After five years of war, American independence remained uncertain as a Franco-American force under General George Washington besieged General Lord Cornwallis’ heavily entrenched British Army at Yorktown, Virginia, in the fall of 1781. Washington launched a daring night attack on October 12, led by 20 men of the 4th Connecticut Infantry and followed by a detachment of the Corps of Sappers and Miners that cleared a path 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 19 October, and news of the British defeat forced Prime Minister Lord North to resign as his successors negotiated a peace treaty recognizing the United States.
