Which British general commanded the army that surrendered at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown?

Charles Cornwallis commanded the British army that surrendered at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.

Cornwallis established his main position at Yorktown, Virginia, expecting support from the Royal Navy and reinforcements. Instead, a French fleet blocked British relief efforts in the Chesapeake Bay after the Battle of the Chesapeake.

American forces led by George Washington joined French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau. Their combined army surrounded Yorktown and constructed siege lines that brought artillery increasingly close to Cornwallis’s defenses.

Cornwallis requested capitulation terms on October 17, and the surrender ceremony occurred on October 19. He did not attend the ceremony, reportedly citing illness; Brigadier General Charles O’Hara represented him. The victory became the last major land engagement of the Revolutionary War, although fighting and negotiations continued until the peace treaty of 1783.