Battle of Yorktown

The Battle of Yorktown was not the last battle of the Revolutionary War, but it was the last one that mattered. In September and October 1781, American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau trapped British General Charles Cornwallis and his army of roughly 8,000 on the Yorktown peninsula in Virginia. A French naval victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake cut off British relief and escape by sea. After three weeks of siege, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781 — and British will to continue the war collapsed with him.

What made Yorktown possible was the alliance with France, formalized in 1778 after the American victory at Saratoga. French troops, French ships, and French money had sustained an American war effort that was, by 1781, near exhaustion. Washington had maneuvered for years to bring French naval power to bear decisively; Yorktown was the moment everything aligned. Admiral de Grasse's fleet held the mouth of the Chesapeake just long enough for the trap to close around Cornwallis. Without France, there may have been no American victory — a fact the founders acknowledged and later generations conveniently forgot.

Cornwallis did not personally surrender his sword to Washington — he claimed illness and sent a subordinate. Legend holds that the British band played "The World Turned Upside Down" as the army marched out to lay down its arms. The Treaty of Paris formally ending the war was not signed until 1783. But Yorktown broke British resolve. When news reached London, Prime Minister Lord North reportedly exclaimed it was all over. He was right.