From John Trumbull's Painting of the Surrender at Yorktown
On October 17, 1781, a drummer left the British defensive works at Yorktown, Virginia. An officer followed, waving a white handkerchief, and was soon blindfolded and brought behind the lines of the Continental Army and their French allies to discuss the conditions of surrender for the British troops under Lord Cornwallis.
Washington agreed to all the Articles of Capitulation except the 10th which sought to pardon Americans who had fought with the British at Yorktown and Gloucester because he considered that a civil matter.
"Article 10th This article cannot be assented to, being altogether of civil resort."
After some negotiation, on October 19, 1791, the Articles of Capitulation were signed and the battle of Yorktown was over. That day, General George Washington wrote to Congress informing them of the victory.
George Washington writes to the Continental Congress informing them of the surrender of Yorktown
Yorktown was the last major land battle of the American Revolution and prompted Britain to negotiate the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the war in September of 1783.
You can read Washington’s letter to Congress and the Articles of Capitulation in the Papers of the Continental Congress.