The campaign involved land and naval forces of Great Britain and France, and land forces of the United States. British forces sent to Virginia between January and April 1781 joined with Cornwallis's army in May, which came north from an extended campaign through the southern states. These forces were first opposed weakly by Virginia militia, but General George Washington sent first the Marquis de Lafayette and then Anthony Wayne with Continental Army troops to oppose the raiding and economic havoc the British were wreaking. The combined American forces, however, were insufficient in number to oppose the combined British forces, and it was only after a series of controversially confusing orders by General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief, that Cornwallis moved to Yorktown i
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| - The campaign involved land and naval forces of Great Britain and France, and land forces of the United States. British forces sent to Virginia between January and April 1781 joined with Cornwallis's army in May, which came north from an extended campaign through the southern states. These forces were first opposed weakly by Virginia militia, but General George Washington sent first the Marquis de Lafayette and then Anthony Wayne with Continental Army troops to oppose the raiding and economic havoc the British were wreaking. The combined American forces, however, were insufficient in number to oppose the combined British forces, and it was only after a series of controversially confusing orders by General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief, that Cornwallis moved to Yorktown i
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| Strength
| - American land forces: 5,500, sixty cannon
- Clinton land forces: 7,000
- Cornwallis land forces: 7,000
- French land forces: 9,500, ninety cannon
- French naval personnel: 20–22,000
- French navy: 36 ships of the line
- New York fleet: 25 ships of the line
- Yorktown fleet: 63 small ships
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| Partof
| - the American Revolutionary War
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| Date
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| Commander
| - George Washington
- Charles Cornwallis
- Anthony Wayne
- Sir Henry Clinton
- Benedict Arnold
- William Phillips
- Sir Thomas Graves
- Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
- Charles René Dominique Sochet, Chevalier Destouches
- Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau
- August von Voigt
- Claude-Anne-Montbleru, Marquis de St. Simon
- François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse
- Jacques-Melchior, Comte de Barras Saint-Laurent
- Marriot Arbuthnot
- Thomas Symonds
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| Caption
| - Oil on canvas, 1820.
- Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
- by John Trumbull, depicting the British surrendering to French and American troops.
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| Result
| - Decisive Franco-American victory
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| Notes
| - Force strengths are maximums marshalled during and shortly after the siege of Yorktown.
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| combatant
| - *15px Ansbach-Bayreuth
* Hesse-Kassel
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| Quote
| - "Sir,—I have the mortification to inform your excellency that I have been forced to give up the posts of York and Gloucester, and to surrender the troops under my command, by capitulation on the 19th instant, as prisoners of war to the combined forces of America and France."
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| abstract
| - The campaign involved land and naval forces of Great Britain and France, and land forces of the United States. British forces sent to Virginia between January and April 1781 joined with Cornwallis's army in May, which came north from an extended campaign through the southern states. These forces were first opposed weakly by Virginia militia, but General George Washington sent first the Marquis de Lafayette and then Anthony Wayne with Continental Army troops to oppose the raiding and economic havoc the British were wreaking. The combined American forces, however, were insufficient in number to oppose the combined British forces, and it was only after a series of controversially confusing orders by General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief, that Cornwallis moved to Yorktown in July and built a defensive position that was strong against the land forces he then faced, but was vulnerable to naval blockade and siege. British naval forces in North America and the West Indies were weaker than the combined fleets of France and Spain, and, after some critical decisions and tactical missteps by British naval commanders, the French fleet of Paul de Grasse gained control over Chesapeake Bay, blockading Cornwallis from naval support and delivering additional land forces to blockade him on land. The Royal Navy attempted to dispute this control, but Admiral Thomas Graves was defeated in the key Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5. American and French armies that had massed outside New York City began moving south late in August, and arrived near Yorktown in mid-September; deceptions about their movement successfully delayed attempts by Clinton to send more troops to Cornwallis. The Siege of Yorktown began on September 28. In a step that probably shortened the siege, Cornwallis decided to abandon parts of his outer defenses, and the besiegers successfully stormed two of his redoubts. When it became clear that his position was untenable, Cornwallis opened negotiations on October 17 and surrendered two days later. When the news reached London, the government of Lord North fell, and the following Rockingham ministry entered into peace negotiations. These culminated in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which King George III recognized the independent United States of America. Clinton and Cornwallis engaged in a public war of words defending their roles in the campaign, and British naval command also discussed the navy's shortcomings that led to the defeat.
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