Charles Cornwallis was the British general who surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
Cornwallis commanded the British position at Yorktown, Virginia, where American and French forces surrounded his army. George Washington led the Continental Army, while French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau joined the allied operation. A French naval victory in the Chesapeake Bay prevented British relief by sea.
The siege intensified after American and French troops captured key outer defenses and moved their artillery closer to the British lines. Cornwallis requested surrender terms on October 17. The formal surrender took place two days later, although Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony and sent Brigadier General Charles O’Hara in his place.
Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the Revolutionary War. Fighting and naval activity continued elsewhere, but the defeat encouraged peace negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which recognized American independence.