The Revolutionary War began 250 years ago this year, but it would not be until over six years later, for all intents and purposes, that it came to an end with a victory over the British at Yorktown, Virginia, on Oct. 19, 1781.
The Americans under the leadership of Gen. George Washington had won precious few battles during the course of the Revolutionary War, but had carried the day at a few decisive points.
These included the battles of Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey in January 1776, when it had looked like the cause of American liberty was all but lost.
Then again, in October 1777, in Saratoga, New York, when the Continental Army prevailed over the Redcoats. It was that victory that convinced King Louis XVI of France to jump in on the side of America.
And it was a combined American and French force that defeated the British at Yorktown, which was the final major battle of the war.
Lord Charles Cornwallis made the mistake of encamping his Redcoats on the Yorktown peninsula near the coast of southern Virginia. The British General perceived little threat from Gen. Marquis de Lafayette’s smaller Continental Army contingent that had trailed him across the state.
However, the Frenchman fighting for the Americans saw Cornwallis’ strategic error of pinning himself inland with a body of water to his rear and sought to capitalize on it.
Lafayette ordered his men, now augmented with local militia, to guard the exits from Yorktown, and he quickly dispatched word to Washington, encamped near New York City. He wrote that if the general could reinforce him quickly, they might be able to capture all of Cornwallis’s Army.
As it happened, Washington had also received word through French General Rochambeau, also in the New York area, that 24 ships and 3,000 soldiers from his country under the leadership of Admiral Comte de Grasse were heading north from the West Indies and due to arrive in Virginia in September.
Are you inspired by American history?
Washington saw everything coming together and wasted no time. The Continentals and Rochambeau’s French forces marched through New Jersey to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. And from there, they embarked on ships to transit to the Yorktown Peninsula.
For almost seven long and arduous years, Washington’s greatest victory had been staying in the fight. He had known only two victories in seven major engagements with the enemy.
With the help of the French, the American leader believed he could land a crippling, perhaps war-ending blow.
The prospects of victory on land increased greatly, with word that de Grasse’s fleet defeated the British Navy at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on Sept. 5. The British had been trying to reinforce Cornwallis’s forces.
Battle of Virginia Capes by US artist V Zveg
On this day 1781, an empire was lost. Admiral Graves failed to break through the De Grasse’s French fleet into Chesapeake Bay to relieve Yorktown. Cut-off and isolated, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington.#maritime #RoyalNavy pic.twitter.com/VzXyvSHdfB
— Philip K Allan (@PhilipKAllan) September 5, 2019
Washington’s army arrived at Yorktown in late September, and, for the Americans and the French, it was time to lay siege. Washington ordered trenches to be dug around the perimeter of Yorktown.
The Allied cannonade against Cornwallis’ position began in early October, and the Redcoats quickly sought refuge outside the town, close to the York River.
09 October 1781. Yorktown, Virginia. After a ceremony called the Opening of the Trenches in which the troops of the day, led by Colonel Alexander Hamilton, planted their flags in the ramparts with drums beating and banners flying, George Washington had the honor of igniting the… pic.twitter.com/IOHuTIPPcq
— Salina B Baker (@SalinaBBaker) October 9, 2025
American and French batteries kept pounding the British positions for eight days straight, at which point Washington ordered the capture of reinforced positions closer to Cornwallis.
The combined forces succeeded on the night of Oct. 14, taking Redoubts 9 and 10, making the surrender of the approximately 9,000-strong British contingent all but inevitable. The combined American and French forces numbered nearly 20,000.
October 14, 1781. Yorktown Virginia. The Siege of Yorktown. A war whoop rose from behind the sappers. The Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, and their infantry battalions leaped out of the trenches and ran toward Redoubt 10. The French regiments under Comte… pic.twitter.com/VtQNBvIuNY
— Salina B Baker (@SalinaBBaker) October 14, 2025
On Oct. 17, a lone Redcoat bearing a white flag appeared atop a British parapet. “Cease fire,” echoed up and down the Allied lines. Washington and his men rejoiced. The 13-day siege ended, and the triumph was for the Continentals and the French.
October 17, 1781 – Yorktown,Virginia. An officer with a flag of truce appears on the British parapet, accompanied by a drummer beating a “parley.” Cornwallis seeks a cease-fire so commissioners can negotiate surrender terms. pic.twitter.com/iwXi8acG4F
— Ian ᛭ (@KnightspurHouse) October 17, 2025
A British band reputedly played the tune “The World’s Turned Upside Down” during the surrender at Yorktown on Oct. 19.
#OnThisDay in 1781, the world turned upside down when Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington’s army at Yorktown.
Learn more: https://t.co/crGJqHtGEA pic.twitter.com/QgZjIjwI3A
— Mount Vernon (@MountVernon) October 19, 2024
Following the signing of the peace treaty in 1783, Washington wrote in a farewell letter to the Continental Army, “The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten.”
“The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing Miracle,” he contended.
Washington concluded by saying to the troops that he would be praying to the “God of Armies” for them.
He wrote, “May ample justice be done them here; and may the choicest of Heaven’s favors both here and hereafter attend those, who under the divine auspices have secured innumerable blessings for others.”
Portions of this article first appeared in the book “We Hold These Truths” about the influence of the Declaration of Independence in American history by Randall DeSoto.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
