Once people have seen Mel Gibson's The Patriot, some
may want to know the full story of how America gained its independence from Britain.  This web site tells why Yorktown was the site of the last battle and why the fighting stopped in October 1781.  -- Carolyn Daily O'Connor

This is British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis 10 years after his defeat at Yorktown when he was helping to build the British Empire in India.   In August 1776 he led 7500 British troops at Brandywine, Pennsylvania, giving General George Washington a resounding defeat.  He returned to  England in January 1779 after the death of his wife.

July 1779 -- Cornwallis was back in the colonies.  He reported to Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief at the British stronghold -- New York.