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Secondary sourcePainting1819

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

John Trumbull · 1819

A large painting of the 1781 British surrender at Yorktown, showing George Washington among the American forces he led to victory.

Washington is shown among the American forces present at the British surrender he commanded to victory.

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Large painting of a battlefield scene with a grey, stormy sky. On the left, British redcoat troops stand in lines beside a white flag. On the right, American troops in blue and buff stand beside a striped flag. In the center, a mounted commander on a white horse, with a figure in red uniform walking in front, faces the lines.
John Trumbull, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 1819/1820. United States Capitol rotunda, Washington, D.C.

About this source

What it is

This oil-on-canvas painting by John Trumbull shows the surrender of the British army under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, ending the siege that decided the Revolutionary War. Commissioned by Congress in 1817 and completed in 1820, it hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda.

Why it matters

The painting marks the victory that secured American independence, achieved through the combined forces of American troops under George Washington and French forces under the Comte de Rochambeau. British General Charles O'Hara hands his sword to American General Benjamin Lincoln while Washington, mounted, stays in the background since Cornwallis himself did not attend the ceremony. The French officer the Marquis de Lafayette also appears, showing how foreign allies shaped the American victory.

Why it matters

Look closer

  • Why is Washington placed in the background rather than at the center of the surrender ceremony?
  • What do the flags and uniforms tell you about which nations are represented in the scene?
  • The stormy sky and broken cannon suggest past fighting — why might Trumbull have included these details?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of George Washington and Friedrich von Steuben on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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