A strange incongruity in the early stages of the war was that both sides claimed to be defending the British Constitution. .
On October 19, 1781, the British Army, under the generalship of Lord Cornwallis, lowered the British Flag from their headquarters in Yorktown, Virginia. The surrender of Cornwallis effectively ended the war. It took a long time for information to reach England, and British leaders awaited word of the war's progress. They received word of the strength of American forces through October and much of November. George III and Lord George Germain, the cabinet minister principally accountable for the conduct of the war, were so confident of victory that Britain's success was the centerpiece of the King's speech for the opening of Parliament. British leadership knew that this battle at Yorktown could determine the fate of the war, and the future of the present government. More than a month after Cornwallis surrendered, official word of Britain's defeat reached Germain at noon on Sunday, November 25, 1781. .
The conflict, closely contested in multiple engagements throughout the colonies, was such that either side could have won. Military leaders that were successful in one campaign were soundly defeated in another. Each side adapted everything from tactics to uniforms so that they would be more adept, more mobile, and ultimately more successful. When England lost the war, political and military leaders found themselves on the wrong side of history. Military leaders were not inept, to be ridiculed as incompetent. These career military men were quite the opposite. If we take their capabilities seriously, then the achievements of American military commanders, with much less storied careers, seem that much greater. We can say the same for Britain's political leaders. These men lost the colonies, that much is certain. That they lost them through ineffective, self-serving leadership needs reexamination.