200th
Anniversary Medallion Commemorating the Battle at Yorktown
This
beautiful medallion is encased in Lucite and was produced by the Supreme
Council 33rd Degree, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite to commemorate the
200th Anniversary (1881-1981) of the American victory at Yorktown.
The
monument itself was commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1781 to
commemorate the great victory. The 95-foot monument is in honor of the
French-American victory when generals Washington, Rochambeau, the Comte de
Grasse, and the Marquis de Lafayette laid successful siege to the forces of
Lord Cornwallis, who waited here in vain to be rescued by an expected British
flotilla. The Continental Congress gave the green light to erect the
monument in 1781, right after the October victory. Unfortunately, no one
seemed to be in a great hurry to construct it, for it wasn't until 99 years
later that President Chester B. Arthur laid the historic column's cornerstone,
moved to action, no doubt, by the knowledge that the victory's centenary
celebration was imminent.
