The Siege of Yorktown ended with the British surrender that effectively concluded the American Revolutionary War.
The siege took place in Yorktown, Virginia, from September 28 to October 19, 1781. American forces commanded by George Washington joined French troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau, while the French fleet helped prevent British reinforcement or evacuation by sea. Their combined army surrounded the British position commanded by General Charles Cornwallis.
American and French engineers constructed successive siege lines and brought artillery close enough to bombard the British defenses. After the allies captured key redoubts, Cornwallis recognized that his position could not be held. He surrendered his army on October 19, although fighting and negotiations continued elsewhere after Yorktown.
Yorktown was not the legal peace settlement. The Revolutionary War formally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which recognized American independence. Yorktown is nevertheless widely described as the war’s decisive final campaign because Britain lost a major field army and peace negotiations soon followed. The campaign’s international alliance is a notable part of the America250 story.