The British army surrendered at the Siege of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia. The surrender ended the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War and dealt Britain a decisive military and political blow.
American and French forces commanded by George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British troops led by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. French naval control of the Chesapeake Bay prevented Cornwallis from escaping or receiving effective reinforcement by sea.
Cornwallis requested capitulation terms on October 17, and negotiations followed over the next two days. Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony, claiming illness; Brigadier General Charles O’Hara represented him. More than 7,000 British soldiers became prisoners, but the war did not formally end until the Treaty of Paris in 1783.