The 1781 Battle of Yorktown led to the surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolution.
The Yorktown campaign took place in Virginia from September 28 to October 19, 1781. American forces under George Washington joined French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while a French fleet helped prevent British relief by sea. Their combined army surrounded Cornwallis’s position at Yorktown.
After weeks of bombardment and the capture of important defensive positions, Cornwallis’s army could no longer hold the town. He surrendered on October 19, 1781, although he did not personally attend the formal ceremony, claiming illness. The surrender was a major military victory for the Americans and their French allies.
Yorktown did not instantly end every military operation, and peace negotiations continued afterward. However, the defeat made continued British prosecution of the war politically difficult. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized the independence of the United States.