Pictures for the 4th of July

July 4 marks the date that the former British colonies declared independence from the British in 1776. What followed was a long war between the Americans and the British that as we know ended with the defeat of the British and the birth of the United States of America.

To commemorate this on July 4, 2009 below are a couple pictures I took this past spring at the location where the War for Independence ended - Yorktown, VA.

Above: Revolutionary War cannon at the Yorktown battlefield.

Below: The Yorktown battlefield. Note the fortifications in the middle of the picture behind the tree. American forces stormed this location as part of the battle.

It was here in 1781 that General George Washington's army, with the help of the French navy soundly defeated British General Lord Corwallis' army to effectively seal the victory for the Americans.

Yes, people...we owe A LOT to the French military for helping us beat the British. We returned the favor in spades in WWI and WWII.

At any rate, I thought that these modern day pictures would be appropriate on a day and weekend when we try and remember how our nation started.

You can see other pictures that I took at Yorktown and nearby Colonial Williamsburg in a set of pictures here. The pictures of Yorktown and Williamsburg are near the bottom of the set.