Patriots and Martyrs - American Revolution

There had been offenses. 

On March 23, 1775 at St John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry finished his speech with, “It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

January 21, 1776, in the Anglican church of Woodstock, Virginia, Reverend Peter Muhlenberg had just given a sermon based on the text from Ecclesiastes, “To every time there is a season….” At the end of the sermon he declared, “And this is the time of war!” He stripped off his clerical robes, revealed his Colonel’s uniform of the Continental Army and walked from the church. As he left the church, 162 men followed him. The following day, they recruited 300 men from the country side. The Eighth Virginia Militia had been born. (Muhlenberg Family History) – Lutheran Archives of Pennsylvania.

In early autumn of 1777, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne sent out Hessian Mercenaries seeking fodder for his horses from the local peasantry.

The New York farmers watched as brilliantly-uniformed Hessians walked into their farmyards and demanded free food for the general's army ... and shot them dead, sometimes wiping out entire detachments to a man.“

Who had Burgoyne surrendered to? Washington and the entire Continental Army--excepting the aforementioned Gen. Arnold and a handful of other officers in fancy coats--were in Philadelphia, withdrawing before the successful (but finally meaningless) siege of Gen. Howe.


The answer--inconceivable to the kind of European mind that ordered the band to play "The World Turned Upside Down" at Yorktown in 1781--was that Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne had surrendered an entire British army to the American militia, to nothing but a gang of New York and New England farmers.”http://www.freerepublic.com/~2banana/

General George Washington looked at the troops that winter in Valley Forge and declared, “To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet, and almost as often without provisions as with, marching through frost and snow, and at Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a day’s march of the enemy, without a house or a hut to cover them till they would be built, and submitting to it without a murmur, is the mark of the patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”

In July of 1776, the Declaration of Independence had been ratified in Philadelphia. The most widely known section reads,

“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The last line reads, “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Had the war been lost, everyone who fought against England could have been tried as a traitor, stripped of their land and possessions, they and their families put in prison, or hung.

The document was signed, and the tiny thirteen colonies were at war with England and Germany; the world’s superpowers, and they won!

Have a joyous Independence Day, thanking God for your many freedoms by honoring those who are responsible for securing your freedoms, and those who still defend your freedom.