The
Siege of Yorktown, also known as the
Battle of Yorktown, the
Surrender at Yorktown or the
German Battle, ending on October 19, 1781 at
Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American
Continental Army troops led by General
George Washington and
French Army troops led by the
Comte de Rochambeau over a
British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General
Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the
Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the
American Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The battle boosted faltering American morale and revived French enthusiasm for the war, as well as undermining popular support for the conflict in Great Britain.