The Fourth at War - Part 1
- Ray Via II
- 1 minute ago
- 9 min read
Most Americans think of the Fourth of July as a day for fireworks, parades, family gatherings, and celebrating the Declaration of Independence. But historians see it differently. Throughout American history, Independence Day has often coincided with military campaigns that shaped the nation’s survival and growth as a republic.
The Fourth of July has always been more than just a holiday. Many times, it was also a day of battle.
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026, it’s worth asking what American soldiers, sailors, Marines, and volunteers were doing on Independence Day during the country’s major wars. Rather than focusing on celebrations at home, this series examines what happened on July 4 over the course of more than two centuries of conflict.
This story does not begin with fireworks, but with an army preparing to fight for its survival.
July 4, 1776: Independence Declared While War Was Already Underway
When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the American Revolution had already been underway for 15 months.
The first battles at Lexington and Concord happened in April 1775. That summer, American militia surrounded Boston, and the tough fight at Bunker Hill showed that colonial forces could stand up to British troops. In March 1776, General George Washington made Lieutenant General Sir William Howe leave Boston after Colonel Henry Knox hauled captured cannons from Fort Ticonderoga across almost 300 miles of frozen land.
So, the Declaration did not start the war. In July 1776, many colonists still hoped to make peace with Great Britain. The Declaration ended that hope. The Continental Army was no longer fighting for colonial rights, but for national independence.
Washington quickly understood how important Congress’s decision was. On July 9, he ordered the Declaration to be read aloud to every brigade in New York City. Thousands of Continental soldiers stood in formation as officers read Thomas Jefferson’s words (Lee Resolution): "These United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States." The moment was dramatic.
Meanwhile, Britain had put together the largest expeditionary force it had ever sent outside Europe. General Howe, with help from his brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe, led about 32,000 British and Hessian troops. Over 400 ships gathered to take New York, which had one of the best harbors in North America.
Washington’s Continental Army, with about 19,000 soldiers, waited for them.
Many soldiers didn’t have uniforms.
Many had never fought in a big battle before.
Many would see their enlistments end before the year was over.
Still, they were about to defend a nation that had only just been declared.
So, the first Independence Day wasn’t celebrated from a place of safety.
It happened just as one of history’s most important military campaigns was about to begin.
July 4, 1777: The First Wartime Independence Day
One year later, Americans celebrated their first anniversary of independence while still fighting for survival.
Congress encouraged public celebrations, church services, military parades, and thirteen-gun salutes to honor the original states. Philadelphia held fireworks and public events, while Washington allowed special rations and celebrations for parts of the Continental Army.
Those celebrations lasted only briefly.
To the north, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne had begun his offensive from Canada with nearly 8,000 British, German, Loyalist, and Native American troops. His objective was to seize Albany and sever New England from the rest of the colonies.
Simultaneously, General Howe prepared to move his main army against Philadelphia.
American commanders understood that the 1777 campaign could determine the outcome of the Revolution.
Within weeks, Washington would fight at Brandywine and Germantown while Burgoyne marched toward Saratoga.
Independence Day represented only a short pause between campaigns.
The Long War for Independence
Every July Fourth during the Revolutionary War, Americans were under arms across the new nation. In 1778, Washington's army recovered from the tough winter at Valley Forge after Baron Friedrich von Steuben turned inexperienced volunteers into a disciplined fighting force. On July 4, Continental soldiers celebrated with their new French allies, as France had formally joined the war after the American victory at Saratoga.
In 1779, the Continental Army began using a strategy of wearing down the enemy, while fighting spread across New York, the frontier, and the South.
By 1780, the British focused more on the Carolinas and Georgia. The harsh southern campaign culminated in battles at Camden, King's Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and many smaller engagements, with leaders such as Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, and Lord Cornwallis involved.
Finally, in 1781, Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau pulled off one of history's most successful strategic tricks. They led the British to believe that New York was the main target, while the Franco-American army marched south to Virginia and trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The surrender at Yorktown in October secured American independence.
Only five Independence Days had gone by since Congress adopted the Declaration.
The War of 1812: Defending Independence Again
Less than four decades after independence, Americans again found themselves fighting Great Britain.
The War of 1812 began amid disputes over maritime rights, British impressment of American sailors, and continued British support for Native American resistance in the Old Northwest.
Unlike the Revolution, the conflict became a contest along multiple front.
On Independence Days during the war, American forces occupied positions along the Canadian frontier, defended the Chesapeake Bay, operated naval squadrons on the Great Lakes, and protected commerce along the Atlantic coast.
The changes in the young republic were especially clear on the Niagara Frontier.
Major General Jacob Brown commanded the Army of the Niagara, while Brigadier General Winfield Scott introduced rigorous European-style drill, transforming American regulars into disciplined professionals. During the summer campaign of 1814, Scott's brigade demonstrated its effectiveness at Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, proving that American infantry could stand toe-to-toe with Britain's veteran Peninsular War soldiers.
Meanwhile, Commodore Isaac Chauncey's squadron battled for control of Lake Ontario, while Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's earlier victory on Lake Erie secured American dominance in the Northwest and enabled General William Henry Harrison's advance into Canada.
Once again, the nation's birthday came while American forces were spread out across hundreds of miles of frontier.
The Mexican-American War: Expansion Through Victory
By the summer of 1847, the United States had progressed from a struggling republic into an expanding continental power.
General Winfield Scott's brilliantly executed amphibious landing at Veracruz in March initiated one of the most successful campaigns in American military history. Advancing inland through difficult terrain, Scott defeated larger Mexican forces at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec before capturing Mexico City in September.
Although Independence Day fell before the capital's capture, American forces spent successive Fourths conducting offensive operations deep inside enemy territory.
Scott's army was one of the best professional forces the United States had ever put together. Regular Army regiments fought alongside volunteers from many states, and engineers, artillery, and cavalry showed growing skill and coordination.
The campaign also introduced a generation of junior officers who would later command armies during the Civil War, including Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George B. McClellan, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, George Meade, James Longstreet, P. G. T. Beauregard, and George Pickett.
Many future opponents first learned how to be soldiers while serving under the same flag.
July 4, 1863: One of the Most Consequential Days in American History
No Independence Day shows the link between America's birthday and its military history better than July 4, 1863.
For four years, the nation had been consumed by civil war.
By early July, two campaigns, hundreds of miles apart, occurred that would permanently alter the conflict.
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg concluded on July 3 following three days of brutal combat involving nearly 165,000 soldiers.
Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, numbering approximately 93,000 officers and men, successfully repelled General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which numbered roughly 72,000.
Union I, II, III, V, VI, XI, and XII Corps fought across Cemetery Ridge, Culp's Hill, Little Round Top, Seminary Ridge, Devil's Den, the Wheatfield, and the Peach Orchard.
Confederate corps under James Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, and A. P. Hill launched repeated assaults culminating in Pickett's Charge on the afternoon of July 3.
When morning came on July 4, Lee remained on Seminary Ridge.
Heavy rain soaked the battlefield.
Thousands of wounded still lay between the lines.
Neither commander renewed the battle.
Instead, Lee began preparations for his retreat to Virginia, ending his second invasion of the North.
Although Gettysburg was over, its effects on the war were just beginning.
Vicksburg
Nearly one thousand miles southwest, another army witnessed an equally significant event.
After a forty-seven-day siege, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered approximately 29,500 Confederate soldiers to Major General Ulysses S. Grant on the morning of July 4, 1863.
Grant commanded nearly 77,000 Union troops organized under Major Generals William T. Sherman, James B. McPherson, and John A. McClernand. Rear Admiral David D. Porter's Mississippi Squadron maintained naval pressure along the river, supporting Grant's siege operations with heavy naval artillery.
The surrender ended one of the most successful Civil War campaigns.
Grant had crossed the Mississippi south of the city, marched inland without a secure supply line, defeated Confederate forces in a series of rapid engagements at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Big Black River Bridge, before investing Vicksburg itself.
The Confederate fortress finally gave up after starvation, constant artillery attacks, and nonstop trench fighting made further resistance impossible.
The victory reopened the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, permanently splitting the Confederacy into east and west.
President Abraham Lincoln reportedly summarized the achievement with remarkable simplicity:
"The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea."
A Nation Defined by Its Fourths
Between 1776 and 1865, the United States fought for independence, defended that independence against its former colonial ruler, expanded across a continent, and endured a civil war that nearly destroyed the republic founded on July 4, 1776.
Again and again, the nation's birthday fell during campaigns that would change its future.
Continental soldiers listened to the Declaration during their preparation to defend New York.
Regulars and militia stood guard along the Canadian frontier during the War of 1812.
Scott's army carried the Stars and Stripes deep into Mexico.
Grant accepted the surrender of Vicksburg while Lee began withdrawing from Gettysburg.
These events did not happen on Independence Day by design, but history has given July Fourth a special place in America’s military story. Time and again, the nation's birthday has come on days of great importance.
Tomorrow, in Part II, we’ll follow America’s military as it moves from the Civil War into a global role. We’ll look at how Independence Day was recognized by the Buffalo Soldiers on the frontier, the Rough Riders and the 9th and 10th Cavalry in Cuba, the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and the millions of troops fighting across Europe and the Pacific during World War II.
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