Early American Wars

  • The Battles of Lexington and Concord

    The Battles of Lexington and Concord
    The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge.
  • The Winter at Valley Forge

    The Winter at Valley Forge
    Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the British capture of the city.
  • Benedict Arnold turns traitor

    Benedict Arnold turns traitor
    Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was an early American hero of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) who later became one of the most infamous traitors in U.S. history after he switched sides and fought for the British.
  • The Battle of Cowpens

    The Battle of Cowpens
    The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Sir Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas.
  • The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere

    The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere
    USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere was an action between the two ships during the War of 1812, approximately 400 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It took place shortly after war had broken out.
  • The Battle of Baltimore

    The Battle of Baltimore
    The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading British forces.
  • The Battle of New Orleans

    The Battle of New Orleans
    The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles southeast of the French Quarter of New Orleans, in the current suburb of Chalmette, Louisiana.
  • The Election of Andrew Jackson

    It was held from Friday, October 31 to Tuesday, December 2, 1828. It featured a re-match of the 1824 election, as President John Quincy Adams of the National Republican Party faced Andrew Jackson of the Democratic Party.
  • The Battle of the Alamo

    The Battle of the Alamo
    The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, killing the Texian and immigrant occupiers.
  • Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona

    Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona
    The war officially ended with the February 2, 1848, signing in Mexico of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
  • Abraham Lincoln Elected President

    Abraham Lincoln Elected President
    The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860. In a four-way contest, the Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged triumphant.
  • South Carolina secedes from the United States

    South Carolina secedes from the United States
    On November 10, 1860 the S.C. When the ordinance was adopted on December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first slave state in the south to declare that it had seceded from the United States. James Buchanan, the United States president, declared the ordinance illegal but did not act to stop it.
  • The First Battle of Bull Run

    The First Battle of Bull Run
    The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War and was a Confederate victory.
  • The Battle of Gettysburg

    The Battle of Gettysburg
    The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point.
  • The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse

    The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse
    The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War.
  • The sinking of the USS Maine

     The sinking of the USS Maine
    Maine was sent to Havana Harbor to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban War of Independence. She exploded and sank on the evening of 15 February 1898, killing three-quarters of her crew. In 1898, a U.S. Navy board of inquiry ruled that the ship had been sunk by an external explosion from a mine.
  • The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem

    The Adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem
    In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating it “the national anthem of the United States.”
  • Battle of the Philippines

    Battle of the Philippines
    The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War.