Siege of Yorktown

Siege of Yorktown
Part of the Yorktown campaign of the American Revolutionary War
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, an 1820 portrait by John Trumbull depicting the British surrendering to Benjamin Lincoln flanked by French (left) and Continental Army troops
Date September 28 – October 19, 1781 (3 weeks) Location Gloucester and Yorktown, Virginia 37°13′51″N 76°30′09″W / 37.23083°N 76.50250°W / 37.23083; -76.50250 Result Franco-American victory
Belligerents
United States  France	Great Britain  Loyalists Hesse-Kassel[a] Ansbach-Bayreuth
Commanders and leaders
George Washington Benjamin Lincoln Henry Knox Alexander Hamilton Friedrich von Steuben Thomas Nelson Moses Hazen Henry Dearborn Marquis de Lafayette Comte de Rochambeau Comte d'Aboville Marquis de Choisy Comte de Grasse Comté de Deux-Ponts	Charles Cornwallis  Charles O'Hara  B. Tarleton (WIA)[1]  Robert Abercromby  Thomas Dundas  Thomas Symonds  Matthias von Fuchs  August von Salzburg  Johann von Seybothen
Strength
Americans: 8,000–9,000 men[2] 5,900 regular troops 3,100 militia (not engaged)[2][3] French: 10,800 men[2] and 29 warships[3] Total: 19,800 (fewer engaged)	British: 5,000[4] German: Fewer than 3,000 Total: 8-9,000[2][5]
Casualties and losses
88 killed 301 wounded[6]	142–309 killed 326–595 wounded prisoners 7,416–7,685 captured[7]
class=notpageimage| Location within Virginia

The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops, led by the Comte de Rochambeau, and a French Navy force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The siege began on September 28, 1781, and ended on October 19, 1781, at exactly 10:30 am in Yorktown, Virginia.

The victory of Washington and the Continental Army at Yorktown led to the capture of both Cornwallis and the British Army, who subsequently surrendered, leading the British to negotiate an end to the conflict. The British defeat at Yorktown led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which the British acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of the Thirteen Colonies and subsequently to the establishment of the United States as the first constitutional republic in world history founded on the consent of the governed and the rule of law.^[b]

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