Posted on 11/30/2017 5:51:23 AM PST by iowamark
On this day in 1782, a preliminary peace treaty is signed by British and American representatives. It was just one of many steps in the long, hard road to negotiate a peace between Britain and America after the Revolution.
We all hear about George Washington’s victory at Yorktown! But we hear much less about the two years that followed: We weren’t really at war anymore. But we weren’t really at peace, either.
You may recall that the American victory at Yorktown occurred on October 19, 1781. Yet peace talks did not begin until months afterwards. Americans hoped that British General Charles Cornwallis’s surrender would be respected, but what if King George III refused to accept the situation? Fortunately, by April 1782, American and British representatives were meeting in Paris to begin the process. A preliminary peace treaty was signed by British and American representatives in November 1782. That treaty reached American shores in March 1783.
Do you think that people gave a huge sigh of relief when the preliminary agreement finally arrived?
Congress acted quickly. It declared a cessation of hostilities against Great Britain on April 11. A few days later, it approved the preliminary articles of peace. George Washington received word of these actions, and he had the cessation of hostilities formally declared in his camp on April 19.
It had been exactly 8 years, to the day, since the “shot heard round the world” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord!
Yet, even then, the peace still was not final. Several months later, the official Treaty of Paris was (finally) signed. Congress approved that Treaty in January 1784.
During all this time, George Washington faced a bit of a challenge: The army could not be disbanded. Some American cities were still occupied by the British. And what if the peace fell through and the army was needed again? On the other hand, the soldiers were restless and worried about whether they would get paid. Washington somehow, amazingly, managed to hold his army together throughout 1782. He ran drills and kept them organized, despite the fact that they really had no official purpose—except to wait and see if they were needed.
Throughout this long two-year period, Washington stayed with his Army. You have to wonder how often he simply wanted to go home. But he had to have known that the army would fall into disarray and/or revolt without him. Indeed, in March 1783, when the Newburgh Conspiracy cropped up, only Washington’s presence saved the day.
In October 1782, Washington wrote: “The patience, the fortitude, the long, & great sufferings of this Army is unexampled in history; but there is an end to all things, & I fear we are very near one to this. Which, more than probably, will oblige me to stick very close to my flock this Winter, & try like a careful physicion, to prevent, if possible, the disorder’s getting to an incurable height.”
Washington would finally be able to resign and return home to Mt. Vernon at the end of 1783. He had been away for more than 8 years, with only a few brief exceptions before and after Yorktown. Can you imagine being away from home for so long?
What a joy it must have been to arrive home just in time for Christmas that year. 😉
Thank you.
How is that statue still standing?
GW could have been a Caesar; he opted instead to be a Cincinnatus.
Thank you for posting this interesting reminder that real events do not wrap up neatly like movies or television episodes. Even historical texts can only summarize sweeping events, leading us to believe that transformative changes in the past were more certain in their outcomes and more quickly completed than they actually were.
I would explain to my 7th-grade history students how Cincinnati was named after George Washington. Of course I’d then have to explain about Cincinnatus, who all educated 18th century people were aware of, but now, not so much.
I cannot believe that the convergence of remarkable people like Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, and the rest was just a coincidence.
I have long believed that it was Divine Providence that brought those people together, at that particular time, to create what would become The United States of America. It pains me to see what we’ve allowed to become of this great, G-d given gift.
When I hear our founders repeatedly attacked and denigrated by mental and moral midgets, I’m amazed at how shallow and ignorant they are.
Were our founders perfect? Absolutely not, but they were among the best of their time, and their remarkable vision and fortitude in creating the basis for what became the greatest nation in history was a gift from The Lord.
I only hope that we, as Americans, can see that gift for what it is, and begin to unwind the damage done. I believe that President Trump’s election was a first step in that direction, but there is a very long way to go.
Mark
Just another example of the corrupt, patriarchal, slave-owning, bourgeoisie white guys - oh, if only Obama was around then....
Cincinnati, Iowa ?
mark
Apparently, lots of Revolutionary War vets got land grants in the Northwest Territory—Ohio mainly, and Washington’s officers created the ‘Order of Cincinnatus’ to honor him.
And as an aside, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in the territory which lets us know that the Founding Fathers recognized slavery as wrong and did what they could to limit its spread.
There was still some fighting in the US. In 1782, the British and their Indian allies unsuccessfully besieged Fort Henry at what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, a battle featured in Zane Grey's first novel, Betty Zane (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1903).
Meanwhile, the fighting raged on overseas after Yorktown. The Spaniards besieged Gibraltar, but its defenses held, and in the Caribbean, the British crushed the French navy in the Battle of Les Saintes in 1782, the biggest naval battle of the war.
French and British fleets also fought off the coast of Africa, and the armies of both nations clashed in India. Probably few Americans know that the last battles of the war were fought at Cuddalore, in India--off the coast between the British and French fleets and on shore between the French army, together with the army of the Indian state of Mysore, and the British.
Well if he had been like Abraham Lincoln, he would have just insisted that another 735,000 people be killed if necessary, to get his way.
Fortunately for us, Mad King George III was more rational than Lincoln.
I attended the Evacuation Day 225th anniversary ceremony in NYC, followed by lunch at Fraunces Tavern. It was great. It commemorates the date the British sailed out of NY harbor, November 25, 1783. The British had raised the Union Jack at Battery Park which is at the bottom of Manhattan so their fleet could sail out under their flag. They also greased the pole so the flag couldn’t be taken down. But with some American ingenuity they took the British flag down and raised the American. And despite what Wikipedia says I’ve read that the last shot fired by the British was fired at the flag raiser as he secured the American flag at the top of the pole. They missed.
“I’ve read that the last shot fired by the British was fired at the flag raiser as he secured the American flag at the top of the pole. They missed.”
Perhaps they were giving our flag a 21-gun salute on the way out? /s
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, is named for the Society of the Cincinnati—an organization of the officers of the Continental Army (including Frenchmen who came over to help during the war), and their descendants. Three Presidents have been members—George Washington, James Monroe, and Franklin Pierce (whose father fought in the Revolutionary War). The society is still going strong—but it’s very difficult to qualify for membership.
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