1781 News Flash:
|
(2007 Oct blog post)
! Note !
A few maps and links to references may be added
if/when I re-visit this page.
INTRODUCTION: It really gets tiring hearing Fox News "anal-ists" repeatedly refer to the French as "cheese-eating surrender-monkeys". I recently (Sep 2007) saw a documentary on the American Revolution, with particular emphasis on the 1781 siege at Yorktown, Virginia, which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis and his troops. This battle is consistently touted as the beginning of the end of the American Revolution --- with the result being that the United States was formed, free from the governance and taxation of the British. Two significant factors led to the capitulation of Cornwallis.
Hence, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson and others of the Fox News crew (past and present) would have been saying
They can thank those "cheese-eating surrender-monkeys" for that. |
Note that on the following battle map,
the French constitute at least half
of the forces surrounding Cornwallis ---
mostly on the left (the west) side of the map.
More maps : The following two maps may show the locations of the French and American forces more clearly, in the Yorktown campaign. |
Notice how close the French lines are to the British position. Pretty aggressive for a bunch of surrender-monkeys. (By the way, that word 'campaign' looks suspiciously French to me.) The following map indicates the role played by the French navy in chasing off the British fleet when it arrived. |
French show dedication to the fight Here is a quote that I found on the Lafayette page at wikipedia.org. "In June, Cornwallis received orders from London to proceed to the Chesapeake Bay and to oversee construction of a port, in preparation for an attack on Philadelphia. As the British column travelled, Lafayette followed in a bold show of force that encouraged new recruits. In June, Lafayette's men were joined by forces under General (Mad) Anthony Wayne. Soldiers deserted both leaders; Wayne executed six for desertion. Lafayette offered to release his men from service because of the great danger ahead, all of his men remained." That doesn't sound like 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' to me. You can check out other info and links on the Wikipedia page on Lafayette. Note that Lafayette and French troops were involved in at least seven other American Revolutionary War battles before Yorktown:
These cheese-eating surrender-monkeys put themselves in harms way --- under some very difficult conditions --- like Valley Forge. Conclusion It is very doubtful that Washington and the rather rag-tag bands of quite-often demoralized American colonists could have prevailed against the British, if it were not for the help of the French army and navy over a period of several years. The help of the French rallied the spirits of Washington's troops on several occasions. And the French army and navy were essential to the victory at Yorktown. |
For more info: To find more information on the French in the American Revolutionary War, you could try some WEB SEARCHES on keywords such as : |
Bottom of this page on blog topic
To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the
Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times.
OR, use the History-list option of your web browser.
< Go to Top of Page, above. >Or you can scroll up, to the top of this page. Page history:
Page was posted 2007 Oct 24.
|