Revolutionary army sacrifices buy our freedom

1776 is the year our founders – Washington, Franklin, Hancock, Adams, Jefferson and more – declared independence from England. We celebrate the 250th anniversary this year, and Heritage Days in Huntington, June 10 through 14, promises to honor “We the People,” then and now.

The year was also a time when critical battles continued in Boston, New York and New Jersey as the American revolutionary army sought to drive the British out of the original colonies and create an independent and sovereign nation.

General George Washington’s revolutionary army was simply a group of untrained farmers. They were poorly paid, had no uniforms and suffered many diseases. This group, however, held off a superior British army sending them into retreat at Lexington and Concord causing an estimated 1,000 British casualties on Bunker Hill in 1775.

In the early days of 1776, a key battle took place from Dorchester Heights. General Washington and Nathanial Greene, Rhode Island; Joseph Reed, Philadelphia; John Sullivan, New Hampshire and Henry Knox, Boston, his key generals, brought cannons over land in the cold winter from Fort Ticonderoga to Lake Champlain and fired on the British. The battle was so successful that the entire British contingent fled to Nova Scotia.

In New York City, the British under the leadership of William Howe, were not ready to surrender. The American revolutionary army left Boston for New York to force the British out one last time. The British had a powerful naval armada of hundreds of ships, and the revolutionaries were no match against this English garrison. This campaign to drive the British out was a large failure, and there was criticism of Washington and talk of surrender.

On Christmas Eve 1776, the revolutionaries under Washington had a chance to once again face the British. They crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey and made their successful attack. This was considered a turning point in the war, but at Valley Forge they faced sacrifices during the winters of 1777 and 1778. With borrowed money and foreign leadership, the fighting continued for four years. In October 1781, American and French troops under General Washington overran 7,000 British troops, and their leader Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia ending British control.

“We The People” celebrate our independence from England on July 4, and remember and are grateful for the citizen army that fought a long war, and for our founders who worked to create the independent America we live in.