If you’re interested in early American history you probably recall that the British surrendered to George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
Hold it. The Revolutionary War didn’t end there.
In the two years following Yorktown, there were hundreds of skirmishes and combat encounters, largely in the American South, between soldiers of the Continental and British armies, and among pro-American and pro-British militias and many American Indian warriors.
King George III didn’t get around to issuing his Proclamation of Cessation of Hostilities until February 3, 1783.
On the high seas, after Yorktown, there were continuing naval encounters involving privateers and both Continental Navy and Royal Navy vessels as late as March 1783.
The war ended officially when the Treaty of Paris was finally signed on September 3, 1783.
News traveled slowly in those days. The last contingent of British troops in North America left New York City on November 26, 1783.
Read this review of Don Glickstein’s book After Yorktown: The Final Struggle for American Independence:
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015 All rights reserved.
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