In the American Revolution, which battle ended major fighting in 1781?

The Battle of Yorktown ended major fighting in the American Revolution in 1781.

The allied American and French victory trapped the British army commanded by Charles Cornwallis on the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia. General George Washington led the Continental Army, while French forces on land and at sea played a decisive role. The French naval victory in the Battle of the Chesapeake prevented a British relief fleet from rescuing Cornwallis.

After weeks of bombardment and siege operations, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The surrender did not immediately end the war, but it made continued British military operations in North America politically difficult. Peace negotiations followed, resulting in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Yorktown is sometimes described as the final battle of the Revolution, but smaller clashes continued afterward. The key distinction is that Yorktown ended the conflict's major combat operations, making it a central milestone in the history leading to the United States' 250th anniversary.