Cornwallis

The commander's name was Lord Charles Cornwallis. Both he and George Washington had about eight thousand troops when they met near Yorktown. Cornwallis was expecting more troops to arrive on British ships.

The Americans and the French began attacking the British with cannons. Then they fought the British soldiers hand-to-hand. Cornwallis knew he had no chance to win without more troops. He surrendered to George Washington on October seventeenth, seventeen eighty-one.