On This Day in 1781: London finally receives word of defeat in Yorktown

On This Day in 1781: London finally receives word of defeat in Yorktown
This painting depicts the forces of British Major General Charles Cornwallis surrendering to French and American forces after the Siege of Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War. (Source: U.S. government)
By NBC12 Newsroom | November 25, 2019 at 11:00 AM EST - Updated November 21 at 9:24 AM

YORKTOWN, Va. (WWBT) - News today travels in just seconds across, the globe, but check how long it took in the 1780s.

On this day in history on Nov. 25, 1781, London finally received word of the American victory at Yorktown, Virginia.

It took more than a month for the British prime minister Lord North to find out the Americans had defeated British General Charles Cornwallis on Oct. 19, 1781. This battle eventual lead to the end of the Revolutionary War.

Upon receiving the news Lord North is said to have remarked, “Oh God! It is all over.”

In Episode 2 of our “How We Got Here” podcast you’ll hear from a respected expert Ed Ayres from the Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation on that famous victory at Yorktown:

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