On Oct. 19, 1781, in a battlefield not too far from Jamestown, America won its independence. The framers of this country said this was by the grace of God. We too should acknowledge the help of God, upon whom our rights are predicated, as the founders spelled out in the Declaration of Independence.
In the victory at Yorktown, Virginia, British Gen. Cornwallis surrendered to America’s commander in chief, George Washington.
Two hundred years later, reflecting on this virtually impossible (humanly speaking) achievement. President Ronald Reagan declared: “That surrender signified the practical end of the struggle by our forefathers for liberty and independence. The impossible dream of those patriots was about to be transformed into the reality of a bright new Nation.”
Dr. D. James Kennedy and I wrote this about the Yorktown victory in our 2003 book, “What If America Were a Christian Nation Again?” “Many people do not realize that when Cornwallis discovered he was trapped at Yorktown with no place to go, he decided to emulate what Washington had done. Consequently, during that final night, he determined to make his escape, and he began to slip away in boats under cover of darkness.”
With the daylight, to Cornwallis’ horror, he beheld a fleet of French battle ships, there to help the Americans. The British general saw he had no option but to surrender to avoid further bloodshed.
People at the time marveled at what they perceived as God’s hand in the victory at Yorktown and the whole effort in general.
In his “American Minute” entry for Yorktown, historian Bill Federer notes: Yale President Ezra Stiles wrote, May 8, 1783: “Who but God could have ordained the critical arrival of the Gallic – French – fleet, so as to … assist … in the siege … of Yorktown? … It is God who had raised up for us a … powerful ally … a chosen army and a naval force: who sent us a Rochambeau … to fight side by side with a Washington … in the … battle of Yorktown.”
America would not have been successful in this battle were it not for the French, led by Gen. Rochambeau.
The next day, on Oct. 20, 1781, Gen. Washington called for a worship service to give thanks to the Lord for the British surrender. Referring to himself in the third person, George Washington wrote, “Divine Service is to be performed tomorrow in the several Brigades or Divisions. The Commander in Chief earnestly recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend with that seriousness of Deportment and gratitude of Heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.”
In those days, Providence was a common word for the God who answers prayer – as in the God of the Bible. Virtually all the Christians in those days used this term.
George Washington was not the only one who thanked God and set aside worship time because of the victory at Yorktown, the Continental Congress did as well.
On Friday, Oct. 26, 1781, congressional members Rev. John Witherspoon, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Varnum and Roger Sherman wrote up a Thanksgiving and Prayer proclamation for the victory at Yorktown:
“Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, the father of mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America in their important struggle for liberty, against the long continued efforts of a powerful nation; it is the duty of all ranks to observe and thankfully acknowledge the interpositions of his Providence in their behalf. Through the whole of the contest, from its first rise to this time, the influence of divine Providence may be clearly perceived in many signal instances.”
Later in this document, they set aside Dec. 13, 1781, as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer “that all the people may assemble on that day, with grateful hearts, to celebrate the praise of our gracious Benefactor; to confess our manifold sins; to offer up our most fervent supplications to the God of all grace.” The ultimate goal of this peace, they hope, is that it will “cause the knowledge of God to cover the earth, as the waters cover the seas.”
The victory at Yorktown was the unofficial and defacto end of the American War for Independence. Within two years, in 1783, came the official end of the hostilities. John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay negotiated for America the Treaty of Paris, formally recognizing the end of the war. How does the treaty begin? “In the Name of the most Holy & undivided Trinity.”
While we’re in our 250th year as a nation, counting down to July 4, 2026, we should remember God’s help for us to become independent in the first place – including the victory at Yorktown.