Today's DAR
On this day in 1781, American patriots along with their French allies won the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia. A decisive victory, it was the last major land battle of the American Revolution. British Army commander Charles Cornwallis surrendered and negotiations formally to end the war began.
DAR Commemorates Victory at Yorktown
In 1920, DAR led a petition to have Yorktown’s “sacred acres” set aside as a public park. Founded in 1930, the National Historical Military Park at Yorktown may never have come into existence if DAR had not taken the lead to acquire and preserve this battlefield.
Throughout the years, DAR members around the country have been involved in a number of projects and programs designed to commemorate the victory at Yorktown. Several Presidents General and other DAR representatives have made a number of official trips to Yorktown. Although the battlefield has always had special meaning for DAR, the sesquicentennial in 1931 and the bicentennial in 1981 were especially significant.
The sesquicentennial celebration lasted four days from Friday, October 16 to Monday, October 19, 1931. President General Edith I. Hobart and members of the National Board of Management sailed from Washington, D.C., to Yorktown aboard the S. S. Southland.
At Continental Congress in 1981, a special Yorktown Evening featured patriotic music and was attended by many foreign dignitaries to celebrate the battle’s bicentennial. On October 14, the “Salute to Yorktown” gala event was held in Constitution Hall to honor official participants and program guests. The guest of honor was His Excellency Francois de Laboulaye, the ambassador from France to the United States.
The Articles of Capitulation, detailing the terms under which General Cornwallis would surrender to General Washington, were drafted at Moore House on the York River near the battle site. DAR members undertook a project to refurnish the Moore House with appropriate antiques from the colonial period. The project was completed in time for the Yorktown Bicentennial and the gifts were presented to the National Park Service on Saturday, October 17, 1981. A DAR marker was dedicated on October 19 to honor the French fleet and the battle off the Virginia Capes.
In a speech delivered by President General Patricia W. Shelby at the dedication of the bronze and granite marker on October 19, 1981, she briefly paid tribute to the work performed by DAR members in 1931; however, the speech focused on honoring the memory of the French soldiers who gave their lives for American freedom. Mrs. Shelby remembered “the brilliant, zealous efforts of those gallant Frenchmen, upon whom rested the fate of American independence.” Sarah B. Jackson, Chairman of the DAR Yorktown Bicentennial Committee, referred to the bicentennial as “a day of renewal of commitment to God, Home and Country. Especially, it will be a great day for the Daughters of the American Revolution whose reason for being lies in this Victory at Yorktown.”
