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The Revalutionary War
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Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith sends troops to Concord
On April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, commander of the British force in Boston, ordered his subordinate, Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith, to lead a detachment of troops to the town of Concord. -
Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith's army is destroyed by the American's Gurilla tactics
The Massachusetts militia inflicted heavy damage on the enemy, and while the British managed successfully to withdraw to Boston, Smith’s mission had been a complete failure. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
After the American victory at Concord, a force of roughly 10,000 Massachusetts militiamen advanced on Boston and declared the city under siege. -
Seize of Montreal
n September 1775 an American force under the command of General Richard Montgomery marched northward from Fort Ticonderoga in New York. In early November they reached the city of Montreal, which fell with virtually no resistance on November 13. -
Attack on Quebec
Two American forces converged to attack Quebec, the capital of British Canada. The first, 300 men commanded by General Montgomery, proceeded up the St. Lawrence River from Montreal. The second, 1,100 men under the command of General Benedict Arnold, marched 350 miles northward from Boston, through a wilderness that is today the state of Maine. -
British Navy avives at New York Harbor
A large force of troops—roughly a third of which were Hessian mercenaries, from modern-day Germany—was placed under the command of General William Howe. This massive invasion force appeared off the coast of New York on June 29. -
Battle of Long Island
Three days later, under the cover of darkness, Putnam’s remaining forces evacuated Long Island to join Washington’s army in Manhattan. On September 15 Howe landed in on Manhattan. Recognizing that the Continental Army was insufficient to prevent the British from taking New York City, Washington ordered a withdrawal. -
White Plains
Having abandoned Manhattan to the British, Washington reestablished his lines on high ground, near the village of White Plains. On October 28 General Howe launched an attack which drove the Continental Army from the field at a cost of some 230 men. At this point Howe missed his best chance to destroy Washington’s army once and for all; instead of pursuing, he stopped and ordered construction of artillery batteries on the heights. This gave Washington the opportunity to retreat further north, -
Battle of Trenton
With the British pursuit called off, the Continental Army encamped in the town of Valley Forge, just outside Philadelphia. By this time Washington had fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and he realized that all but 1,400 of these were likely to head for home after their enlistments expired at the end of the year. Thomas Paine, who had accompanied the army during its retreat, called these weeks “the times that try men’s souls.” -
Princeton
But on January 3 Washington skillfully eluded Cornwallis and headed north toward Princeton. There the Continental Army encountered a smaller British force, and inflicted 500 more casualties on the enemy. In a matter of days Washington managed to drive the British from much of southern New Jersey. More importantly his exploits reenergized the revolutionary cause, leading some 8,000 new recruits to join the Continental Army in the coming months. -
BradyWine
With New York City firmly in British control, and Burgoyne making his way steadily to the Hudson River, General Howe sought to capture Philadelphia, which he hoped would bring an end to the rebellion once and for all. In late July an armada of more than 250 ships carried him and 17,000 British regulars through the Chesapeake Bay, and landed them less than fifty miles from Philadelphia. Fortunately for the Americans, however, the landing area was muddy from recent rains, so the act of unloading -
Fort Stanwix
While General Burgoyne was advancing south along Lake Champlain, a smaller British force was heading east. This force consisted of 2,000 men, roughly half of which were Iroquois Indians, and was commanded by General Barry St. Leger. On August 4 St. Leger’s troops surrounded Fort Stanwix, and two days later ambushed and destroyed a column of 800 local militia that were on their way to relieve the fort. uhg i hate copying and paisting this. -
Fort Triconderoga (Battle of Saratoga)
What is usually called the “Battle of Saratoga” today actually consists of two separate battles, fought nearly three weeks apart. In the first—sometimes called the Battle of Freeman’s Farm—Benedict Arnold was able to hold off a British attack, but the result was otherwise inconclusive. Burgoyne’s troops then dug entrenchments, hoping that they would be joined by soldiers from New York City. When this relief failed to materialize, Burgoyne ordered one final attack. In this second battle of Sa -
Battle of Monmoth
The battle nearly ended in disaster for the Continental Army when one general prematurely called a retreat. Washington, however, personally rallied the troops, inspiring them to repel two British counterattacks. -
Capture of Savanah
Frustrated by their failure to bring about victory in the North, the British shifted their efforts in 1778 to the South. Here, it was believed, there were large numbers of Americans who remained loyal to the British Crown—including black slaves, who might be enticed into serving the King in exchange of promises of freedom. -
Start of seige of Charleton
These men were joined by other British regulars and Loyalist forces in the area, so that by February 1780 there were 14,000 British forces in the area. They laid siege to Charleston, which was defended by a force of 5,400 local militiamen. -
End of Seige of Charleton
After three months of heavy bombardment the city surrendered in what may have been the single greatest American defeat in the entire war. -
Battle of Camdon
The fall of Charleston meant that now the entire South was vulnerable, particularly since the British had begun organizing large numbers of loyalists under the command of a British colonel named Banastre Tarleton. -
Battle of Kings mt.
Kings Mountain has the distinction of being the only large-scale engagement of the Revolutionary War in all the participants—with the exception of Ferguson—were themselves Americans. When Cornwallis learned of the defeat—the first real British setback of the southern campaign—he decided to withdraw from Charlotte, postponing his intended invasion of North Carolina. -
Battle of Cowpens
Morgan gathered his forces at a grazing area called the “cow pens,” and Tarleton rashly attacked him there. In a brilliant maneuver by Morgan, the rebels quickly encircled the British force, and of the original 1,100 men under Tarleton’s command all but 160 were killed, wounded, or captured. -
Gilford Court House
On March 15 Cornwallis, now with fewer than 2,000 men, went on the attack just outside the town of Guilford Court House. -
Eutaw Springs Battle
British forces still occupied a number of positions in the region, and during the spring and summer of 1781 General Greene moved to clear these out. This proved to be a difficult task, and in most cases American forces were repulsed. For example, on September 8 Greene advanced upon British positions at Eutaw Springs, not far from Charleston, but after some initial successes the Americans were thrown back with heavy losses. -
Seige of Yorkton starts
lthough General Cornwallis had been the victor at Guilford Court House, he withdrew afterward to Wilmington, North Carolina. While he was there he became convinced that he could not pacify the Carolinas until Virginia was conquered, so with 1,500 men under him he headed north. -
Seige of Yorkton ends
Still hoping for aid from New York, the British general withdrew behind a line of fortifications, but by the middle of October his position was hopeless. On October 17 Cornwallis opened negotiations with Washington, and two days later he surrendered along with his army.