September 28 – October 19, 1781 · Southern Theater
September 28 – October 19, 1781
Washington and the French General Rochambeau marched their combined armies 400 miles south from New York in secret. The French fleet under de Grasse defeated the British navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off Cornwallis by sea. Surrounded by 16,000 Franco-American troops and pounded by French siege artillery, Cornwallis's position became untenable. On October 19, 1781, 8,000 British soldiers marched out to surrender — their band playing 'The World Turned Upside Down.'
Commanders