A Franco-American army won a decisive victory at Yorktown in autumn 1781, trapping a British army on a Virginia peninsula by land and sea1 and forcing its surrender. It was the last great battle of the American Revolution2 and the one that effectively won the war and secured American independence.
Anniversary 19 October 2026 marks 245 years since the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781.
In the autumn of 1781, on a peninsula in Virginia, the American Revolution reached its decision. A British army had marched into a corner it could not escape, and the trap that closed around it was sprung by land and by sea at once. When the surrender came, an empire realised it could no longer win a war it had once expected to crush in a season. Yorktown was the last great battle of the Revolution, and the one that finally made the young United States a fact the world had to accept.
Part of The greatest battles of the American Revolution · Before: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse · Key figures: The Marquis de Lafayette, Baron von Steuben
Cornwallis Cornered in Virginia
After years of hard campaigning in the American South3, the British general Lord Cornwallis pulled his army back to Yorktown, a small port on the Virginia coast, expecting to be supplied and supported by the Royal Navy. It was a fatal choice. George Washington, commanding the American army, and the French general Rochambeau saw the opening and made a bold, secret march south from New York4 to fall on him, covering hundreds of miles before the British grasped what was happening.
The French Fleet Slams the Door
The move only worked because of what happened at sea. A French fleet under Admiral de Grasse arrived off the coast and defeated the British navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake, driving it away and taking control of the water around Yorktown5. With the bay in French hands, Cornwallis could not be rescued, reinforced or evacuated. The escape route was gone, and the door to the trap was shut behind him.
The Siege
On land, the allied army dug in and began a classic siege. Trenches were pushed steadily closer to the British lines, and heavy guns pounded the defences day and night. In a night assault, American and French troops stormed two key strongpoints5, the redoubts guarding the flank, tightening the ring still further. With his works crumbling, his men sick and hungry, and no help coming by sea, Cornwallis had no way out.
Surrender and Independence
On 19 October 1781, around 8,000 British and allied soldiers marched out and laid down their arms. The loss of an entire army was more than the British government was willing to bear, and support for the war collapsed in London5. Peace talks followed, and in 1783 Britain recognised the independence of the United States. Yorktown stands as the decisive victory of the Revolution, won by an alliance of American grit and French power. Trace the war from its earlier turning point at Saratoga, place it among the greatest battles in American history, or check the terms in our military history glossary.
