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Still bitter from their defeat by the British in the French and
Indian War, the French had secretly sent weapons to the Patriots -
The British had previously retreated from Boston, Moving the theater of war to the Middle states.
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General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe, joined forces on Staten Island and sailed into New York harbor
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Michael Graham, a Continental Army volunteer, described the
chaotic withdrawal -
the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware
River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington resolved to risk everything on one bold
stroke set for Christmas night -
By 8 o’clock the next morning, the men had marched nine miles through sleet and snow to Trenton, New Jersey, held by a garrison of Hessians
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The Americans were rallied by another astonishing victory eight days later against 1,200 British stationed at Princeton
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As the muddy fields dried out in the spring, General Howe began his campaign to seize the American capital at Philadelphia
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Massed American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates
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Served as the site of the Continental Army's camp
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The French recognized American independence and signed an alliance, or treaty of cooperation, with the Americans
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In the midst of the frozen winter at Valley Forge, American troops began an amazing transformation
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After their devastating defeat at Saratoga, the British changed their military strategy and began to shift their operations to the South
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A British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia
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The young Lafayette joined Washington’s staff and bore the misery of Valley Forge, lobbied for French reinforcements, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war.
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A royal governor once again commanded Georgia
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General Henry Clinton, who had replaced Howe in New York, along with the ambitious general Charles Cornwallis sailed south with 8,500 men
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In their greatest victory of the war, the British captured Charles Town, South Carolina, and marched 5,500 American soldiers off as prisoners of war
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A French army of 6,000 had landed in Newport, Rhode Island, after the British left the city to focus on the South
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Cornwallis’s army smashed American forces at Camden, South Carolina, and within three months the British had established forts across the state
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When the forces 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 -
Angered by the defeat at Cowpens, Cornwallis attacked Greene at Guilford Court House, North Carolina
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Greene wrote a letter to Lafayette, asking for help.
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The Congress appointed a rich Philadelphia merchant named Robert Morris as superintendent of finance
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The troops were finally paid in specie, or gold coin
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With his troops outnumbered by more than two to one and
exhausted from constant shelling, Cornwallis finally raised
the white flag of surrender -
Colonel William Fontaine of the Virginia militia stood with the American and French armies lining a road near Yorktown, Virginia, to witness the formal British surrender
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Peace talks began and representatives of four
nations the United States, Great Britain, France, and Spain joined the negotiations, with each nation looking out for its own interests -
The delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation
