The Battle of Yorktown was the 1781 American Revolution battle whose British surrender effectively ended major fighting in the war America250 commemorates.
The siege took place from September 28 to October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia. American forces commanded by George Washington worked with French troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau and French naval forces to trap the British army under General Charles Cornwallis.
After weeks of bombardment and the capture of key British defenses, Cornwallis surrendered his army on October 19. The victory did not legally end the war, but it made continued British military operations in North America far more difficult and encouraged peace negotiations.
A common mix-up is calling Yorktown the formal end of the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, officially ended the war and recognized the United States as independent. Yorktown is remembered as the decisive final major campaign.