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The French had secretly sent weapons to the Patriots since early 1776.
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As the British retreat from Boston, they head for the Middle States in an effort to isolate New England, while also seizing New York City in the process.
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The Howe Brothers had joined forces on Staten Island and sailed into the New York Harbor with the largest British expeditionary force ever assebled.
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Washington and his force of 23,000 untrained recruits with poor equipment were no match for the 32,000+ enemies they encountered. An American retreat followed the heavy losses sustained at New York.
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The British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River, into Pennsylvania. With a vast majority of Washington's either killed or captured, fewer than 8,000 men remained under his command, yet their enlistment were due to end and the end of December. Washington desperately needed some kind of victory for his men to keep them from going home.
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In the face of a fierce storm, Washington risks everything as he crosses the Delaware River with a force of 2,400 men.
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The men had marched nine miles to Trenton, catching the enemy by surprise. The Americans had killed 30 of the enemy while taking 918 captive along with six Hessian cannons. Resulting in Patriot victory.
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The Americans had won another victory against 1.200 British stationed at l'rinceton. Encouraged by these victories, Washington marched his army intowinter camp near Morristown, in Northern New Jersey.
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General Howe began his campain to seize the American capital at Philadelphia. As the Continental Congress fled the city, Washington's troops unsuccessfully tried to block the Redcoats at nearby Brandywine Creek. The British captured Philadelphia and General Howe settled in to enjoy the hospitality of the loyalists in the city.
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Mass American troops finally surrounded General Burgoyne and his men at Saratoga, where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates.
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Outside of Philidephia, Valley Forge served as a Continental Army's Camp.
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American troops undergo various training that excell them in European warfare. Friedrich von Steuben is a Prussian Captain that volenteered his services to General Washington to train his men.
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The Saratoga victory bolstered French trust in the American Army, and France now agreed to support the Revolution. The French recognize American independence and signed an alliance with the Americans, and accordin to the terms, France agreed not to make peace with Britain unless Britain also recognized American Independence.
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The British had changed their military strategy after the defeat at Saratoga. They began to shift their operations to the south.
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A British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia.
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A royal governor once again commanded Georgia.
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Lafayette, another military leader offered his services. He joined Washington's staff and lobbied for French reinforcements in France and eventually led a command in Virginia
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General Clinton, who had replaced Howe in New York, along with general Cornwallis sailed south with 8,500 men.
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Cornwallis succeeded in commanding the British forcees in the South and to conquer South and North Carolina.
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The British had captured Charles Town, South Carolina, and marched 5,500 Americans 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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At Cowpens, South Carolina, the British expected the outnumbered Americans to flee; but the Continental Army fought back, and forced the redcoats to surrender.
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Angered by the defeat at Cowpens, Cornwallis attacked Greene at Guilford Court House, North Carolina.
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Greene had weakend the British, but he worried about for the fight for the south, so he wrote a letter to Lafayette asking for help.
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Due to financial problems, the Congress appointed Robert Morris as superintendent of finance. Then he and his associate Haym Salomon begged and borrowed on their own personal credit to provide salaries for the Continental Army
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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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Thanks to the efforts from Morris and Salomon, the troops were finally paid in specie, or gold coin.
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Cornwallis outnumbered more than 2 to 1 surrendered at Yorktown after being exsausted by constant shelling.
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Washington, French generals, and their troops assembled to accept the British surrender.
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The formal British surrender at Yorktown.
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The delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
