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On this day in history, September 28, 1781, the Siege of Yorktown begins

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On this day in history, September 28, 1781, the Siege of Yorktown begins

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The Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, the decisive battle in America’s shocking triumph over the mighty British Empire in its War of Independence, began on this day in history, Sept. 28, 1781. 

The siege ended three weeks later, on Oct. 19, with the surrender of the British garrison led by Lord Charles Cornwallis. 

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George Washington’s Continental Army and French allies surrounded the Redcoats by both land and sea. 

“The British surrender forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation — the United States of America,” writes the American Battlefield Trust.

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The United States had won its daring bid for independence on the battlefield five years after it publicly declared it on paper. 

Britain formally recognized American independence almost exactly two years later, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on Sept. 3, 1783. 

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General George Washington (center) inspects the French battery on the opening day of the siege of Yorktown in October 1781. Lithograph by Zogbaum published in 1881.  (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)

The Americans, aided by French troops under Comte de Rochambeau, set a trap for the outnumbered Redcoats at Yorktown. 

Washington’s American forces enjoyed the leadership of another Frenchman, the remarkable Marquis de Lafayette.

Their 19,000 troops, almost evenly split between the allied nations, surrounded about 9,000 Redcoats on a spit of land where the York River meets Chesapeake Bay.

French warships had sailed into Chesapeake Bay just weeks earlier. 

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Cornwallis had no way to escape and realized his cause was hopeless. He surrendered with relatively little loss of life considered the forces amassed. 

About 800 men were killed or wounded between the combatants, according to the American Battlefield Trust. But the victory for the Americans was overwhelming and decisive.

Illustration of General George Washington directing the retreat of the Continental Army across the East River, from Brooklyn to Manhattan, after their defeat at the hands of British forces during the battle of Long Island, August 29, 1776. Engraving by JC Armytage from a painting by Wageman. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)

Cornwallis surrendered his entire garrison. 

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The American Revolution was over.

 The United States had won. 

“Washington’s fame grew to international proportions having wrested such an improbable victory.”

The victory required a remarkable bit of logistical and intellectual dexterity by both Washington and Rochambeau. 

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Just weeks earlier, they were working on a long-intended plan to defeat the British under Gen. Henry Clinton in a decisive battle in New York City. 

The Redcoats had occupied New York for nearly the entire war after smashing and humiliating Washington’s army in 1776. 

Generals Rochambeau (1725-1807) and Washington (1732-1799) give the last orders for attack at the siege of Yorktown. With them is the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“In the spring of 1781, Washington traveled to Rhode Island to meet with Comte de Rochambeau and plan an attack on Clinton,” writes the National Park Service in its history of the Siege of Yorktown. 

“A French fleet was expected to arrive in New York later that summer, and Washington wanted to coordinate the attack with the fleet’s arrival. As planned, Rochambeau’s army marched in July and joined with Washington’s troops outside New York City.”

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Just weeks earlier, the American and French were working on a long-intended plan to defeat the British in a decisive battle in New York City. 

It was only then, in July, that they learned the French fleet was instead sailing into Chesapeake Bay. 

Washington quickly devised a cunning new plan to leverage the long-awaited French naval forces and smash Cornwallis’s forces in Yorktown.

“In order to fool Clinton, Washington had his men build big army camps and huge brick bread ovens visible from New York to give the appearance of preparations for a stay,” reports the National Park Service. 

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“Washington also prepared false papers under his signature discussing plans for an attack on Clinton, and let these papers fall into British hands.” 

With the subterfuge established, Washington and Rochambeau marched for Yorktown in the middle of August, parading past the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September before reaching Yorktown and setting siege to Cornwallis. 

“Washington’s fame grew to international proportions having wrested such an improbable victory, interrupting his much-desired Mount Vernon retirement with greater calls to public service,” writes the library of George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

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GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’

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GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced a bill to authorize the death penalty as a potential punishment for the sexual abuse of children.

“We have zero mercy for child rapists. Those who prey on our most vulnerable deserve the harshest consequence we can deliver,” Mace said in a statement.

The proposal is aptly called the “Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act.”

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announces she will run for South Carolina governor during a press conference at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, 2025. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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“No predator should be allowed to walk away from the most unthinkable crimes against children,” Mace noted. 

“This bill is simple. Rape a child and you don’t get a second chance, you get the death penalty. We will never apologize for protecting America’s children,” Mace added.

The bill would put capital punishment on the table as an option to punish those who sexually abuse children.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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“INTRODUCING: The Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act to amend Title 18 to authorize the death penalty for aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact offenses against children. It will also amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize the death penalty for the rape of a child,” she said in a post on X.

“We’ve spent months fighting to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s network of powerful predators. We’ve demanded accountability and pushed for transparency. Now we’re making sure anyone who rapes a child faces the ultimate consequence,” she noted.

Mace has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2021. 

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She is one of the candidates currently running in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.

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Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay

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Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay

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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.

The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.

Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.

Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.

Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original. 

“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.

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 “It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.

Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.

In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”

“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.

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“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”

“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.

The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.

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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.

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Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said. 

Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop.  (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)

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Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day. 

He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later. 

Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing. 

A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding. 

In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported. 

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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia.  (Fairfax County Police Department)

Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”

“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said. 

“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”

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Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia.  (Provided)

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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person. 

“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states. 

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