Which 1781 battle ended with the largest British field army surrender of the American Revolutionary War?

The Battle of Yorktown ended with the largest British field army surrender of the American Revolutionary War.

The Yorktown campaign took place in Virginia in 1781. American forces led by George Washington and French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British army under Charles Cornwallis. French naval control of the Chesapeake Bay helped prevent Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or escaping by sea.

After weeks of trenches, artillery fire, and assaults on British positions, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The event is often called the Siege of Yorktown because the decisive operations involved a sustained siege, although the associated battle name is widely used.

Yorktown did not immediately end every military action. Fighting and negotiations continued, but the surrender weakened Britain’s political support for continuing the war. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the conflict and recognized the independence of the United States.