| Siege of Croydon | |||||||
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| Part of Atlantean War of Independence | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States of Atlantis France | Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Victor Radcliff Marquis de La Fayette | Charles Cornwallis | ||||||
The Siege of Croydon in the winter of 1778 was a decisive victory by a combined effort of Atlantean forces led by General Victor Radcliff and French forces led by General the Marquis de La Fayette over a British army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the Atlantean War of Independence, as the surrender of Cornwallis’ army (the only British army on the continent of Atlantis; the other activated British armies were busy fighting in Terranova, in Europe, and in other colonies) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict.
Cornwallis had led his army in retreat to the northern state of Croydon during the previous autumn. Penned up in the peninsula by Atlantean and French entrenchments, the British army could hold out against most assaults thanks to continuous resupply by the Royal Navy. The marquis recommended saps and parallels to be employed against the British works, and work had begun on the third parallel when winter arrived and froze the ground.
Not long after New Year's Day 1778 a French fleet won a victory over the Royal Navy in the Atlantic, and arrived to close off Croydon to the sea. Cornwallis sent an officer under flag of truce to discuss terms of surrender with Radcliff. The two officers agreed to all the points - except Radcliff's insistence that Colonel Habakkuk Biddiscombe and members of his Horsed Legion be turned over on charges of treason against Atlantis. The British asked for a truce of 24 hours to discuss this point. During the truce Biddiscombe and some of his Horsed Legion managed to break out at the weakest point in the allied line.
The next day, at noon, to the tune "The World Turned Upside Down", the British stacked arms between the Atlantean and French armies and surrendered. Cornwallis talked with Radcliff, whom he had last seen at the surrender of Nouveau Redon almost 15 years before.
Literary comment[]
Some elements of the Siege of Croydon are based on the Siege of Yorktown (1781) in the American Revolution.
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