Which battle's 1781 American victory led directly to negotiations ending the Revolutionary War?

The Siege of Yorktown was the 1781 American victory that led directly to negotiations ending the Revolutionary War.

American forces under George Washington and French forces commanded by the comte de Rochambeau surrounded the British army led by General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. French naval control in the Chesapeake Bay helped prevent Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or escaping by sea.

After a siege lasting from September 28 to October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. The victory did not instantly end every military action, but it made continued British prosecution of the war politically difficult and encouraged peace negotiations.

The conflict formally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Yorktown is therefore remembered as the decisive military campaign, while the treaty is the diplomatic settlement. The distinction helps avoid treating the battlefield victory and the legal end of the war as the same event.