On October 19, 1781, General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered 7,000 British soldiers to the Continental Army after a crushing defeat at the Battle of Yorktown. When news of Lord Cornwallis’s surrender reached Great Britain, Prime Minister Lord Frederick North, the 2nd Earl of Guilford seized “as he would have taken a ball in his breast” and exclaimed “Oh, God! It is all over!” At that moment Lord North, along with the rest of Parliament and King George III, realized that victory over the Thirteen Colonies was not inevitable. In actuality, victory required significantly more troops, more resources, and more money than Parliament could give to the effort. Instead of sending more troops across the sea to North America, British delegates were sent to France to begin forging a peace treaty with the United States. Two years later on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed and the Revolutionary War officially came to an end.
On the 19th of October, 1781, the defeat of 7,000 British troops at the hands of the Continental Army in Yorktown culminated in the surrender of General Lord Charles Cornwallis. As the devastating news reached the shores of Great Britain, the Prime Minister, Lord Frederick North, who held the title of the 2nd Earl of Guilford, was reportedly as shocked as if he had been struck by a projectile, reportedly lamenting “Oh, God! It is all over!” This event was a profound moment for Lord North, as well as for the members of Parliament and King George III, as it signaled an unmistakable turning point: the likelihood of subduing the Thirteen Colonies had vanished. The reality became clear that continued victory would demand more troops, more supplies, and more financial expenditure than Parliament was prepared or able to invest in the campaign. Acknowledging the changed tides, the British government opted against further military reinforcements to North America, instead choosing to initiate negotiations for peace. Engaging with American delegates in France, they set the stage for reconciliation. Finally, on September 3, 1783, the long conflict was drawn to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, marking the formal end of the American Revolutionary War.
