Yorktown Virginia

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A combination of American and French forces overcame the British in Yorktown, Virginia in 1781 effectively ending the American Revolutionary War. Starting in August, British General Lord Cornwallis fought against the Marquis de Lafayette by land while General George Washington and the Count de Rochambeau crossed the Hudson River and marched south to Yorktown. The allied American and French forces converged in September to battle Cornwallis in October. After weeks of battle, Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 soldiers and an additional 900 seamen on October 19th, 1781. Two years later on September 3rd, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which formally recognized the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of fighting.