Independence was a long way off

Independence Day is definitely something to cheer about. It was the start of an amazing nation and should be celebrated every year. It was especially joyous to the people of the colonies, which were under the iron thumb of King George III. Five days after the freedom document was approved by the Second Continental Congress, Gen. George Washington read it aloud to his troops in New York and again it was cheered.

It was official — the 13 colonies were separated from Mother England. Free at last. But it wasn’t quite that simple or easy. We actually didn’t get our freedom for another seven years and three months — Sept. 3, 1783 — some 6,800 lives later when the Treaty of Paris ended the war. Most of the battles in America came to an end after Lord Cornwallis surrendered to French and American troops in Yorktown, Va. And even though we’re basically taught that his surrender ended the conflict, it still wasn’t really over. The British continued to hold American cities and with more than two dozen battles on land and at sea American blood continued to be spilled.

The Battle of Johnstown in New York was fought after Cornwallis’ surrender and a dozen Americans were killed, though it ended in an American victory. The British claimed victory and killed nearly 60 Americans in January 1772 at the Battle of Videau’ Bridge in South Carolina. The British again defeated the Americans in February at the Battle of Wambaw in South Carolina, killing 40. There were eight more battles between British and American forces (along with several between British and America’s allied French forces) with five English victories and three American wins. The Battle of Cedar Bridge, also known as the Affair at Cedar Bridge, was actually a confrontation between patriot soldiers and Loyalist Americans and ended with four Loyalists wounded and one American killed and four wounded before the Loyalists escaped. According to the Historical Marker Database, the Dec. 27, 1782 skirmish might have been the final conflict of the war.

The real final land battle was a British victory on Nov. 14, 1782 near Charleston, S.C., which resulted in five American deaths. The last battle of the Revolutionary War took place in Delaware Bay between three Royal British ships against four American vessels and it, too, was an English win with 14 killed or wounded and over 500 American seamen captured, according to Wikipedia.

America might have declared independence in 1776, but real independence wasn’t achieved until much later and that’s something we shouldn’t forget. Happy Independence Day.

— Ed Moreth