1783: Peace Treaties Gradually End the War 

1783 Jan 08: Rochambeau and sixteen other officers boarded the frigate Emeraude in Annapolis MD. They waited for British patrol frigates to leave the area, but finally left on Jan 14 with several British frigates in hot pursuit. They made a fast crossing -- arriving at Saint Nazaire, France, on Feb 10.

1783 Jan 20: Preliminary Articles of Peace were signed in Paris between Great Britain, France, and Spain. (The U.S and Great Britain had agreed to a preliminary treaty on 1782 Nov 5.) Great Britain proclaimed a cessation of hostilities (cease-fire) on Feb 04. The Continental Congress did the same on April 11. Although hostilities were officially ended it took many months for the news to reach the front lines worldwide. See 1783 April 15 next.

1783 March 10:  On a course from Havana to Philadelphia, Capt. John Barry was in command of the 36-gun U.S. frigate Alliance guarding the Duc de Luzerne -- named after the French Ambassador to the U.S. The Duc de Luzerne's cargo included 72,000 Spanish milled dollars as French foreign aid to the U.S. government. Two British frigates spotted and chased the American vessels. The 32-gun Alarm abandoned the chase after sighting an approaching French 64-gun ship-of-the-line, the Triton. The 28-gun Sybil suffered significant damage during an exchange of several broadsides with the Alliance while the Triton, fearing that this was a British trick to lure it into a trap, remained at a distance until the Sybil broke off the engagement and retired from the area. See article by Lindsey Cook Brock (Florida Society SAR) on the Sons of Liberty SAR Website 1783 March 24: News of the Preliminary Articles of Peace arrived in the Caribbean, so the French plan to attack British-held Jamaica was aborted, and the French troops were recalled to France. The troops finally arrived back in France in late June 1784, after four years in the U.S.

1783 April 15: The Third Continental Congress (of the United States) approved the "Preliminary Articles of Peace" in Philadelphia PA. Now the U.S. commissioners in Paris could do any required final adjustments (there were none) and draft a "Definitive Peace Treaty". See 1783 Sept 03 next. On 1783 May 11: Most of Lauzun's Legion embarked at Wilmington DE on five vessels -- la Goire, la Danaï, l'Astree, l'Active, and le St. James, arriving at Brest, France about June 11.

1783 Mar-Jul: Adm. Suffren's fleet in the indian Ocean participated in the capture of Voloze, Bednor (May 3), Onor, and the siege of Bangalore ((now Mangalore; May 6 to July) 1783 Jun 13-29: French Adm. Suffren's fleet fought British Vice-Adm. Hughes' fleet off Cuddelore, India, preventing its capture by the British. Hughes sailed back to Madras, India. Soon thereafter Suffren learned of the Peace Treaty and returned to France.

1783 Sept 03: In Paris, France, five men met privately (with no Frenchmen present) at the Hotel de York (now 53 Rue Jacob) in the rooms of the British representative ... Hartley. He and the representatives of the United States -- Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay signed "The Definitive Treaty of Peace between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America", commonly called The 1783 Treaty of Paris, [Yale Law School Avalon Project]. This ended only the war between the United States and Great Britain While this treaty is usually referred to in the singular, there were actually three separate peace treaties; the United States, France, and Spain each signed a separate peace treaty with Great Britain on this day in Paris -- in three separate locations. In addition to granting independence to the rebelling colonies -- whose territory in 1776 was bounded by a line down the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains -- Great Britain ceded to the United States control of all the land from that line to the Mississippi River. This was land that king George III's Proclamation of 1763 had reserved for the use of several Amerindian nations, barring European colonists from making settlements here. Ref. Peace of Paris (1783) [Wikipedia] As with the Preliminaries of Peace" this document had to be ratified by the two governments, a process that took many months due to the long ocean voyage. See 1783 Nov 26 next.

On 1783 Oct 05: The last French military unit left the U.S. The siege artillery and a guard force of 85 soldiers from Lauzun's Legion under the command of Capt. François Xavier Christophe, baron de Hell, left Baltimore in the Pintade, bound for Brest, France, arriving there on Nov 10.

1783 Nov 28: The Continental Congress was in session in Annapolis MD when a copy of the "Definitive Peace Treaty" arrived. Congress ratified the treaty on 1784 January 14. See 1784 May 12.next.

But, wait!     We aren't quite done yet! Thus far only the U.S. has ratified the peace treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain. Article 10 of that treaty specified that before the treaty provisions would take effect both nations must sign and that copies of the signed treaties must be exchanged between the two nations.

1784 May 12: A month after the British Parliament ratified the treaty (on 1784 April 09) that copy arrived in Paris and was exchanged with the signed copy from the U.S. Now the independence of the United States of America -- which had previously been recognized formally by only France, Sweden, and the Netherlands -- was acknowledged by Great Britain, leaving no excuse for any other nation (Spain, Russia, the Germanic states, the Indian states, etc.) to deny recognition of U.S. independence. Thus 1784 May 12 -- six months after all British and French troops had been withdrawn from U.S. soil and the day that two pieces of paper were exchanged in Paris -- became (yet another) day that might be celebrated as the first day of of independence for the United States.

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Merci beaucoups, notre amis française! Many Thanks to Our French Friends!

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Unfortunately, both Great Britain and Spain failed to honor some of the terms of the treaties. But that is a story involving later wars, and it won't be discussed here.

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