Siege of Yorktown order of battle

The British forces included a large number of troops from various German principalities of the Holy Roman Empire that were collectively known as Hessians.

The following units and commanders of the British, American, and French forces fought in the Siege of Yorktown, or provided significant local support.

The third detachment to arrive was that of General Charles Cornwallis, who had been active in the Carolinas and, following the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, decided to join forces with Arnold and Phillips.

While at Petersburg, Cornwallis was joined by a fourth detachment from New York that was under the command of the Hessian Colonel August von Voigt.

Lafayette's force included a substantial number of Virginia militia, and he shadowed Cornwallis during the movements that ended at Yorktown, with a skirmish at Spencer's Ordinary and a larger battle at Green Spring being their only significant encounters.

However, word from Admiral Paul de Grasse of the French West Indies fleet would sail north to assist in operations on the Chesapeake Bay convinced Washington that action was best taken against Cornwallis's army in Virginia.