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The major military campaigns of the Revolutionary War ended at Yorktown. That did not mean that the War was over. Military action continued at a low level. The British still occupied many American cities, including New York. Cornwallis' force was a small part of the British military force in America. The main British force was in New York and undefeated. It would have been a tough nut for Washington to crack even with French aid. The British Royal Navy still patrolled the coast, making it impossible for many Americans to do business either in coastal trade or exports. This was a major matter as Americans before the Revolutionary War operated one of the world's largest merchant marines. It was also impossible to import. This meant that the country was near collapse economically. Congress was virtually bankrupt and the state governments insolvent. France was unwilling to make any further loans. The poorly paid Continental Army was increasingly restive. What probably save the United States at this time was that the country was still rural. Most Americans lived in the country on relatively self-sufficient family farms. This is a period in American history that is largely forgotten. The British knew the nascent United States was still fragile. This was a factor in dragging out the negotiations, the hope that the new country would unravel of its own volition. But maintaining a large army in America was also expensive and to actually occupy the colonies would be ruinously expensive. It was the cost more than anything that encouraging Britain to make the necessary compromises to end the war. The Whigs in Parliament had been supportive of the Colonies from the beginning. The cost of the War finally convinced the Tories to end the war. Parliament which had precipitated the crisis thus wanted out. Lord North had to go and resigned (1782). It was King George who had little to do with causing the War who was intent on continuing the War. The King's commitment to the War was because he recognized the importance of the thirteen colonies to Britain. 【O'Shaushnessy】 This is something often missed in Revolutionary War histories. One historian writes of this period, General Washington "knew that the war was not over. The enemy still occupied New York City, Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington. They controlled a large swath of northern New England, and despite the French naval victory at the Capes no one doubted that the Royal Navy still commanded the seas. Added to the naval and military situation was a stubborn King George III, who had made it clear, repeatedly, that under no circumstances would he surrender his colonies. Washington was equally troubled by his own situation. DeGrasse had already left, Rochambeau's army was likely to leave in the spring, and the Congress was broke." 【Fowler】 And there were individual stories.
The War in the North dragged on without any sign of resolution. Washington was concerned that with no end to the War in sight, he would be unable to hold the Continental Army together for another year of campaigning. Little changed in the Spring and early Summer. With the support of the Royal Navy, it was impossible to dislodge the British from New York and end the War. Throughout the Revolutionary war, the overwhelming naval and military superiority of the British allowed them to control the conduct of the War and made it virtually impossible for the Patriots to force the British to surrender--as long as they could fall back on a port for reinforcement and resupply. And this was just what General Cornwallis was seeking to do when after his army was battered in a series of engagements in North Carolina and Virginia. He managed to win these battles, but at great cost. The one successful American offensive was the destruction of Lord Cornwallis' southern army in Virginia (1881). At the beginning of the year the focus of the War was in the North where Washington and Lieutenant General de Rochambeau commanding the French forces were focused on New York. This began to change when dispatches from France raised the possibility of French naval support. The French West Indies fleet commanded by Comte deGrasse might be able to make a foray north. Washington was still focused on New York, but Rochambeau raised the opportunity developing in Virginia. General Henry Clinton ordered Cornwallis to establish a defensible position at a deep-water port. Cornwallis headed for the Chesapeake Bay where he expected to be evacuated by the Royal Navy. 【Nelson】
The major military campaigns of the Revolutionary War ended at Yorktown. That did not mean that the War was over. Military action continued at a low level. The British still occupied many American cities, including New York. Cornwallis' force was a small part of the British military force in America. The main British force was in New York and undefeated. It would have been a tough nut for Washington to crack even with French aid. One historian writes of this period, General Washington "knew that the war was not over. The enemy still occupied New York City, Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington. They controlled a large swath of northern New England, and despite the French naval victory at the Capes no one doubted that the Royal Navy still commanded the seas. Added to the naval and military situation was a stubborn King George III, who had made it clear, repeatedly, that under no circumstances would he surrender his colonies. Washington was equally troubled by his own situation. DeGrasse had already left, Rochambeau's army was likely to leave in the spring, and the Congress was broke."
The British Royal Navy still patrolled the coast, making it impossible for many Americans to do business either in coastal trade or exports. This was a major matter as Americans before the Revolutionary War operated one of the world's largest merchant marines. It was also impossible to import. This meant that the country was near collapse economically. Congress was virtually bankrupt and the state governments insolvent. France was unwilling to make any further loans. The poorly paid Continental Army was increasingly restive. What probably save the United States at this time was that the country was still rural. Most Americans lived in the country on relatively self-sufficient family farms. This is a period in American history that is largely forgotten. The British knew the nascent United States was still fragile. This was a factor in dragging out the negotiations, the hope that the new country would unravel of its own volition.
The Brutish also had problems of their own. Maintaining a large army in America was also expensive and to actually occupy the colonies would be ruinously expensive. It was the cost more than anything that encouraging Britain to make the necessary compromises to end the war. The Whigs in Parliament had been supportive of the Colonies from the beginning. The cost of the War finally convinced the Tories to end the war. Parliament which had precipitated the crisis thus wanted out. Lord North had to go and resigned (1782). It was King George who had little to do with causing the War who was intent on continuing the War. (The original draft of the Declaration of Independence focused on Parliament, not the King.) The King's commitment to the War was because he recognized the importance of the thirteen colonies to Britain.
【O'Shaushnessy】 This is something often missed in Revolutionary War histories.【Fowler】
And there were individual stories. George Washington is best known for his war service and the first president, but his service during the interregnum was equally important. Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown as it did not end the War meant that Washington was unable to demobilize the Continental Army and return to Mount Vernon. It was not clear that the British would relent. Washington and others feared that they would send another army to North America and pursue the conflict. Thus most of the Continental Army remained mobilized and camped at Newburgh, New York near where the main British force was located. Many of the men had not been paid in years. They were restive, ill-clothed, poorly fed, and discipline deteriorated. It took the leadership skills of Washington to prevent a military coup against Congress and the installment of a military government. Washington if he had wanted could have been a king or military dictator as he chose. Alexander Hamilton began his assent to become among America's most important founding father. Henry Knox would go on to found the first veterans organization--the Society of the Cincinnati. The Marquis de Lafayette returned to France and would be appointed to the Assembly of Notables (1787). He almost lost his head in the Revolution. James Lafayette an African American slave who spied for the Colonists would begin his effort to obtain his freedom.
Lord Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown ended the fighting in North America. The Americans had decisively won the military conflict, but had not destroyed the British who still held the vital port of New York and adjacent areas. Neither side launched offensive operations, waiting fo diplomats to decide the outcome of the War. But this did not stop the fighting in the Caribbean. One reason the British had lost the fighting in North America was involvement on other fronts, especially the Caribbean where the hugely profitably sugar islands were at stake. Cornwallis' surrender virtually guaranteed American independence, but negotiation dragged on over borders and the possession of the sugar islands. The French were intent on seizing some of the British islands, especially Jamaica. This was part o the reason they decided to support the American Revolution. As a result, naval actions continued in the Caribbean. Adm. De Grasse commanded a powerful French fleet. The principal British commanders were Adms. Rodney and Hood. (Names immortalized by World War II battleships.] Fighting there came to a concision with the Battle of the Saints (April 9-12, 1782). This is a battle not often mentioned in connection with the American Revolution, but was hugely important in impacting the negotiations to end the Revolution. A small British detachment commanded by Adm. Hood had been defending St. Kitts against the huge French fleet. Finally Adm. Rodney arrived with reinforcements. Combined with Hood's detachment, they slightly outnumbered the French. The allied Spanish fleet did not join with the French and remained in Cuban waters. The British and French fleets met north of Dominica — near a group of sugar islands known as the Saints for which the battle is named. .
Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown ended the military phase of the Revolutionary War (October 1781). Britain had lost two entire field armies and was unwilling to continue the War. Just what the political settlement would be and the boundaries would be, however, was still unsettled. The western boundary in particular was at issue because they had never been clearly drawn even before the Revolution. The British at first wanted a settlement that would have provided a degree of autonomy, but left the colonies within the Empire. This could have prevented the colonists, but after the Revolutionary War was no longer acceptable. The British made a secret offer of autonomy to Benjamin Franklin in Paris (April 1782). Franklin rejected the British peace feelers insisting that Britain fully recognize American independence. Franklin also rejected the idea of a separate peace. America had not fought the British alone. The French and Spanish had joined America and the French in particular had played a major role in the War. The Continental Congress appointed John Adams and John Jay as peace commissioners to assist Franklin in the negotiations. Formal negotiations with all belligerent countries opened in Paris (September 27). The final treaty was very favorable to the Americans. They did not acquire Canada, but they got all the formerly British territory west to the Mississippi River. This proved to be a bone of contention after the War because the British were not anxious to turn over forts in the Northwest Territory.
Fowler, William M. Jr. American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years after Yorktown, 1781-1783 (2011).
Nelson, James L. George Washington's Great Gamble and the Sea Battle that Won the American Revolution.
O’Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson. The Men Who Lost America.
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