 When the American Revolutionary War began , George Washington was selected to head the colonial army . During the war , the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson , who feared that Williamsburg 's coastal location would make it vulnerable to British attack . In 1781 , the combined action of Continental and French land and naval forces trapped the British army on the Virginia Peninsula , where troops under George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau defeated British General Cornwallis in the Siege of Yorktown . His surrender on October 19 , 1781 led to peace negotiations in Paris and secured the independence of the colonies . 
