section_path: Defending the revolution/1778–1783: the British move south/Surrender at Yorktown (1781)
section_name: Surrender at Yorktown (1781)
paragraph_text: Surrender at Yorktown (1781)
  
  The British army under Cornwallis marched to Yorktown, Virginia, where they expected to be rescued by a British fleet. The fleet did arrive, but so did a larger French fleet. The French were victorious in the Battle of the Chesapeake, and the British fleet returned to New York for reinforcements, leaving Cornwallis trapped. In October 1781, the British surrendered their second invading army of the war under a siege by the combined French and Continental armies commanded by Washington.