British general Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown during the final major land campaign of the American Revolutionary War.
The Siege of Yorktown lasted from September 28 to October 19, 1781, in Virginia. American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded Cornwallis’s army, while a French fleet helped prevent British relief by sea.
Cornwallis requested surrender terms on October 17 after allied bombardment and attacks had made his position untenable. He did not attend the formal ceremony, citing illness; Brigadier General Charles O’Hara represented him. O’Hara ultimately offered the sword to American Major General Benjamin Lincoln after Washington and Rochambeau declined to receive it personally.
Yorktown did not instantly end every military action, but it was the last major land battle of the Revolution. The British government soon began peace negotiations, which led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783.