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The French has secretly been sending weapons to the Patriots since early 1776.
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British retreated from Boston moving the theater of war to the Middle states. British decided to seize New York City.
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In summer of 1776, General William Howe and General Admiral Howe joined forces on Staten Island and sailed into New York Harbor with the largest expeditionary force ever assembled.
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Washington had 23,000 men on New York's defense but was out numbered. Most of his troops were untrained or had very poor equiptment. The battle ended in late August with an American retreat with heavy losses.
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By late fall, Washington's army was pushed by the British across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
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Washington risked everything on Christmas night, 1776. While facing a fierce storm, he lef 2,400 men in small rowboats across the Delaware River.
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By morning, the men had marched nine miles through the snow. Americans killed 30 of the enemy, the Hessians, and took 916 captives and took six of their cannons.
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Washington's commands and the terms of their enlistment were due to end on December 31st. He was desperate for some kind of victory for his men to keep them from going home.
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Americans received another amazing victory eight days later against 1,200 British stationed at Princeton.
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General Howe bagan his campaign to seize the American capital at Philadelphia. His troops sailed from New York to Chesapeake Bay and landed near capital in August. British captured Philadelphia.
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One of Howe's British general's, General John Burgoyne had a plan. He wanted to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany. Burgoyne had 4,000 redcoats, 3,000 mercenaries, and 1,000 Mohawks under his command. He surrendered his army to General Gates on October 17, 2012. This changed Britain's war strategy. They kept more trops along the coast with bigger guns and amunition.
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Valley Forge became the head site of the Continental Army's camp in Winter 1777 till 1778.
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A Prussian captain and talented drillmaster, Friedrich von Steuben remade regular soldiers into country bumpkins.
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French saw American independence and signed alliance to make peace with Britain unless Britian also recognized American independence.
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In the summer of 1778, British shifted their operations South. They hoped to rally Loyalist support, reclaim their former colonies, and then slowly fight their way back North.
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At the end of 1778, British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia.
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By Spring, 1779, a royal governor commanded Georgia.
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Military leader Marquis de Lafayette joined Washington's staff. He lobbied for France's reinforcement's in 1779 and led a command for Virginia in the last years of war.
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General Charles Cornwallis replaced Howe. He sailed south with 8,500 men.
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In 1780, a French army landed in Newport, Rhode Island.
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The British captured Charles Town, South Carolina in May, 1780 and marched 5,500 American soldiers off as prisoners of war, Clinton then left New York leaving Cornwallis to command the British forces in the South to conquer South and North Carolina.
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In August, Cornwallis' army smashed American forces at Camden, South Carolina and in three months Britain established forts across the states. Patriot bands attacked his forces in North Carolina and cut British comunnication lines.
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In January 1781, in Cowpens, South Carolina, General Daniel Morgan led the British through a grueling chase through the countryside. The Continental Army fought back and forced the redcoats to surrender.
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Congress appointed a rich Philadelphia merchant named Robert Morris as superintendent of finance.
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Two months later, Cornwallis attacked Nathanael Greene's army at Guilford Corut House, North Carolina. Cornwallis won the battle.
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Nathanael Greene weakened the British but worried about the fight for the South. On April 3, 1781 he wrote a letter to Lafayette asking for help.
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Due to the efforts of Robert Morris and his associate, Haym Solomon, on September 8, 1781 the troops were paid in specie or gold coin.
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On October 17, 1781, Cornwallis raised the white flag of surrender.
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Colonel William Fontaine of Virginia militia waited along a road near Yorktown to witness British's surrender. After this the American Revolution, won by the Americans, had finally ended.
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On October 19, Washington and the French generals assembled to accept the British surrender.
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In September 1783, the delagates signed the Treaty of Paris. This confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
