown,, Virginia
Tel:
(757) 898-2410
Experience the final days of the American Revolutionary War with a visit to the Yorktown Battlefield. This historic battlefield-turned-cemetery is located just outside of Newport News, Virginia. Today, the 4,300 acre Yorktown National Cemetery at Yorktown Battlefield is home to 2,183 graves of those killed in the American Civil War, as well as fascinating tours of the battlefield.
In 1781, George Washington and his Continental Army won the last great battle of the Revolutionary War against British and German forces at Yorktown, Virginia. Eight decades later, Yorktown once again figured prominently in the Civil War, during which 632 Union soldiers were buried in the heart of the 1781 battlefield. In 1866, 1,500 Union graves from within a 50 mile radius were relocated to Yorktown, thus making this cemetery a focal point of the Yorktown Battlefield section of the Colonial National Historical Park.
Today, visitors to Yorktown Battlefield can enjoy two different types of self-guided audio tours. The seven mile Battlefield Tour Road, lasting about an hour, gives visitors a first-hand look at both original and reconstructed siege lines used by both sides, as well as a stop at an overlook of Surrender Field. The nine mile Encampment Tour Road, lasting about half an hour, takes visitors to American and French encampments, including Washington's Headquarters. The visitor center at Yorktown Battlefield offers visitors a 15 minute film entitled "The Siege at Yorktown," giving a brief history of the 1781 battle; several exhibits focusing on the siege, including General Washington's camping tents; and a gift shop, offering an outstanding collection of books and reproductions focused on America's colonial period and Revolutionary War, as well as the cassette or CD for the audio tour. Kids have the opportunity to participate in the Junior Ranger Program by going on a two hour tour and filling out a booklet available for purchase from the gift shop, as well as the Young Soldiers Program, available during the summer, where children can learn about life as a Revolution era soldier from a costumed guide. After the tours, visitors can travel to modern day Yorktown, where they will find plenty of restaurants—you'll be hungry after your busy day out in the field!
To get to the Yorktown Battlefield, visitors should take exit 242B off of I-64 East or 250B off of I-64 West, then turn north onto Route 17. Follow the signs to the Yorktown Battlefield. Feel like a revolutionary at the spot of America's birth and rebirth as a nation!