The British army surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, ending the final major land engagement of the American Revolution.
American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British position commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. French naval forces under the Comte de Grasse blocked the Chesapeake Bay, preventing Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or escaping by sea.
The siege began in late September. American and French troops captured key outer redoubts on October 14, allowing their artillery to move closer. Cornwallis requested surrender terms on October 17, and the formal articles of capitulation were signed two days later.
Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony, claiming illness. Charles O’Hara represented him, while Benjamin Lincoln accepted the British sword on Washington’s behalf. Fighting continued elsewhere, but Yorktown led directly to peace negotiations and the Treaty of Paris in 1783.