In the U.S., British general Charles Cornwallis’s main claim to fame was his surrender to the Americans and French at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, a turning point that effectively ended the war.
But Cornwallis’s career of enforcing British imperial rule was far from over.
He went on to become Governor General of India (1786-94, 1805) and viceroy of Ireland (1798-1801).