World History Compass
World History CompassIn this compilation I am attempting to bring together statistics
regarding the Siege gathered from several sources into one place. Not
susprisingly there are discrepancies and I have made an assumption here
and there. You will find that numbers for Americans and French are rather
sparse. Hopefully, I'll be able to shed further light with more research.
Robert Schiller
Contents
Siege of Yorktown Order of Battle (2)
Cornwallis
British
Guards Brigade (Composite)
17th Foot
23d Foot
33d Foot
43d Foot
71st Foot
76th Foot
80th Foot
Light Infantry Battalion (Provisional)
Royal Artillery
Staff
German
lst Anspach-Bayreuth Regiment
2d Anspach-Bayreuth Regiment
Erb Prinz Regiment (Hesse-Cassel)
von Bose Regiment (Hesse-Cassel)
Feldjager Korps detachment (Hesse-Cassel)
Loyalists
British Legion
Queen's Rangers
North Carolina Volunteers
Miscellaneous detachments
Washington
French
Bourbonnais
Royal Deux-Ponts
Saintonge
Soissonnais
Gatinais
Agenois
Touraine
Lauzun’s Legion
2d Battalion, Auxone (Artillery)
Detachment, Metz (Artillery)
Detachments from Ships' Garrisons
Voluntaires de Saint-Simon (Provisional)
Militia
Virginia State Regiment (Dabney's)
Lewis’ Rifle Corps (Provisional)
Stevens’ Brigade (Provisional)
Lawson’s Brigade (Provisional)
Weedonk Brigade (Provisional)
Continentals
Lincoln's Division
New York Brigade (Clinton)
1st New York Regiment
2d New York Regiment
New Jersey Brigade (Dayton)
lst New Jersey Regiment 1
2d New Jersey Regiment 1
Rhode Island Regiment
Steuben's Division
Gist's Brigade
3d Maryland Regiment
4th Maryland Regiment
2 companies, Delaware Regiment 2
Wayne's Brigade
1st Pennsylvania Battalion (Provisional)
2d Pennsylvania Battalion (Provisional)
Gaskins’ Virginia Battalion (Provisional)
Lafayette's Division
Hazen's Brigade
Canadian Regiment
Light Infantry Regiment (Provisional)(Scammel) 3
Light Infantry Battalion (Provisional)(Hamilton) 3
Muhlenberg's Brigade
Light Infantry Battalion (Provisional)(Vose) 4
Light Infantry Battalion (Provisional)(Gimat) 5
Light Infantry Battalion (Provisional)(Barber) 6
Unbrigaded Units
2d Continental Artillery Regiment (Lamb's)
Detachment, lst Continental Artillery Regiment (Harrison's)
Detachment, 4th Continental Artillery Regiment (Proctor's)
Detachment, 4th Legionary Corps (Moylan's)
Detachment, 1st Partisan Corps (Armand's)
Detachment, Artificer Regiment
Corps of Sappers and Miners
Marechausse Corps
Commander-in-Chief's Guard
1 Temporarily consolidated 8 October as single large battalion.
2 Attached to 3d Maryland Regiment until 6 October, when transferred to
artillery park.
3 Regrouped on 8 October as a single regiment with two battalions under
Hamilton and Laurens. Consisted of Light companies from 2 New York
regiments, plus 5 Connecticut, 4 Massachusetts, and 1 New Hampshire
provisional light companies.
4 Light companies from 8 Massachusetts regiments.
5 Light companies from 5 Connecticut, 2 Massachusetts, and the Rhode Island
regiments.
6 Light companies from 2 New Jersey, 2 New Hampshire, and the Canadian
regiments.
Order of Battle, 5 September 1781 Battle of the Capes *1 (2)
De Grasse Graves Ship Guns Built Ship Guns Built Ville de Paris 110 1764 London 98 1766 Auguste 80 1778 Barfleur 90 1768 Languedoc 80 1766 Alfred 74 1778 Saint Esprit 80 1765 Invincible 74 1765 Pluton 74 1778 Monarch 74 1765 Marseillais 74 1766 Centaur 74 *2 Bourgogne 74 1766 Resolution 74 1770 Diademe 74 1756 Bedford 74 1775 Cesar 74 1768 Royal Oak 74 1769 Destin 74 1777 Montague 74 1779 Victoire 74 1770 Terrible *3 74 1762 Sceptre 74 1780 Ajax 74 1770 Northumberland 74 1780 Alcide 74 1779 Palmier 74 1752 Shrewsbury 74 1758 Citoyen 74 1763 Princessa 70 *4 Scipion 74 1778 Belliqueux 64 *5 Magnanime 74 1779 America 64 1777 Hercule 74 1778 Europe 64 1766 Zele 74 1763 Intrepid 64 1770 Hector 74 1755 Adamant 50 *5 Souverain 74 1757 Reflechi 64 1776 Caton 64 1777 Solitaire 64 1774 Unengaged (In Bay) Glorieux 74 1762 Vaillant 64 1755 Triton 64 1747 Experiment 50 1774 *6 Unengaged (Barras) Due de Bourgogne 80 1751 Neptune 74 1778 Conquerant 74 1745 Ardent 64 1764 *6 Eveille 64 1772 Jason 64 1777 Provence 64 1763 Sagittaire 50 1761 1 Ships of the Line and 4th Rates only; does not include frigates and small craft. 2 Captured from French in 1759. 3 Sank 14 September 1781 as a result of damage sustained in the battle. 4 Captured from Spanish in 1780. 5 Date of construction not located. 6 Captured from British in 1779
Regulars - 6000 Marines, Sailors and Armed Loyalists - 1500 to 2000 Navy (commanded by Graves and Hood) - 19 ships
Return of British Casualties from the 28th of September to the 19th of October, 1781 (1)
Organization Killed Wounded Missing Total Royal Artillery 24 21 2 47 Guards 4 22 26 Light Infantry 28 57 83 Seventeenth Regiment 1 7 8 Twenty-third Regiment 11 20 31 Thirty-third Regiment 8 12 8 28 Forty-third Regiment 10 18 12 40 Seventy-first Regiment 10 22 11 43 Seventy-sixth Regiment 6 5 11 Eightieth Regiment 1 11 10 22 Two battalions Anspach 12 34 46 Prince Hereditaire 23 57 16 96 Regiment de Bose 18 40 11 69 Total 156 326 70 552
Lossing's totals agree exactly with those of the Center of Military History cited above. "The loss of the British on this occasion was one hundred and fifty-six killed, three hundred and twenty-six wounded and seventy missing." (5)
On October 9, 1781 after the bombardment by American artillery (using French cannon), "more than 80 persons were killed, and many wounded." (3)
Hessian Casualities
Killed Wounded Missing Total
53 131 27 211
Prince Hereditare listed in the Center of Military History's list is Regiment Erbprinz in German.
In a footnote on page 280, Lowell states that "there were one hundred and forty-two Hessians killed and wounded at Yorktown (Knyphausen to the Landgrave, Novemeber 6th, 1781); this does not include the chasseurs at Gloucester, nor the Anspachers." I assume that the discrespany of the numbers listed above are the chasseurs and Anspachers. (4)
Lowell lists two of the five Hessian Regiments that served at Yorktown, Regiment Anspach and Regiment Bayreuth. He notes that these two are "generally called the two Anspach regiments. The Anspach chasseurs made a part of the Hessian Jäger Corps." (4)
Note that the Center of Military History chart above lists "two battalions Anspach" but the casualties are not even close to Lowell's. If I were to guess, I'd guess on the side of Lowell. He cites original German documents.
Since Lossing's totals agree exactly with those of the Center of Military History, I have to assume they were using the same source. At this point, I do not know what that source is.
British Casualties Resulting from the October 14 Assaults Led by Lt. Col. Alexander Hamilition and Lt. Col. de Deux-Ponts (3)
Killed - 26 Taken Prisoner - 73
General Return of British Troops Surrendered Prisoners of War on the 19th of October, 1781 (1)
Organization Officers Men Other personnel Total General and staff 31 46 77 Royal Artillery 13 198 31 242 Guards 23 504 527 Light Infantry 31 640 671 Seventeenth Regiment 17 227 244 Twenty-third Regiment 12 221 233 Thirty-third Regiment 11 259 270 Forty-third Regiment 14 345 359 Seventy-first Regiment 22 272 294 Seventy-sixth Regiment 31 684 715 Eightieth Regiment 32 657 689 Two battalions Anspach 69 1005 2 1086 Prince Hereditaire 22 455 7 484 Regiment de Bose 15 333 1 349 Yagers 5 69 74 British Legion 25 216 241 Queen's Rangers 43 277 320 North Carolina Volunteers 21 121 142 Pioneers 5 37 42 Small detachments 14 10 24 Taken on 14th & 16th Oct. 6 72 78 Camp followers 80 80 Total 462 6602 177 7241
Lossings numbers:
"The whole number surrendered by capitulation was a little more than
seven thousand, according to the most reliable authorities, making the
total loss between seventy-five and seventy-eight hundred." (5)
"An estimate made soon after the surrender, made the total loss of the British eleven thousand eight-hundred. In that estimate was included two thousand sailors, one thousand eight hundred negroes, and one thousand five hundred Tories." (5)
British Military Stores and Provisions Captured
Brass Cannon - 75 Iron Cannon - 160 Muskets - 7794 Regimental Standards - 28 (10 British, 18 German)
"The military chest contained nearly eleven thousand dollars in specie." (5)
Regular American troops - 7,000 Militia - 4,000 French - 5,000
American Casualties
Killed - 24 Wounded - 102
Fleet of Adm. DeGrasse Warships - 29 Marines - 3100 (commanded by the Marquis de St. Simon) Fleet of Adm. De Barras Warships - 7
(1) U.S. Army Center of Military History
Part XX, Returns of British Casualties at Yorktown and Prisoners of War.
(2) U.S. Army Military History Institute
Yorktown Staff Ride.
(3) Marshall, Douglas W, and Howard H. Peckham. Campaigns of the American Revolution. Ann Arbor, 1976
(4) Lowell, Edward J. The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries
of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War.Williamstown, MA, 1970
(This book was first published in 1884.)
(5) Lossing, Benson J. The Pictorial Field-Book of the American
Revolution. 2 vols. 1st Tuttle ed. Rutland, Vermont, 1972.
(This work was first published in 1859.)
The data on this web page was last updated on
24-Dec-2000.
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