Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis

Declaration of Independence, 1776.

Cornwallis surrendering, 1783.

It's not until 1789 the new US government is finalized and the US Constitution takes effect.

That's why 250 didn't end with the Fourth of July, folks.

One of the real first military forays into Virginia involved Arnold, who was a, a general in the, in the British Army, invading basically, uh, the city of Richmond, and that's because Jefferson had, uh, previously moved the capital of Virginia from Williamsburg, uh, to Richmond.

And so this was a, a British attack on the capital, and Jefferson, you know, eventually had to flee.

Flee the attack and then took up residence, eventually went back and took up residence at Monticello along with the state, uh, many members of the, uh, state legislature, uh, when General Cornwallis launches a mission directly to Monticello to try to capture Jefferson, the governor, and many of the legislators.

Right.

which

is one of the few American Revolution war movies, where he plays General Cornwallis.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's good.

The aftermath left Savannah still under British control until seventeen eighty-two, but the event forced Britain to reassess its naval strategy along the southern coast.

Admiral Rodney later countered French moves at the Battle of the Chesapeake, where a more disciplined Royal Navy blockaded General Cornwallis in Yorktown.

Speaking about strategic seas, it’s worth noting that Britain’s earlier experience with privateers during the Seven Years’ War shaped its later wartime policies.

Privateer attacks on merchant shipping had drained colonial economies, prompting Britain to enforce stricter naval patrols and prize courts.

Quite memorable.

And Tom Wilkerson, we definitely need to talk about him a little bit because him as Cornwallis is...

I think he gives a good performance.

It's a character with some different sides to him who is very arrogant and doesn't like to lose but has this idea about... what an upstanding society is and like continuing to try to prove that like they are better men not just on the battlefield but like just in society in general like better behaved a very interesting depiction

I think, yeah, the movie made a smart decision to not have Jason Isaacs just be the main guy, the bad guy, and Cornwallis be exactly the same.

It's nice that we have two different versions.

Jason Isaacs is the bad guy, evil bad man, and Cornwallis is a bad guy, but like you said, he understands the scope and the stakes, and we just get a little more perspective from from the crown that isn't just like evil Jason Isaacs.

Some civility versus like dog off a leash.

And so Great Britain then had a world war on its hands, and American independence was essentially guaranteed.

And then 1781 was the Battle of Yorktown when the Americans encircled and defeated General Cornwallis' army, and, uh, the king threw up his hands.

Or it was the prime minister, Lord North, when he learned the news, threw up his hands and said, "It's all over with us now." And, uh, independence legally came 1783, but de facto, uh, through the, those, those few events.

But between all of those, uh, events, for seven to eight years there were, uh, any number of, of, uh, to- twos and threes and fighting and maneuvers and so on, but those are the key ones to represent.

Uh, number two, uh, something very few people realize, that Britain does not emerge as the great loser after the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Actually, and there's an argument to be made, that this really sets the tone for the British Empire going forward because Britain realizes that it made a mistake, and Britain takes a very different approach to other colonies.

And General Cornwallis, uh, Lord Cornwallis, who loses to George Washington, rocks up in India as the second governor general of India, and he is the person who creates the administrative structure that continues in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh today.

He organizes the administration.