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The Spectacle Blog
October 19, 1781
By September 28th of that year, British General Lord Cornwallis knew it was finished. Washington had arrived at Yorktown.
Weeks earlier, the British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to break the French naval blockade at the Battle of Virginia Capes. The defeat denied beleaguered British troops much needed reinforcements and supplies. Cornwallis found himself stuck in an unenviable position along the Virginia Coast, his troops exhausted by an ill-conceived campaign in North Carolina, his sea-born lines of communication severed, and his retreat blocked by the Marquis de Lafayette. Before him stood a superior force led by General George Washington and Count de Rochambeau. A British rescue force had been deployed, but it would arrive too late…
And so, hopelessly surrounded, the British general made the only decision he could. Nearly 8,000 soldiers, sailors and officers were surrendered and the Revolutionary War was effectively over. Fighting would continue through 1782 as terms of peace were negotiated. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally ending the war and establishing the sovereignty of these United States.
Roger Pilon, of the Cato Institute, reminds us:
Eleven years after they declared the nation’s independence, which American patriots finally won on the battlefield at Yorktown in 1781, the Founders drafted a constitution for the United States that reflected to a large degree the principles the Declaration had set forth.
In anticipation of the coming election, it’s most appropriate to remember this day in our nation’s history. Let us not forget the philosophical architecture of our American Revolution nor the economic and moral foundations of individual liberty and limited government we strive to defend, to this day.
RJ| 10.19.12 @ 2:30PM
Thanks for the reminder, Reid. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to tour the Yorktown battlefield, along with Jamestown and Williamsburg. These three centerpoints of America's founding are inspiring. Well worth a vacation trip. You need no less than 5 days to cover the area. More time would be better.
BenZacharia| 10.20.12 @ 10:11AM
In Sept of '09 my late wifffeee and I spent 11 days at Williamsburg and the surrounding historical sites (stayed at a BB one house from the historic district), including the Civil War trail. Being in the same room of the Raleigh Tavern where the Revolution was launched brings tears to your eyes. If you go again, don't forget the USS Wisconsin and the naval base tour.
(Side note: they were excavating Capt. Smiths' well at Jamestown, we procured a couple of pieces of cast off)
ncatty| 10.19.12 @ 2:43PM
Thanks Reid. We have a wonderful inheritance.
C Bowen | 10.19.12 @ 3:19PM
Mr. Smith;
At the turn of the 19th Century several historians were working on 'revising' the Revolution narrative, or really, actually write a history for the first time. This was likely tied to a greater effort to unite the Anglo-elite, but anyway, Sydney George Fisher's The True History of the American Revolution, for example, is a compelling history of the event that reminds the reader, for example, that Cornwallis was a Whig and Yorktown might be viewed as something else...
Reid Smith| 10.19.12 @ 3:48PM
That's quite interesting. I'll check it out...
C Bowen | 10.19.12 @ 4:20PM
--forgot to mention, it is on Google Books.
http://tinyurl.com/8p9dgqk
Enjoy...
JmsA| 10.19.12 @ 8:27PM
According to Jean-Jacques Antier, in Admiral de Grasse: Hero of L’Independence Americaine, as Degrasse arrived at Havana, where he expected to obtain funding from the Spanish Crown, Spanish warships had just previously left, taking with them that year’s treasury funds to Spain. The colonial government thus unable to help, but public opinion in Havana extremely pro-American, contributions began flowing in. Such included “Ladies even offering their diamonds”, and the sum of 1,200,000 pounds being delivered on board Admiral De Grasse’s ship. Having sailed back toward Philadelphia with enough money to fund the coming fall campaign of 1781, at the conclusion of the same with Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown, De Grasse recounted that upon seeing him, the usually reserved General Washington fell into his arms, thanking him for the millions from the ladies of Havana. Years later, American historian Stephen Bonsal, remarked: “The million that was supplied by the ladies of Havana may be regarded as the ‘bottom dollars’ upon which the edifice of American independence was erected.”
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.19.12 @ 3:33PM
Excellent points. I've been reading some racist writers lately and one of their common themes is that the American principle (created equal) is hopelessly outdated. One even referred to it as a colossal blunder.
Racists and Islamists might disagree, but it is indeed very appropriate that we remember the "philosophical architecture of our American Revolution [and] the economic and moral foundations of individual liberty and limited government."
Paul McGrath| 10.19.12 @ 5:07PM
It should also be remembered how important George Washington was to our founding. Oh yes, there were a lot of thinkers and philosophers and rationalists among our founding fathers, but none of this would have come to fruition without the indefatigable GW. He, "walked the walk" as it were.
Most of us over fifty had this ingrained in our minds. Most of us under forty barely know who George Washington was.
RJ| 10.19.12 @ 5:52PM
I completely agree with you, Paul.
George Washington was the indispensable man. His character, virtue, courage and selflessness saw us to victory against long odds in winning our independence; prevented a military overthrow of the civil government; and helped give birth to the most remarkable democratic Republic of all time.
It is a shame and a crisis that so many Americans do not know him. The exceptionalism of America will be lost when Americans no longer know and promote the political values and virtues of the Founding Fathers and in particular, George Washington.
AllAmericanAmerican| 10.19.12 @ 6:15PM
Actually, the treaty established the sovereignty not of these "United States;" but of these united States of America.
Unfortunately 80 years later the sovereignty was effectively destroyed and now we do have "this United States."