Battle of Yorktown

2. Cornwallis' Cave

Yorktown, VA

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Cornwallis' cave is located along the waterfront in Historic Yorktown. According to local legend, this cave was supposedly the hiding place of Cornwallis during the Revolutionary War siege at Yorktown in 1781. Others have suggested that it may have once been a smuggler's cave. The Tobacco Road National Park Service sign claims that Cornwallis moved his headquarters to an earthen bunker south of the Cornwallis Cave after he left Secretary Thomas Nelson's home. One American officer described Cornwallis's new headquarters as 'bombproof.' Unfortunately, no trace of his below-ground bunker has been found. During the Civil War, Union soldiers built a fortress around the cave and used it to hold munitions. They cut large square holes into the front of the bank to fit beams that would support the structure. Eventually the beams and structure collapsed. The owner of the cave cleared the debris and placed a door at the entrance. Hoping to make some money at the 1881 Centennial Celebration, he charged visitors an admission fee to see the cave. According to visitor Benson J. Lossing, "After breakfast, accompanied by Mr. Nelson in his carriage, I visited the several localities which make Yorktown historically famous. We first descended the river bank and visited the excavation in the marl bluff, known as Cornwallis's Cave. It is square, twelve by eighteen feet in size, with a narrow passage leading to a smaller circular excavation on one side. It is almost directly beneath the termination of the trench and breast-works of the British fortifications, which are yet very prominent upon the bank above. Popular tradition says that this excavation was made by order of Cornwallis, and used by him for the purpose of holding councils with his officers in a place of safety, during the siege. Taking advantage of this tradition, cupidity has placed a door at the entrance, secured it by lock and key, and demands a Virginia ninepence (12 ½ cents) entrance fee from the curious. I paid the penalty of curiosity, knowing that I was submitting to imposition, for I was assured, on the authority of an old lady who resided at Yorktown at the time of the siege, that this excavation was made by some of the people wherein to hide their valuables. A house stood directly in front of it, the foundation of which is yet there. The building made the spot still more secluded. A quarter of a mile below, Lord Cornwallis did have an excavation in the bank, which was lined with green baize, and used by the general for secret conferences during the siege. No traces of his council chamber are left."