Greensboro is located in Guilford County in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina and is served by two major interstate highways, I-40 and I-85. The city was named for Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the American forces at the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781. Although the Americans lost that battle, the battle taxed Cornwallis' British forces that the Americans had time to prepare to defeat them at the Battle of Yorktown. And defeat them they did. At the Battle of Yorktown, after a 20-day siege, the British had no choice but to surrender on October 19, 1781, ending the American Revolution.