"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...

"B2431" wrote in message
...

The French fleet showing up off Yorktown also seems to have convinced
Cornwallis it was time to cut his losses and quit.


Well, turning back the evacuation force tends to do that.

No, but you have come a step closer to reality.

The 300 cannon would have cut the English lines to bits, just as easily as
they could have turned the English fleet to splinters. Washington had set a
trap and it worked.

Perhaps the French delayed the English long enough for the trap to be
completed.