Light Infantry Division at Yorktown (1781)

The Light Infantry Division was a large unit of the Continental Army that fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Major General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette commanded the light infantry division[1] at the Siege of Yorktown, and it comprised two brigades.

Companies of this brigade originally were authorized twenty-five men, but on 16 February 1781 Washington ordered that this become fifty men,[7] making the size consistent with his orders of 1 November 1780 that described the composition of the Army and size of units to take effect on 1 January 1781.

[9] The light infantry division performed two notable services during the Siege of Yorktown.

The first was to participate through fatigues and pickets in the advance of the American lines around Yorktown; this work began on in earnest on 30 September 1781.