<P> By October 5, Washington was almost ready to open the first parallel . That night the sappers and miners worked, putting strips of pine on the wet sand to mark the path of the trenches . </P> <P> After nightfall on October 6, troops moved out in stormy weather to dig the first parallel: the heavily overcast sky negated the waning full moon and shielded the massive digging operation from the eyes of British sentries . Washington ceremoniously struck several blows with his pick axe to begin the trench . The trench was to be 2,000 yards (1,800 m) long, running from the head of Yorktown to the York River . Half of the trench was to be commanded by the French, the other half by the Americans . On the northernmost end of the French line, a support trench was dug so that they could bombard the British ships in the river . The French were ordered to distract the British with a false attack, but the British were told of the plan by a French deserter and the British artillery fire turned on the French from the Fusiliers redoubt . </P> <P> On October 7, the British saw the new allied trench just out of musket - range . Over the next two days the allies completed the gun placements and dragged the artillery into line . The British fire began to weaken when they saw the large number of guns the allies had . </P> <P> By October 9, all of the French and American guns were in place . Among the American guns there were three twenty - four pounders, three eighteen pounders, two eight - inch (203 mm) howitzers and six mortars, totaling fourteen guns . At 3: 00 pm, the French guns opened the barrage and drove the British frigate, HMS Guadeloupe across the York River, where she was scuttled to prevent capture . At 5: 00 pm the Americans opened fire . Washington fired the first gun; legend has it that this shot smashed into a table where British officers were eating . The Franco - American guns began to tear apart the British defenses . Washington ordered that the guns fire all night so that the British could not make repairs . All of the British guns on the left were soon silenced . The British soldiers began to pitch their tents in their trenches and soldiers began to desert in large numbers . Some British ships were also damaged by cannonballs that flew across the town into the harbor . </P>

How long did the battle of yorktown last