Which Revolutionary War event ended with the British surrender on October 19, 1781?

The Siege of Yorktown ended with the British surrender on October 19, 1781.

American and French forces surrounded the British army commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. George Washington led the Continental Army, while French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau and a French fleet commanded by the Comte de Grasse helped close the land and sea escape routes.

The siege began on September 28 and concluded after allied artillery and infantry attacks weakened the British defenses. Cornwallis did not attend the surrender ceremony, citing illness; Charles O'Hara represented him, and Benjamin Lincoln accepted the sword on Washington's behalf.

Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War. Fighting and naval action continued elsewhere, but the surrender encouraged peace negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783.