Yorktown Magnet

This dramatic scene commemorates the October 1781 Siege of Yorktown in Virginia on a 2" x 3" soft matte refrigerator magnet. The original 1836 painting hangs in the Hall of Battles at the Palace of Versailles in France. The full-sized copy in the Museum's collection is believed to have been painted by French artist Henry LeGrand after Louis-Charles-Auguste Couder and was exhibited at the Chicago Art Union in 1860. The central figure (gesturing) represents French General Rochambeau. General George Washington and General Lafayette (visible on Washington's right) stand in front of a striped officer's tent. They are surrounded by French officers and soldiers who fought alongside Washington's army. The American Indian figures in the background may represent a delegation of Oneida and other Native Americans who witnessed the surrender of British General Cornwallis and his army. Yorktown was one of the last major military actions of the Revolutionary War.