The Battle of Yorktown, also called the Siege of Yorktown, was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.
The campaign took place in Virginia in 1781. American forces under George Washington joined French forces commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while French naval forces helped prevent British relief. They surrounded the British army commanded by Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown.
After weeks of siege operations and artillery fire, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The victory effectively ended major fighting, although the war did not formally conclude until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.
Yorktown is sometimes described as the moment the United States won independence, but that wording compresses a longer process. The victory made continued British prosecution of the war politically difficult, while peace negotiations still had to settle sovereignty, borders, debts, and other issues.