CORNWALLIS SURRENDERS AT YORKTOWN

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown

Four years later to the week, another British army marched out to surrender, this time at Yorktown, Virginia. United States and French forces had trapped General Charles Cornwallis on the Yorktown peninsula, hemming him in with siege lines on land while French warships blocked escape or relief by sea. After weeks of bombardment and failed attempts to break out, Cornwallis agreed to terms and his troops filed out to lay down their arms. Fighting would continue in outlying theaters, but Yorktown effectively broke British political will to keep investing in a costly North American war. For generations of American soldiers, sailors, and Marines, the scene at Yorktown has symbolized what joint and combined arms, carefully coordinated with allies, can achieve against a larger imperial power.