The Siege of Yorktown forced British General Charles Cornwallis to surrender in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War.
The siege ran from September 28 to October 19, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia. American forces led by George Washington joined French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while the French navy helped prevent Cornwallis from receiving relief or escaping by sea.
Allied troops surrounded the British position and constructed siege lines closer to Yorktown. On October 14, American and French forces captured key redoubts, allowing their artillery to bombard the town more effectively. Cornwallis requested surrender terms on October 17.
Cornwallis did not attend the October 19 surrender ceremony, saying he was ill. Brigadier General Charles O'Hara represented him, and Major General Benjamin Lincoln formally accepted the sword. Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the war, but fighting at sea continued and the peace treaty followed in 1783.