On Sunday, America celebrates its independence with the Fourth of July holiday. In recent years, however, that celebration seems to have lost some of its steam.
There was a day when citizens proudly demonstrated their love of this country with all kinds of parades, parties, cookouts and many other festivities to mark the date that independence was declared in 1776. History records the tremendous struggle in the six years that followed that declaration, but for many it is lost in today’s political upheaval in this country.
My grandson Cole gave me a book for Christmas titled “Valley Forge” that I was finally able to finish recently. Authors were Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. It details the months before, during and after the encampment at that location in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania in the winter of 1777-78, and reveals just how close America came to losing the War for Independence.
Earlier in 1777, the Continental Army had suffered humiliating defeats at Brandywine Creek, Paoli and Germantown, and moved into their winter camp to hopefully regroup. Had the British known how weak that army was and attacked the starving, rag-tag rabble, the war could well have had a different outcome. Not only was there very little food and ammunition, but also many soldiers had no boots or blankets and their uniforms were in tatters. More were sick with a myriad of diseases than were able-bodied, and desertions were high.
How, you may ask, did this army eventually win the war? The answer is simple – George Washington. He held his men together through the darkest hours. He continually lobbied the Continental Congress and legislatures of some states for the necessary supplies to keep his army from dissolving. He lived, ate and suffered with the soldiers, and he also prayed a lot. He instituted a vigorous training program with the help of a Prussian officer to keep the men’s minds off the cold, miserable weather.
The Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who so ably assisted the American cause, wrote in his memoirs that Washington’s “graceful bearing on horseback, his calm and deportment … were all calculated to inspire the highest degree of enthusiasm.” He concluded, “I thought then as now that I had never beheld so superb a man.”
It’s difficult to think that one man could effect such a monumental outcome as Washington did during the American Revolution. But had he not been in command it is arguable that the 13 colonies would have lost the war, and continued under the rule of Great Britain. Yet this man doesn’t even have a day of his own on the calendar to honor his birthday.
As a footnote to this editorial, Washington issued a warning to the people in his 1796 speech announcing that he would not run for a third term as President. It has an eerie meaning today. He said that the most serious threat to our democracy – “the most frightful … and permanent despotism … at the expense of public liberty” – could well come from within. That is a message those who govern the nation, those who trash our way of life and want wholesale change, those who demean American heroes and topple their statues, and all those who think America is horrible should take to heart.
Have a happy holiday.