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 Wilhelm 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  Banastre Tarleton  (WIA)[1]  Robert Abercromby  Thomas Dundas  Thomas Symonds  Matthias von Fuchs  August Voit 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, began September 28, 1781, and ended on October 19, 1781, at exactly 10:30 am in Yorktown, Virginia. It was a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau and a French naval force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis.

The siege of Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, and led to the surrender of General Cornwallis and the capture of both him and his army. The Continental Army's victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.^[b]

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