French General Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, and thousands of French ground and naval forces arrived in Newport in July 1780 to assist the Americans in the War for Independence. After wintering in Newport, Rochambeau's troops marched through Connecticut to join General George Washington's Continental Army just over the New York border. The combined forces moved down the eastern seaboard and confronted Lieutenant General Earl Cornwallis and the British army in Yorktown, Virginia. After a prolonged siege, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781, virtually ending the war and ensuring American independence. In Bolton and nearby Andover, prominent local residents offered homes and fields to Rochambeau and his army as they crossed Connecticut. French troops camped in fields that are now Rose Farm on Bolton Center Road, then owned by Reverend George Cotton, and Rochambeau stayed overnight in the Cotton home on June 21, 1781, the first night of the encampment. Rochambeau and other officers also stayed at Daniel White's Tavern on what is now Hutchinson Road in Andover during the army's encampment from June 21 to 24, 1781, on the march south and again between November 4 and 5, 1782, after Yorktown, while many officers also stayed at Oliver White's Tavern near the camps. Daniel White's Tavern was a frequent stop for Rochambeau, including in May 1781 on his way to and from a conference with Washington in Wethersfield and again in December 1782 on his journey to Newburgh, New York, to bid farewell to Washington after the war.