On what date did British forces surrender at the Siege of Yorktown?

British forces surrendered at the Siege of Yorktown on October 19, 1781.

The surrender followed a Franco-American siege of the British army commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. General George Washington led the American army, while French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau and French naval forces under the Comte de Grasse were essential to surrounding the British position and blocking relief by sea.

Cornwallis requested terms on October 17 after allied artillery and infantry attacks made his position untenable. He did not attend the ceremony, citing illness; Charles O'Hara represented him and offered the sword to American major general Benjamin Lincoln after Washington and Rochambeau declined to accept it personally.

Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, but fighting at sea and elsewhere continued. Peace negotiations eventually produced the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally ended the war and recognized the independence of the United States.