The British surrender at the Siege of Yorktown occurred on October 19, 1781.
Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. American forces under George Washington joined French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while French naval forces under the Comte de Grasse blocked British relief and escape by sea.
The allied armies surrounded the British position in Virginia and captured key outer defenses during the night of October 14. After intense bombardment and failed prospects for relief, British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis requested capitulation terms on October 17. The formal articles of surrender were signed two days later.
Yorktown did not instantly end every military action. Fighting continued at sea and in other regions, but the surrender led to serious peace negotiations. Those negotiations produced the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which Britain recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent states. Yorktown is therefore a major bridge between the Revolution and the nation commemorated by America250.