Which British general surrendered at Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War?

British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in Virginia on October 19, 1781. His surrender ended the final major land campaign of the American Revolutionary War.

American and French forces surrounded Cornwallis’s army at Yorktown. George Washington commanded the American army, while French troops served under the Comte de Rochambeau. A French naval victory in the Chesapeake helped prevent British relief and made the siege decisive.

Cornwallis did not personally attend the surrender ceremony, claiming illness. Charles O’Hara, his deputy, represented the British army and offered the sword of surrender. Benjamin Lincoln accepted it on the American side on Washington’s instruction.

The victory did not immediately end every military action, but it led to peace negotiations. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally recognized the independence of the United States. Cornwallis therefore remains closely associated with Yorktown even though the surrender ceremony involved his representative.