‘The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga, October 16, 1777’, by John Trumbull (1756-1843). Two British forces converged on the Continental Army at Saratoga, one from New York, the other from Canada under General Burgoyne, but managed to let the Americans surround them. General Horatio Gates accepted Burgoyne’s surrender, and made him sign the Convention of Saratoga the following day, by which the troops under his command agreed to disarm and leave America (Congress later revoked the Convention and interned them). Major General Benedict Arnold, who so notoriously defected to the British in 1780, fought bravely for the rebels and was seriously wounded.
EMBOLDENED by the humiliation at Saratoga, Louis XVI, who coveted London’s possessions in India and the West Indies, brought France into the war on the rebels’ side; Spain followed in June 1779, and the Netherlands a year later. Plans were laid for an invasion of England.*
George III’s loyal Prime Minister, Lord North, nevertheless clung to his belligerent policy, defying Parliamentary protest. Then came news that on October 19th, 1781, General Washington had accepted the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, thanks to French ships frustrating the Royal Navy at Chesapeake Bay. Parliament voted to end all military action against the Americans, and North resigned in March 1782.
France’s threat in the West Indies ended with the Battle of the Saintes on April 12th, 1782, and Hyder Ali’s Paris-backed rebellion in Mysore, India, was contained by 1784.* But the King grudgingly accepted that the Thirteen Colonies were irretrievably lost, and the Peace of Versailles on September 3rd, 1783, recognised the United States of America.
The invasion never materialised, owing to an outbreak of disease in the French fleet. But American privateers did harass British merchant shipping in the Irish Sea and even in the North Sea: see The Battle of Flamborough Head.
Hyder Ali, de facto ruler of Mysore, died on December 7th, 1782, but the Second Anglo-Mysore War went on until the Treaty of Mangalore on March 11th, 1784. His son Tipu assumed his father’s mantle and carried the battle to the British until 1799. See Hyder Ali and Tipu.
Îles des Saintes are a small group of islands between Guadaloupe and Dominica on the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea. Whereas Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis and other Caribbean islands formerly in the British Empire were granted independence many years ago, Guadaloupe and Les Saintes remain French dependencies.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Century. Government. Loyal.
2 Into. King. Year.
3 First. Prime. Unite.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1.
Come.
2.
Defeat.
3.
Full.
4.
Later.
5.
Lose.
6.
Loyal.
7.
New.
8.
Repeal.
9.
Victory.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding -less.
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Form. 2 Recognise. 3 Bring. 4 Fire. 5 Plan. 6 Accept. 7 Dump. 8 Scale. 9 Sign.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
gs (7+1)
ages. egos. gas. geese. goes. goose. guise.
gees.
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