What is Battle of Yorktown (1781)?
[[File:US Army 52415 Siege of Yorktown Map.gif |thumb|right|250px|{{Center|Siege of Yorktown map}}]] The '''Battle of Yorktown''', also called the '''Siege of Yorktown''', fought from September 28-October 19, 1781.<ref name=byorktownHIST>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-yorktown-begins |title=1781 Battle of Yorktown begins |author= |website=This Day in History |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |accessdate=November 18, 2016}}</ref> It is considered the last major land battle of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=byorktownHIST/> The [[Continental Army]], led by [[General]] [[George Washington]], won a [[decisive victory]] against the [[British Army]], led by [[General officer|General]] [[Lord]] [[Charles Cornwallis]].<ref name=byorktownHIST/> Cornwallis was forced to [[surrender (military)|surrender]] after being surrounded by Washington's army.<ref name=byorktownHIST/> The Americans were assisted by the [[France|French]], led by the [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Comte de Rochambeau]]. The battle took place in [[Yorktown, Virginia]], near the York River. After the French fleet defeated a British fleet, Cornwallis was cut off and had to surrender to the French and the [[Continental Army]]. Eventually, it led to the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1783, two years later. == Background == [[British]] General [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] had fought against the Americans in 1776 and 1777.<ref name=MartinGLIAH>{{cite web |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/hamilton/essays/no-way-out-lord-cornwallis-siege-yorktown-and-america%E2%80%99s-victory-war-f |title=No Way Out: Lord Cornwallis, the Siege of Yorktown, and America's Victory in the War for Independence |author=James Kirby Martin |website=History Now |publisher=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |accessdate=November 18, 2016 |archive-date=June 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602063531/http://w