Yorktown
/ˈjɔːktaʊn/
/ˈjɔːrktaʊn/
- the town in south-east Virginia where the final military campaign of the American Revolution took place. The British Army, led by General Charles Cornwallis, was surrounded there in 1781 by 16 000 American and French soldiers. The surrender (= agreement to accept defeat) of Cornwallis to General George Washington ended the war.