Which British general’s forces surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, a decisive event before America250?

British General Charles Cornwallis’s forces surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.

The Siege of Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded Cornwallis’s army, while a French naval victory helped prevent British relief or escape by sea.

Cornwallis did not personally attend the surrender ceremony, reportedly because of illness. His deputy, Charles O’Hara, formally offered the sword, which was ultimately accepted by American Major General Benjamin Lincoln on Washington’s behalf.

Yorktown did not legally end the war immediately; fighting and negotiations continued. The conflict was formally concluded by the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783. Yorktown is nevertheless remembered as the decisive military turning point leading toward recognized American independence.