British forces surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
The surrender ended the Siege of Yorktown in Virginia, where American and French forces trapped General Charles Cornwallis's army on the York River peninsula. George Washington commanded the Continental Army, while the French army assisted on land and the French navy blocked British relief by sea.
Cornwallis's troops were surrounded after weeks of artillery bombardment and trench construction. Cornwallis did not personally attend the surrender ceremony; British General Charles O'Hara presented his sword on Cornwallis's behalf. The formal surrender involved roughly 8,000 British troops and their German auxiliaries.
Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, but it did not instantly produce a peace treaty. Negotiations continued for nearly two years, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. The Yorktown victory nevertheless made continued British efforts to defeat the United States politically and financially difficult.