Nathaniel Greene and Daniel Morgan

You might be asking yourself: who in the world are these two guys?” I was asking myself the same question when I first listened to those names. Both of them were commanders of the Continental army and they were very distinguished in their charges. Nathanael Greene came from the Greene family, which one was of the founders of Rhode Island. He was born on July 27,1742. He was Quaker and Quakers are peaceful people, therefore when they discovered that Nathanael was in the army the Quakers had to talk to him to clarify that business. Also Nathanael liked to read a lot, he used to save his money for buying books. Nathanael was one of Washington´s great friend. Greene proved to be a superb commander in the Continental Army.
Little is known about Daniel Morgan. His parents were immigrants, he was born on 1736 in New Jersey. Daniel Morgan is considered a hero as well as one of the greatest tactic man in history. His works in the Continental army contributed to the victory of the Patriots. Morgan was a great ally of Washington and also a man that Washington could trust. Both of these commanders played a key role in the success of the Patriots´. They were great wingmen of George Washington.

Charles Cornwallis

Best known as General Cornwallis, this man is thought as the one who loss the Revolutionary War. However, not much is known about him, therefore let´s go deeper into his biography. Charles Cornwallis was born on December 31, 1738. He received his education at Eton (England). Cornwallis wanted to pursue his military dream but at that time there was no military academies. Charles had to move to Italy to receive his education. When the seven year war broke out, He had to serve his country. Cornwallis had to return to Britain because of the death of his father, Charles inherited EVERYTHING of Earl Cornwallis (his father) including a seat at the Lords house. Cornwallis became a great friend of King Charles III. A very interesting fact is that Cornwallis and the King had several discussions about the colonies. It is said that Cornwallis was one of the Lords that was against heavy taxes. After the death of her spouse, Charles decided to continue in the war. In 1780, Cornwallis was appointed as General of the British forces in the southern colonies. He started to fight with his strategies but loss in Yorktown. This defeat meant the loss of the Revolutionary War and eventually the loss of the colonies that were now an independent nation. When he returned to Britain, Cornwallis faced humiliation due that he was pointed as the main guilty for the defeat the British suffered.

Treaty of Paris

A diplomatic way of finishing a conflict is to sign a treaty. A treaty is defined as “a formally concluded and ratified agreement between states.” This is exactly what the United States did when the Revolutionary War was over and they had gained the status of an independent nation. This document brought peace after several years of war that meant many casualties and severe loss of money. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783. The Treaty was signed at a hotel. The people who signed this treaty were: representing the United States John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay; representing Great Britain was John Hartley. The Treaty of Paris basically stated that the British acknowledged the States as a sovereign and independent country and established their own territory. An interesting fact is that the treaty consisted of 10 articles.

Bernardo de Galvez

Bernardo de Galvez y Madrid was born on July 23, 1746 in Malaga, Spain. He was a key element in the Revolutionary War. Galvez started his military career at age 16 when he was appointed as a lieutenant in a conflict with Portugal. He was promoted to Captain due to his notable performance in this conflict. In 1769, Galvez was appointed as a general in New Spain, which meant his moving to America. He fought against the Apache. In 1777. Galvez had become the governor of Louisiana. Louisiana was French territory but due to the good relationships between France and Spain he was appointed as a governor. Galvez supported the Patriots even before Spain allied with the French in favor of the Patriots. Galvez provided ammo, as well as food. He also helped to stop the British from moving to the Mississippi River. After King Carlos III declare war, Galvez was responsible for tactical moves that eventually helped the Patriots to win the war. Bernardo brought several disappointments to the British. Galvez was guilty of: capturing Mobile, Alabama and also Pensacola from the British (These were important sea ports for British purposes). When the war ended, Bernardo de Galvez moved back to Spain but eventually had to return to serve as a governor of Cuba. Galvez then was appointed with his father charge; viceroy of New Spain. Galvez moved to Mexico City and made a positive impact in this poor region. A pair of contributions he made were: the rebuilding of the Castle of Chapultepec and the finishing of Mexico´s Cathedral. In 1786, Bernardo died due to an illness. An interesting fact is that many of his family members served in the military therefore he continued a family tradition.

Baron von Steuben

Baron von Steuben, an important person that placed a decisive role in the Revolutionary War but more precisely in the Continental army he played a protagonist role. Von Steuben was born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1730. His father was a lieutenant engineer. Steuben passed his adolescence in Russia, but then his father moved to Germany again. He began his soldier career at the age of 17 when he joined the army of Prussia. His experience in this army helped a lot and eventually it was this experience the one that made the American soldiers (the Continental Army) actually an army. Towards the 1775, bad decisions made by the Baron cause him to fall in a debt. Because von Steuben was in economic crisis, he seek work in foreign armies. It was destiny or fate that was on his side. In that year and precisely at that time Benjamin Franklin was seeking help in Paris for his Continental soldiers. This meant a great opportunity for a job to von Steuben.
February 23, 1778 Baron von Steuben started his volunteer work in the Continental Army. Steuben gave advice to Washington while on Valley Forge. Although von Steuben didn’t speak English, it wasn’t an obstacle for communicating because he spoke French and in this way he communicated with some officers. Steuben trained 100 men at first and then he continued to share his knowledge. He changed the way of fighting, gave new techniques of firing but also started a camp sanitation which helped the army to gain discipline as well as live in a clean environment. He later retired and died in New York in 1794.

Spain and the Revolution

An alliance is probably the wisest thing you can do as well as the most powerful decision. Especially in a war and more when the war is against the most powerful army and kingdom of the time: Great Britain. This is exactly what the Patriots did when they alienate with the French and later the Spanish joined the French helping indirectly the colonies. But what role did Spain play? Why this nation did entered a conflict like this? Well, that doubts are going to be clarify as when you are reading this post. The Spanish alliance meant a great aid for the Colonies, great part of the achievement of winning the war is due to this alliance. The Spanish alliances started in 1776 at a court in Paris were actually France and Spain was agreeing to secretly help the Colonies. Spain owned a big part of the New Continent but they wanted to regain Florida. Also Spain had a pending debt with the British because the British had defeated the Spanish Armada, they had taken over Florida and Spain mostly wanted to stop England from being so powerful and was seeking revenge, and the Revolutionary War was a big opportunity. The King of Spain Carlos III provided guns, supplies, ammo and money.
In June 1776 Spain appeared officially as an ally but to France due that if they showed open support to the Colonies this would cause war with the British, ruining the trading of Spain with Portugal and Portugal represented an important income to the Spanish interests. The Spanish support continued until the end of the war. Just to provide an example of the Spanish support we can name the victory of Bernardo de Galves on preventing the British troops to go through the Mississippi River.

Battle at Saratoga

Considered as the turning point of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Saratoga gave a lot of contributions in favor of the Patriots. The Battle of Saratoga was actually two battles that were fought in the months of September and October 1777. The victory of the Patriots in this battle meant the alliance of France to the Patriots cause. After the victory, France decided to side with the British which meant more supplies and eventually more soldiers for the Continental Army. This balanced the Revolutionary War because now the Colonies had the help of a powerful nation as well as a powerful army. The History of the Battle of Saratoga is the following. The real objective of the British was: to attack and control New York and eventually isolate New Hampshire from the Southern Colonies; the results were not as expected. The first of the two battles was the Battle of Freeman’s Farm. It was fought on September 19, 1777. The British were assaulted by the militia that came from Virginia and also attacked by the Continental Army leaving a negative death toll (ratio- 2 British soldiers: 1 Continental soldier).
The second battle occurred on October 7, 1777, it was called the Battle at Bemis Heights. The British troops and their German allies were destroyed, devastated. The defeat at Bemis Height caused the British troops commanded by General John Burgoyne to retreat. Burgoyne surrendered on October 17, 1777.