French Cemetery

You may have heard about the Normandy American Cemetery in France, where 9,388 U.S. soldiers are buried for their sacrifice to help liberate France. But in Virginia, at the battle site of the Siege of Yorktown (1781), there is a grave of some 50 French soldiers who lost their lives in that fight that resulted in the independence of the United States.

Around 8,000 French soldiers joined the colonial soldiers fighting in Virginia, and along with 29 French warships, were able to lay siege to Cornwallis’s British troops and force a victory. While the 50 French soldiers buried include those who fell during the siege attacks, this also includes many who died from malaria and other diseases.