For America250, the Siege of Yorktown ended with the major British surrender that effectively closed the Revolutionary War.
American and French forces surrounded the British army commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in September and October 1781. George Washington led the allied American army, while the French fleet’s victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake prevented a British evacuation or effective reinforcement by sea.
After a sustained siege and the capture of key defensive positions, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. Fighting did not stop everywhere immediately, and the war formally continued until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. However, Yorktown made a large-scale British offensive in North America politically and militarily impractical.
The event is sometimes called the Battle of Yorktown, but “Siege of Yorktown” is the specific name for the wider operation. It included trench warfare, artillery bombardment, naval action, and coordinated American-French movements.