-
Battles of Lexington and Concord
In these battles, the war officially started. The regulars went to lexington and then concord to look for an confinscate weapons that the colonists were known to be hiding. The day ended in slaughter, mostly towards the british. -
Bunker Hill
After taking up positions on Bunker and Breed Hills, the americans took the full force of two British attacks. They, sadly, ran out of ammunition and supplies after these attacks though, and were forced to retreat. They inflicted many causalities. -
Capture of Montreal
A force of colonists went up to Montreal and captured the city with almost no resistance. The Congress thought it might invoke similar feelings among the canadians (in British Canada) to rebell against the British. -
Assault On Quebec
Two forces, one from Montreal and one from Boston, went to Quebec. Benedict Arnold's force arrived first, and tried to lay seige with virtually no supplies or people, but couldn't. Montgomery arrived later, and they tried to plan a second attack, however they ultimately failed, and had many of their men captured by the British. -
British Fleet arrives in New York
After giving up on Boston and leaving in March 1776, the British decided to try and use New York as their base. This ultimately failed, especially because the Declaration of Independence was signed the day after General Howe landed on Staten Island to plan their siege on New York City. -
Battle of Long Island
General Howe sent some 20,000 troops to take New York City. It was very easy for them. Of Puntham's, 300 were killed, and 2,400 were captured or missing; the british lost less than 400. The next day, under cover of darkness the remaining troops went to join George Washinton in Manhattan. Realizing he was outnumbered when Howe arrived in Manhattan in September, Washington offered a withdrawal. -
Battle of White Plains
After leaving manhattan, Washington set up his troops on the high ground of White Plains. Howe showed up shortly thereafter, and his vast number of troops overtook them, killed over 300, but left Washington to retreat further North with his supplies and wounded. -
A letter from George Washington to Joseph Spencer
in this letter, Washington asks Joseph Spencer for his help. This was written after the defeat of the americans at White Plains. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington, after arriving in Trenton when Howe called off his troops for the winter, tried the unexpected. He crossed the Delaware River with his troops, and attacked 3 regimens of Hessian Mercanaries by surprise. It was a mighty victory for the americans. -
Battle of Princeton
Washington crossed the Delaware once again and headed north towards Princeton. He eluded Cornwallis, and was able to successfully defeat the British at Princeton, and driving many troops out of southern new jersey. It also put energy back into the hearts of Americans, and many recruits were gained. -
Battle of Ticonderoga
The British gained control of a nearby mountain, and mounted cannons atop it, thus putting them in range of being to drop heavy artillery on Fort Ticonderoga. This caused an emergancy evacuation on the hands of General St. Clair. -
Period: to
Siege of Fort Stanwix
Benedict Arnold essentially "bluffed" and told another general that he had a huge army, which eventaully caused them to retreat. -
Battle of Brandywine
Washington took advantage of time given to him by the rains that made a shore muddy (and thus hard to unload supplies of a ship) to set up a resistance of over 11,000 at Chadds Ford on the Brandywine River. Howe, however split his troops, and flanked the Americans, causing them to retreat. Nothing now stood between Howe and Philidelphia. I believe they call this "Check" in Chess terms. -
Battles of Saratoga
Two battles actually, fought three weeks apart. The Americans defeated the British in both. It is usually seen as the turning point in the war for American Independence. -
Battle of Monmouth
Monmouth was largest single battle of the war, with over 13,000 soldiers on each side. It was also the last major battle in the northern theater. While the British continued to occupy New York City, General Clinton soon received orders for a new offensive in the Carolinas. Many soldiers on both sides were lost due to heat stroke as well.