September-October
Allied siege of Yorktown, Virginia, by land seals Cornwallis’ fate.
October 19
Cornwallis surrenders along with his full contingent of 8,000 troops, marking the beginning of the end for the British.
November
The Netherlands extends the first of four crucial loans to the United States.
Continental Army returns to Hudson Highlands and New Jersey for its seventh winter encampment.
1782
Stay The Course
By spring England initiated peace negotiations, yet fighting continued. On the seas, British, French, and Spanish navies continued to battle for supremacy. In America, warfare threatened security on the frontier and in the South. By November, however, Britain and the United States signed a draft
peace agreement.
January
As the British begin to withdraw forces, loyalists flee the United States in great numbers. Over the course of the war, 100,000 tories depart.
April 12
Peace talks between Britain and the United States begin in Paris.
April 19
The Netherlands recognizes American sovereignty.
July 11
British end their occupation of Savannah, Georgia.
August 1
Haym Salomon, Broker to the Office of Finance, delivers the first of many large sums that help alleviate the nation's financial crisis at war's end.
August 15 - 19
Tories and Indians attack Bryan's Station (Kentucky). Daniel Boone and Kentuckians lose skirmish at Blue Licks.
August 27
John Laurens, promising young leader and former aide-de-camp to Washington, dies in fight at Combahee Ferry, South Carolina.
November 10
In the last battle of the American Revolution, George Rogers Clark attacks Shawnee town of Chillicothe (Ohio).
November
Continental Army moves into its eighth and final winter quarters, the New Windsor cantonment in the Hudson Highlands.
November 30
