The Siege of Yorktown ended with the surrender of British forces under Charles Cornwallis in 1781.
American and French forces surrounded Yorktown, Virginia, from September 28 to October 19, 1781. George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau commanded the allied land forces, while the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse blocked British reinforcement and escape by sea.
Allied troops built siege lines, brought artillery close to the British defenses, and captured key redoubts on October 14. Cornwallis requested terms on October 17, and the surrender ceremony followed two days later. More than 7,000 British and German troops became prisoners.
Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the Revolutionary War, but it did not instantly end all fighting. Negotiations continued, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. Cornwallis himself did not attend the surrender ceremony, citing illness.