It didn’t take Stephen long to analyze the situation with
the British occupation of Philadelphia. With his experience as a mariner and a
merchant, he understood that the young republic could not succeed against the
British without enlisting Great Britain’s longtime enemy to the cause, a
country that understood the quest for freedom and independence, a country with
a strong army and a stronger navy– France. Stephen anticipated that the
founding fathers of the United States would approach the French government.
Benjamin Franklin and others would plead their case.
What he did not anticipate was that the federalist leanings of
George Washington who felt more kinship with England than with France, gladly accepted the support of France but never intended to
return the favor when France needed it. General Lafayette, a French nobleman serving in the
American Army, convinced the French King Louis XVI to send
overwhelming forces against the British to assist the Americans. It was June
1778. This action gave heart to the Americans and helped greatly in the war
effort. When George Washington made the bold decision to cross the Delaware,
his decision affected at least the newly married couple Stephen and Mary. Seeing
that the French had joined the American forces against the British, the couple
believed that the war would soon end and began making plans to move back to
Philadelphia. When George Washington surprised the British with his move over
the freezing water of the Delaware to land in New Jersey, the British moved
thousands of troops into the Mount Holly area. Stephen changed his plan and
decided not to return to Philadelphia yet, not wanting to draw attention to
himself or his business at that time. Together they watched about fifteen
thousand British troops leave Philadelphia and head right to Mount Holly.
With France now fighting on the side of the
American patriots, Great Britain had to revise its military strategy. Holding
Philadelphia was now too risky. French troops immediately took control of New Jersey.
And what was the victory that gave the
American Army the advantage and brought about the defeat of the British? On
September 5th, the French naval forces reached the Chesapeake Bay and sealed
off the only escape route the British had. This brought Yorktown into play and
led to its significant role in ending the war. Girard biographer George Wilson
writes: “By September 11, American troops were already at Yorktown under the
command of General Marquis de Lafayette. Cornwallis made a tragic mistake by
not attacking a relatively weak force in early September.” By September 28th,
some sixteen thousand American and French troops had gathered in a semicircle
around Yorktown. They had now outnumbered Cornwallis by about ten thousand
troops.
What was relative
apathy on the part of Girard in 1776 when he first arrived in Philadelphia, concerning
the destiny of the new nation had turned into a deep fervor and support for his
native country and his adoptive country as they chased the British out. The
British would not admit they had been beaten. They knew the vulnerability of
the United States, which had no navy of its own and not much of an army. The
British would continue to conduct a war of harassment against America by
seizing its merchant ships and warships almost at will. It would not be until
the War of 1812 that Great Britain finally knew and accepted that their
colonies were lost to them forever.
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