Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in the 1781 campaign central to America's road to independence.
The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. American forces under George Washington joined French troops commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau, while the French navy helped prevent British evacuation or resupply.
Cornwallis commanded the British army trapped at Yorktown, Virginia. After weeks of bombardment and the capture of key defensive positions, he surrendered on October 19, 1781. The British army's position had become untenable.
The surrender did not legally end the war immediately, and fighting continued in other places. However, it badly weakened British political support for continuing the conflict and led to peace negotiations.
The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized the United States as independent. Yorktown is therefore a military turning point, while the treaty supplied the legal conclusion.