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On this day, October 19, 1781, British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, Virginia—effectively ending the major fighting of the American Revolution.
Cornwallis had moved his army into Yorktown during the summer of 1781, expecting the British Royal Navy could reinforce or evacuate him if necessary. Instead, he became trapped.
General George Washington, commanding American forces alongside the French army of General Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, secretly shifted thousands of troops south from the New York area toward Virginia.
At sea, the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse defeated a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, preventing the Royal Navy from relieving Cornwallis.
By late September, roughly 17,000 American and French troops had surrounded Yorktown.
The allies began digging siege trenches and moving their artillery closer to the British defenses. American and French guns relentlessly bombarded Yorktown, while Cornwallis waited for reinforcements that never arrived.
On the night of October 14, American and French troops stormed two critical British positions: Redoubts 9 and 10..
Cornwallis attempted to escape across the York River, but was unsuccessful. With his defenses crumbling, ammunition running low, and no realistic hope of rescue, Cornwallis requested terms.
On October 19, 1781, approximately 8,000 British and German troops laid down their arms.
Cornwallis himself did not attend the formal surrender ceremony, claiming illness. Brigadier General Charles O’Hara instead presented the British sword of surrender. Washington directed O’Hara to his second-in-command, General Benjamin Lincoln, who accepted the surrender.
The war was not officially over—the Treaty of Paris would not be signed until 1783—but Yorktown destroyed Britain’s ability and political will to continue major offensive operations against the colonies.