Who commanded the British forces that surrendered at Yorktown, a decisive event in America250 history?

Charles Cornwallis commanded the British forces that surrendered at Yorktown, a decisive event in America250 history.

Cornwallis held Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 while awaiting British support. American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau surrounded the position, while a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse blocked British relief by sea. The siege began in late September and ended with the British capitulation on October 19.

Cornwallis did not personally attend the surrender ceremony. He reported illness and sent Brigadier General Charles O’Hara to present the British sword. O’Hara first approached the French commander Rochambeau, then Washington, and finally Major General Benjamin Lincoln accepted the symbolic surrender on Washington’s behalf.

Yorktown was the final major land engagement of the American Revolutionary War, although fighting continued elsewhere and the peace treaty came later. The surrender led to negotiations that culminated in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, formally recognizing American independence.