After five years of war, American independence remained uncertain until the fall of 1781, when a Franco-American force under General George Washington besieged General Lord Corwallis' heavily entrenched British army at Yorktown, Virginia. On October 14, Washington launched a daring night attack led by 20 men of the 4th Connecticut Infantry and followed by a detachment of the Corps of Sappers and Miners, which cleared a passage for the rest of the assault column and captured Redoubt #10 on the British left, while French troops simultaneously captured Redoubt 9. With his defenses breached, Lord Cornwallis surrendered his 7,000 man army on October 19, and news of the British defeat forced Prime Minister Lord North to resign as his successors negotiated a peace treaty recognizing the United States.
