Which 1781 battle marked the last major military campaign of the American Revolution?

The Siege of Yorktown marked the last major military campaign of the American Revolution.

American and French forces surrounded the British army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in September and October 1781. General George Washington led the allied American army, while French troops and naval forces played a decisive supporting role.

Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The defeat badly weakened Britain’s ability and political will to continue the war, although fighting and negotiations continued afterward.

Yorktown was not the formal end of the conflict. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, recognized American independence and ended the war diplomatically. Yorktown is remembered as the decisive military victory that made that settlement possible.