Moore House

When British General Charles Cornwallis moved his army into Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 during America’s Revolutionary War, many local residents temporarily fled the area. Among them were landowner Augustine Moore and his family. Moore had purchased his two-story, colonial-style home and 500-acre estate in 1768. This early 18th-century structure would eventually become the site of surrender negotiations between Cornwallis and Continental army leader George Washington, setting in motion the end of the war.

Beginning on September 21, 1781, the Siege of Yorktown was the final battle of the Revolutionary War. American troops led by Washington, with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and his French Army troops, cut off British supplies and reinforcements, surrounding British soldiers with American and French troops.

Realizing that his army was outnumbered and outfought, Cornwallis made plans to surrender. On October 17, 1781, the general sent Washington a request for a ceasefire, selecting the Moore House to negotiate the terms—likely due to the home’s neutral and convenient location. It also stood outside the line of siege fire and remained undamaged. 

The following afternoon, men met at the Moore house to negotiate. Their meeting ended before midnight. After Washington received a rough draft of the general’s “Articles of Capitulation” and made a few minor changes, he sent a copy to Cornwallis for his signature.

This Continental victory proved pivotal in ending the war. Realizing that they lacked the financial resources to put together a new army, the British government appealed for peace. Two years later, on September 3, 1783, both sides signed the Treaty of Paris, granting America its independence. 

Today the Moore House is part of the larger Colonial National Historical Park, located at the end of Yorktown’s Moore House Lane. Though closed to the public, you can still snap a photo, especially in front of its northwest corner, where the terms of surrender were supposedly drafted on the first floor—the room where it happened.