The Siege of Yorktown was the 1781 American victory that effectively ended major fighting before the Treaty of Paris.
American and French forces trapped the British army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. General George Washington led the combined American and French ground forces, while French naval forces helped prevent British relief.
After a siege lasting from September 28 to October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. The defeat made continued British military operations in North America increasingly difficult and encouraged peace negotiations.
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 and formally recognized the independence of the United States. Yorktown was therefore not the legal end of the war, but it was the decisive military climax most often associated with the conflict’s conclusion.