How many high school kids today would even know the location of Yorktown let alone its significance? I’d bet more than 90 percent would not.
Please, even back when I was in high school, a few decades ago, I don’t think the text books mentioned where Yorktown or Saratoga were. The books just told about the Battles of each place. And maybe until 10 years ago, I was under the impression that they were both in New York. Then less than 10 years ago during a family vacation we visited Williamsburg and I saw signs for Yorktown as well as tourist info. It surprised me, who enjoys learning history that Yorktown is in Virginia. And of course the Battle of Saratoga, NY, was in the fall of 1777, while the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia was in 1781. The length of the war is another thing that was never emphasized in history class. It went on for years. Regarding General Benjamin Lincoln, I have known for a long while, that he was a Hinghamite (a resident of Hingham, Mass) who served with General Washington during the War for Independence. But, again it was only about 10 years ago, when helping one of my children with homework that I learned General Washington sent General Lincoln to accept the sword from General Cornwallis’ aide de camp. The subject of the homework assignment was American artists and my child had chosen to study John Trumbull. Take a look at Trumbull’s “Surrender of Cornwallis” and Cornwallis is nowhere in the painting. Washington sits on a brown horse in the background, while Lincoln, on the white horse, is in the foreground and ready to accept the sword from O’Hara who is dismounted.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis
Ps Thanks for reminding us of the importance of this day.