NY, USA
Rochambeau's Army Marches Past Stony Point Toward Yorktown
August 24, 1781
In late August 1781, the combined French and American forces under Rochambeau and Washington marched south through New Jersey toward Virginia and the Yorktown siege, crossing the Hudson via King's Ferry near Stony Point. The corridor that Wayne's 1779 assault had helped keep open was the route by which the allied armies that ended the war in the south made their crucial southward movement.
People Involved
Pennsylvania Continental general known as "Mad Anthony." Commanded the light infantry corps that stormed Stony Point July 15–16, 1779 in a bayonet-only night assault. Awarded a Congressional gold medal. Later served at Yorktown and commanded the Legion of the United States on the northwestern frontier.
Commander-in-Chief who personally scouted and approved the Stony Point assault plan, then with strategic clarity ordered the fort demolished and abandoned after the victory rather than expend unavailable forces defending an exposed position.