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Secret Weapons
Since early 1776 the French had helped the Patriots by giving them weapons to defeat England. -
British Retreat
The British retreated from Boston moving the war to the Middle states. The British seized New York City. -
The Howe brothers
William and Richard Howe joined forces on Staten Island and sailed into New York harbor during the summer. -
Battle for New York
The war for New York ended in late August with an American retreat following heavy losses. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington risked everything on one Christmas night. In the face of a fierce storm he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-chocked Delaware River. -
Trenton, New Jersey
By 8 o'clock the next morning the men had marched 9 miles through sleet and snow to the objective Trenton. by a garrison of Hessians. -
Wahingston's Army
The British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennylvania. Washington's command and terms of their enlistment were due on Dec. 31. -
Princeton
8 days after Christmas the Americans were rallied by another astonishing victory against 1,200 British stationed at Princeton. -
Fight for Philadelphia
General Howe began his campaign to seize the American capital at Philadelphia. His troops railed from New York to the head of the Chesapeak Bay. The Continental Congress fled the city while Washington tried to block the redcoats at nearby Brandywine Creek. -
Victory at Saratoga
American troops surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates. The surrender at Saratoga dramatically changed Britain's war strategy. The British fled. -
Winter at Valley Forge
It would take months for the French aid to arrive. In the meantime, the British controlled New York and parts of New England. While the British troops relaxed in Pennsylvania, Washington and his meager continental army struggled to stay alive at a winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. -
Friedrich von Steuben
Friedrich a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster, volunteered his services to General Washington and went to work. Her taught the colonial soldiers to stand at attention, execute field manuvers, fire and reload quickly, and weild bayonets. With the help of such European leaders, the raw Continental Army was becoming and effective fighting force. -
The British Move South
British changed their military strategy they began to shift their operations to the South. There, the British hoped to rally Loyalist support, reclaim their former colonies in the region, and then slwly fight their way back north. -
British Success in the South
A British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia, -
Lafayette
A brave 2o year old French aristocrat affered his assistance to join Washington's staff and bore the misery at Valley Forge. -
Command for Georgia
A royal governor once again commanded Georgia his name was General Henry Clinton. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
A French army of 6,000 had landed on Newport, Rode Island, after the British left the city to focus on the South. A French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, -
French Army
In 1780 a French army landed in Newport, Rhose Island -
Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis sailed south with 8,500 men. In their greatest victory of the war, the British capturesd Charles Town, South Carolina ans in May marched 5,500 American soldiers off as prisoners of war. Clinton then left for New York, leaving Cornwallis to command the British forces in the South and to conquer South and North Carolina -
Cornwallis's army
Cornallis's army smashed American forces at Camden, South Carolina. -
3 months after...
Within three months the British had established forts across the state. However, when Cornwallis and his forces advanced into North Carolina, Patriot bands attacked them and cut British communication lines. The continous harassment forced the redcoats to retreat to South Carolina. -
British Losses
Morgan and his men led the British on a grueling chase through rough countryside. When the forces finally met at Cowpens, South Carolina, the British expected the outnumbered Americans to flee; but the Continental Army fought back, and forced the redcoats to surrender. -
Inflation
The Congress ran out of hard currency of gold and silver. As the congress printed more and more money its value plunged, causing rising prices. -
Angered Cornwallis
Cornwallis attacked Greene two months later at Guilford Court House, North Carolina. Cornwallis won the battle, but the victory cost him nearly a fourth of his troops 93 were killed, over 400 were wounded, and 26 were missing. -
Greene's letter
Greene had weakened the British, but worried about the fight for the South. He wrote a letter to Lafayette, asking for help. -
Real gold coin
Robert Morris and Haym Salomon raised funds from many sources, including Philadelphia's Quakers and Jews. Due to their efforts troops were finally paid in specie, or gold coin. -
Victory at Yorktown
Lafayette's troops outnumbered by more than two to one and exhausted from constant shelling. Cornwallis finally raised the white flag of surrender. -
Yorktown
Colonel William Fontaine of the Virginia militia stood with the American and French armies lining a road near Yorktown, Virginia, on the afternoon, to witness the formal British surrender. The American Revolution had finally ended, and the Americans had won. -
British Surrender
A Triumphant Washington, the French generals, and their troops assembled to accept the British surrender. General Charles O'Hara represented Cornwallis to had over his sword. -
Seeking Peace
In Paris representatives of four nations the United States, Great Britain, France, and Spain joined the negotiations, with each nation looking out for its own interest. Britain hped to avoid giving America full independence. While France and Spain worried or had their own seperate interests. -
Treaty of Paris
The delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confrimed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada tot the Florida border.