The British army surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, a Revolutionary War victory remembered during America250.
The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. American and French forces surrounded the British army commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis after French naval power blocked relief by sea.
Cornwallis requested capitulation terms on October 17. Negotiations followed at the Moore House, and the formal surrender ceremony took place two days later, on October 19. Cornwallis did not attend, claiming illness; Charles O’Hara represented him and Major General Benjamin Lincoln accepted the sword.
The victory did not instantly end every military operation, but it prompted peace negotiations. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized the United States as independent.