The
Yorktown or
Virginia campaign was a series of military maneuvers and battles during the
American Revolutionary War that culminated in the decisive
Siege of Yorktown in October 1781. The result of the campaign was the surrender of the
British Army force of General
Charles, Earl Cornwallis, an event that led directly to the beginning of serious peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. The campaign was marked by disagreements, indecision, and miscommunication on the part of British leaders, and by a remarkable set of cooperative decisions, at times in violation of orders, by the French and Americans.