Which British general surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, the decisive campaign of the American Revolution?

British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, ending the siege’s decisive phase.

The Franco-American siege took place in Virginia from September 28 to October 19, 1781. George Washington commanded the American forces, while French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau supported them. A French naval victory in the Chesapeake helped prevent Cornwallis’s army from escaping or receiving effective relief by sea.

Washington’s army and its allies surrounded Yorktown and subjected the British position to sustained artillery fire. American troops captured Redoubt No. 10, while French troops took Redoubt No. 9, bringing the allied siege lines close to the British defenses.

Cornwallis did not attend the formal surrender ceremony, claiming illness. His deputy, Charles O’Hara, offered the British sword to American Major General Benjamin Lincoln. The surrender did not immediately end every military action, but it led directly to peace negotiations and the Treaty of Paris in 1783.