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Yorktown, Virginia, The Surrender of Cornwallis and The British Army, historic engraving photo

Yorktown, Virginia, The Surrender of Cornwallis and The British Army, historic engraving photo

An historic engraving of The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. This engraving was published by Illman Brothers, about 1870.

The formal surrender of the British Army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis took place on October 19, 1781 thus ending all major land battles of the Revolutionary War in America. General Cornwallis claimed illness and sent his sword by Major General Charles O'Hara who offered it to General George Washington who directed that the sword be surrendered to his second in command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Thus what was then considered to be the largest, most experienced, and most successful military force in the world had been defeated and forced to surrender to the coalition of the American and French military forces. As the British forces marched from the field of surrender, the British military band played the tune of The World Turned Upside Down.

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