Cornwallis’s British army surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in October 1781.
The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. American forces under George Washington joined French forces commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while a French fleet helped prevent British relief by sea.
The allied army surrounded the British position and used artillery and siege trenches to tighten the pressure. American troops led by Alexander Hamilton and French troops captured key British redoubts on October 14, making the defenses increasingly difficult to hold. Cornwallis opened surrender negotiations on October 17.
The surrender ceremony occurred on October 19, 1781. Cornwallis claimed illness and did not attend; Brigadier General Charles O’Hara represented him. The victory did not instantly end every military operation, but it encouraged peace negotiations that produced the Treaty of Paris in 1783.