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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British, led by Gage, marched to Concord to capture weapons, ammunition, and Hancock and Sam Adams. In the Lexington that e minutemen stopped them but then dispersed. The British arrived at Concord but Hancock and Adams had fled becaus Revere, Dawes, and Prescott warned them. The militiamen forced the British to retreat to back Boston, when they killed many redcoats. This was the first time that Americans had killed British soldiers in a battle, and this greatly the escalated the conflict. -
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Fort Ticonderoga
The militiamen, called the Green Mountain boys, were led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold to take Fort Ticonderoga back with little conflict. This was significant because this was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and it provided he Americans with many weapons. -
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Battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill
The British attacked the colonists in Boston to take away their cannons. It was the first all-out battle Revolutionary War. Although the British forced the colonists to retreat, the colonists killed about 1,000 redcoats in an hour compared to 400 colonists killed. -
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Trenton/Princeton (NJ Campaign)
A long campaign to take control of New Jersey in which the patriots were led by George Washington and the British by Sir William Howe. The British mostly won, but Washington led a morale-boosting attack across the Delaware River. New York, an important city, fell to the British. -
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Saratoga (Bemis Heights)
The Continental Army and Militiamen forced the surrender of about 5,700 British soldiers led by Burgoyne. This showed that the patriots could defeat large regiments of the British Army, and that it would be long and expensive war if the British wanted to win. -
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Siege of Charleston
The Americans suffered the worst loss of the war up to that point. Benjamin Lincoln surrendered to a Henry Clinton and the Brisih laid siege to Charleston and started a mini civil war between loyalists and patriots. -
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King's Mountain
Pivotal moment in the war especially for the southern campaign. The surprising patriot victory and death of Patrick Ferguson boosted the patriot's morale. Cornwallis also had to abandon his plan to attack North Carolina and fled to South Carolina. -
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Yorkton
The Americans and French surrounded the British and forced Cornwallis to surrender. After this final big battle, peace negotiatons began and eventually, the American colonies had won freedom and independence from Britain.