Posted on 01/28/2003 10:32:48 AM PST by Britton J Wingfield
"Actually, The French engineered the victory at Yorktown..."
No they didn't. The British fleet was delayed by a HURRICANE, not the French. The important French contributions came from French subjects like Laffiette and Queen Marie in the form of money and material. The most important MILLITARY contribution vcame from SPAIN who invaded Florida (A British possesion whose people supported the Revolution) with over 10,000 solders and support personel.
They also had sclerotic generals who had no concept of the kind of mobile warfare the Germans had unleashed on them. They had no counter for the Germans' air supremacy in the attack. In addition the French Army was reliably reported to have been largely neutralized by communist fifth column subversion. The battlefields beyond the Meuse showed little evidence of the army using their artillery or armor such as it was, and very few casualties. The army did not flee so much as it chose not to fight. Nothing DeGaulle could have done to counter that.
It wasn't the French fleet that defeated Cornwallis, it was trench warfare tactics employed by French engineers - You would do well to study history in-depth before spouting ;-)
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