The Siege of Yorktown ended with the major British surrender that effectively decided the Revolutionary War commemorated by America’s 250th anniversary.
The siege took place in Virginia from September 28 to October 19, 1781. American forces under George Washington and French forces under the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis.
French naval control of Chesapeake Bay prevented Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or evacuation. After weeks of bombardment and trench fighting, Cornwallis’s army surrendered on October 19.
The surrender did not legally end the war; peace negotiations continued until the Treaty of Paris in 1783. However, Yorktown caused major British political support for continuing the conflict to collapse.