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Period: to
American Revolution
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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord was about to battles that happened in one day. One of those battles was in Lexington and the other was in Concord. In Concord the patriots won, then in Lexington the redcoats won because the patriots ran out of gunpowder, but still made a big impact. General washington was in control of the patriots and General Gage was in control of the redcoats. Today we think of this battle as the shot heard round the wolrd -
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
The capture of Fort Ticoneroga will give Americans the first victory and will help with artillery for future battles.Benedict Arnold joined Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in a dawn attack on the fort, surprising and capturing the sleeping British troops. -
Second Continental Congress meets
Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting attended at the second. New arrivals included Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock.Within two weeks, Randolph went back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses. He was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson. Henry Middleton was elected as president to replace Randolph, but he declined, and so Hancock was elected president on May 24. -
George Washington named commander and chief
On June 15, 1775 George Washington would except to be commander and chief of the Continental Army. Washington had been managing his family's plantation and serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses when the second Continental Congress voted to have him lead the Continental Army. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
At the Battle of Bunker Hill the British beat the americans. Even though the americans lost it really gave them a huge confidence boost. It was suprisingly called Battle of Bunker Hill when it was mostly fought at Breed's Hill. -
American defeat at quebec
Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnoldand General Richard Montgomery attempted to capture the British-occupied city of Quebec and with it win support for the American cause in Canada. The attack failed, and Montgomery was killed in it. The Battle of Quebec was the first major defeat of the Revolutionary War for the Americans. -
British evacuate Boston
Washington secretly led a force of 800 soldiers and 1,200 workers to Dorchester Heights and began fortifying the area.British forces are forced to evacuate Boston following General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights. -
Declaration of Independence issued
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations by finding their independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to conclude an official alliance with France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain. -
Battle of Long Island
The British Army successfully moved against the American Continental Army. The battle was part of a British campaign to seize control of New York and to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. Washington's defeat could have led to the surrender of his entire force, but because of his wit and brains they instead allowed him to escape and continue the fight. -
Battle of Trenton
General George Washington's army crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 and, over the course of the next 10 days, won two crucial battles of the American Revolution. In the Battle of Trenton ,Washington defeated a formidable garrison of hessian mercenaries. The victories reasserted American control of much of New Jersey and greatly improved the morale and unity of the colonial army and militias. -
Bsttle of Brandywine
General Sir William Howe and General Charles Cornwallis launch a British attack on General George Washington and the Patriot outpost at Brandywine Creek near Chadds Ford, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The one-day battle at Brandywine cost the Americans more than 1,100 men killed or captured while the British lost approximately 600 men killed or injured. To make matters worse, the Patriots were also forced to abandon most of their cannon to the british. -
British occupy Phillidelphia
Things were in turmoil until the forts held by the Patriots were taken by the British and a steady supply of food and equipment flowed into the city. They were ready to fully settle in for a warm, cozy, and party-filled winter.When the French Alliance was announced, the occupying British feared an attack from the French armada and quickly abandoned the city, leaving the loyalists unprotected and frightened. -
Battle of Saratoga
Fought eighteen days apart in the fall of 1777, the two Battles of Saratoga were a turning point in the American Revolution. On September 19th, British General John Burgoyne achieved a small, but costly victory over American forces led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. Burgoyne again attacked the Americans at Bemis Heights on October 7th, but this time was defeated and forced to retreat. He surrendered ten days later, and the American victory conviced the French to become an ally. -
Articles of Confederation adopted
After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agrees to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on this day in 1777. Not until March 1, 1781, would the last of the 13 states, ratify the agreement. -
Winter at Valley Forge
With the onset of the bitter winter cold, the Continental Army under still in the field, enters it's winter camp at Valley Forge, 22 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Washington chose a site on the west bank of the Schuylkill River that could be effectively defended in the event of a British attack. That Winter was very harsh on all of the American Patriots. -
Alliance with France
During the Revolutionary War representatives from the United States and France signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the United States as an independent nation and encouraged trade between France and America, while the Treaty of Alliance provided a military alliance against Great Britain -
Battle of Monmouth Court House
Having evacuated Philadelphia, the British were marching through New Jersey to Sandy Hook. After a 40-hour halt at Monmouth Court House, the army moved out, leaving a small covering force.Washington was surprised and indignant to find his Continental forces retreating in much disorder. He immediately rallied the troops and checked the British advances. Cornwallis fell back and withdrew undetected at night, joining the main British army on safe ground. Washington did not follow. -
Fall of Savannah
British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell and his force of between 2500 and 3600 troops, which included the 71st Highland regiment, New York Loyalists, and Hessian mercenaries, launch a surprise attack on American forces defending Savannah, Georgia. Savannah remained in British control until the Redcoats left of their own accord on July 11, 1782. French and American forces held Savannah under siege from September 23 to October 18, 1779, but failed to reclaim the city. -
Spain enters the war
Spain declares war on Great Britain, and creates an alliance with the Americans. Spain's King Charles III would not consent to a treaty of alliance with the United States. For one imperial power to encourage another imperial power's colonies in revolt was a treacherous game, and he was unwilling to play. -
Siege of Charleston
After a siege that began on April 2, 1780, Americans suffer their worst defeat of the revolution on this day in 1780, with the unconditional surrender of Major General Benjamin Lincoln to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 men at Charleston, South Carolina. With the victory, the British captured more than 3,000 Patriots and a great amount of amunitions and equipment, losing only 250 killed and wounded in the process. -
Benedict Arnold's treason discovered
During the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word "traitor." -
French and British battle in Chesapeake Bay
The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the Revolutionary War of Independence that took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on September 5 1781, between a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse. -
Siege of Yorktown
General Lord Cornwallis, moved his army from Wilmington, North Carolina, eastward to Petersburg, Virginia, on the Atlantic coast. Cornwallis had about 7,500 men and was confronted in the region by only about 4,500 American troops. In order to maintain his seaborne lines of communication with the main British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City, Cornwallis then retreated through Virginia, and all the way to Yorktown.Washington’s 2,500 Continental troops in New York were joined by 4,000 -
Cornwallis Surrenders
On this day in 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis formally surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a French and American force at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing the American Revolution to a close.
