The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War, a turning point remembered by America250.
The campaign took place in Virginia from September 28 to October 19, 1781. American forces commanded by George Washington joined French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau, while French naval forces under the Comte de Grasse helped prevent British reinforcement or escape by sea.
The allied army surrounded the British position at Yorktown, commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. American and French troops captured key redoubts and tightened the siege. Cornwallis surrendered his army on October 19, producing a decisive Franco-American victory.
Yorktown did not immediately produce a peace treaty. Fighting and military occupation continued in other places, but the British government soon faced political pressure to stop offensive operations in North America. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized American independence.