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Battles of Lexington and Concord
Thomas Gage took 700 troops to advance to Concord but heard there was a weapons cache in Lexington. Gage planned a surprise attack, but Paul Revere and William Dawes made their midnight ride and this gave the 70 minutemen time to set up in Lexington. They then retreated to Concord where 400 militia men were set up on a hill across from the North Bridge. Even though the militia lost the battle it showed they could hold their own with the British. -
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen gathered 200 troops just a few miles outside of the fort. Allen and Arnold decided to take them by surprise and crammed all the troops into two boats and landed unnoticed with the help of a storm that hid their movements. They took the sleeping soldiers by surprise and the only shot fired was a misfire from a British sentry. Inside the fort were many guns that the colonists dragged out of the fort and used to support General Washington. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
General Gage of the British realized that the British were vulnerable and they needed to take Bunker/Bred's Hill. The plans were no secret so the colonials decided they would get to the hills and fortify it. The Briritsh decided to make a frontal assault instead of trying to flank the colonists on Breed's hill. The frontal assault failed and the British suffered many losses. General Howe led his assault until the colonials were mostly out of ammo and retreated to Bunker Hill. -
Battle of Saratoga
After Major General Burgoyne's attempt to invade Canada he began to march back to Albany, but his army of 50,000 started to deplete because of disease and malnutrition. Major General Gates of the American forces were waiting on high ground above the Hudson waiting for Burgoyne. Burgoyne sent some of his men to Freeman's Farm in a clearing. The colonists slowly picked the British off and both sides received reinforcements but Burgoyne was eventually defeated by GAtes and Arnold. -
Battles of Trenton and Princeton
Battle of Trenton: General Washington crossed the Delaware River with 2,300 men and divided them into two columns and had them attack the outpost defended by General Howe. After taking the outpost Lord Cornwallis took nearly 5,000 men to the outpost to try and gain it back. Colonel Mahwood was coming to support Cornwallis when he detected colonial troops heading to Princeton. The colonists pushed back to Trenton where General Washington helped drive out the British again. -
Siege of Charleston
Clinton and Arbuthnot moved up the coast and occupied James Island across from Charleston. Maj. Gen. Lincoln of the American forces had a mile and a half line of defense with 3,600 men. The British had 6 war ships in the harbor and made a siege line 800 yards from the American defenders. Lincoln tried to surrender but the British refused and pressed on and eventually accepted their surrender. -
King's Mountain
Ferguson of the loyalists brought his men to the ridge of King's Mountain where he would sit and wait for the colonial troops. Using the abundance of trees for cover the colonial troops were well up the slopes before the Loyalists began to open fire. Ferguson sent men for a bayonet charge down the hill, but Shelby leading the colonists on that side hid in the trees and fired on the men rushing down. In no time the colonists climbed to the top and killed Ferguson for a successful victory. -
Battle of Yorktown
Cornwallis of the British moved his entire force to the village of Yorktown. Washington had surrounded Yorktown with a siege army of nearly sixteen thousand men and with the help of the French who had a naval force that would prevent the British navy getting to the port. Of the days of the war the Franco-American forces shelled Yorktown. Cornwallis tried to escape with his men in the night by crossing the Gloucester, but was prevented by a storm. The next day Cornwallis surrendered.
