After crossing the Hudson, General Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau, commander-in-chief of the French army in America, encamped here with his 5000 troops while traveling from Newport, R.I. to Virginia. Joining with Gen. Washington, the two armies hurried to Yorktown and forced the surrender of the besieged British General Cornwallis on October 19, 1781. This devastating blow proved to be the final battle of the American Revolution. A year later the French troops returned, and Suffern’s Tavern again served as Rochambeau's headquarters.