Raw, undisciplined, cowardly men

In March 1775, the British First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich, declared “Suppose the colonies do abound in men, what does that signify? They are raw, undisciplined, cowardly men.” It was an opinion that resonated in the House of Commons. (David McCullough, 1776)

The following month the British army would find out just how “raw, undisciplined, and cowardly” those men were not, when they met at Lexington and Concord in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The pyrric British victory in these opening battles of the American Revolution would set the tone for things to come, and truely were “the shots heard around the world.”

Those “raw, undisciplined, and cowardly men” overcame tremendous adversities in fighting the most powerful military force of the day. Fourteen months later, on July 4, 1776, Congress approved the wording of the most sacred document in American history—the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration laid out, in detail, the infractions of the tyrant King George against the colonists of America, and declared the thirteen colonies free of British rule.

The war raged on for five more years, but in the fall of 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis was surrendering his army to the “raw, undisciplined, and cowardly” American General George Washington.

Two years later, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, those brave souls were no longer called “raw, undisciplined, cowardly men” by the British Parliament. They were called Americans.

Take a moment and give thanks to our “raw, undisciplined, cowardly” forefathers who fought for our freedom from tyranny more than two centuries ago, and to those refined, disciplined, and brave men and women who continue to protect that freedom today.

Happy Independence Day, America!