The British surrender at Yorktown was secured on October 19, 1781, after American and French forces surrounded the British army.
George Washington commanded the Continental Army, while French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau joined the operation. French naval forces under the Comte de Grasse blocked British relief and escape by sea, making the position of General Charles Cornwallis increasingly untenable.
The siege began in late September. American and French troops constructed parallel trenches and bombarded the British defenses. On October 14, American and French columns captured key redoubts, bringing artillery close enough to make continued resistance extremely difficult.
Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the Revolutionary War, but fighting and negotiations continued afterward. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized American independence.