Editing George Washington (section)

===Southern theater and Yorktown===
{{Main|Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|Siege of Yorktown}}
[[File:Plan_of_the_Battle_of_Yorktown_1875.png|thumb|alt=Map diagramming the American and French forces advancing on Yorktown|Map of the [[Siege of Yorktown]]]]

By June 1780, the British had occupied the South Carolina [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]] and had firm control of the South. Washington was reinvigorated, however, when Lafayette returned from France with more ships, men, and supplies,{{sfnm|Taylor|2016|1p=234|Alden|1996|2pp=187–188}} and 5,000 veteran French troops led by Marshal [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Rochambeau]] arrived at [[Newport, Rhode Island]] in July.{{sfn|Lancaster|Plumb|1985|p=311}}

General Clinton sent Arnold, now a British brigadier general, to Virginia in December with 1,700 troops to capture [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]] and conduct raids on Patriot forces. Washington sent Lafayette south to counter Arnold's efforts.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=403}} Washington initially hoped to bring the fight to New York, drawing the British forces away from Virginia and ending the war there, but Rochambeau advised him that [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Cornwallis]] in Virginia was the better target.{{sfnm|Alden|1996|1pp=198–199|Chernow|2010|2pp=403–404}} On August 19, 1781, Washington and Rochambeau began a march to [[Yorktown, Virginia]], known now as the "[[Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route|celebrated march]]".{{sfn|Lengel|2005|p=335}} Washington was in command of an army of 7,800 Frenchmen, 3,100 militia, and 8,000 Continental troops. Inexperienced in siege warfare, he often deferred to the judgment of Rochambeau. Despite this, Rochambeau never challenged Washington's authority as the battle's commanding officer.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=413}}

By late September, Patriot-French forces surrounded Yorktown, trapping the British Army, while the French navy emerged victorious at the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]]. The final American offensive began with a shot fired by Washington.{{sfn|Rhodehamel|2017|loc=8: The Great Man}} The siege ended with a British surrender on October 19, 1781; over 7,000 British soldiers became [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]].{{sfnm|Alden|1996|1pp=198, 201|Chernow|2010|2pp=372–373, 418|Lengel|2005|3p=337}} Washington negotiated the terms of surrender for two days, and the official signing ceremony took place on October 19.{{sfnm|1a1=Mann|1y=2008|1p=38|2a1=Lancaster|2a2=Plumb|2y=1985|2p=254|3a1=Chernow|3y=2010|3p=419}} Although the peace treaty was not negotiated for two more years, Yorktown proved to be the last significant battle of the Revolutionary War, with the British Parliament agreeing to cease hostilities in March 1782.{{sfn|Fleming|2007|pp=194, 312}}