american revolutionary war 1775 1783 · 1 4/9 – american revolutionary war battle timeline...

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4/9–AMERICANREVOLUTIONARYWARBATTLETIMELINEAMERICANREVOLUTIONARYWAR:1775–1783KEYPEOPLE(MILITARY):BRITISHKINGGEORGEOFGREATBRITAIN,reigningmonarchofGreatBritainduringthewarEARLCHARLESCORNWALLIS,BritishgeneralintegralatTheSiegeofYorktownGENERALWILLIAMHOWE,BritishgeneralreplacedbyHenryClintonin1778SIRHENRYCLINTON,SeniorBritishgeneralGENERALJOHNBURGOYNE,Britishgeneralwhosurrenderedhis5,000troopsduring

theSaratogaBattlesAMERICANANDTHEIRALLIESGENERALGEORGEWASHINGTON,commanderoftheContinentalArmyMAJORGENERALBENJAMINLINCOLN,significantgeneraloftheContinentalArmyGENERALCOMTEDEROCHAMBEAU,FrenchgeneralwhofoughtalongtheColonistsLIEUTENANT‐COLONELARCHIBALDCAMPBELL,integraltotheBritishSiegeof

SavannahMAJORGENERALNATHANIELGREENE,American;oneofWashington’smosttrusted

generalswhomheappointedonOctober14th,1780HORATIOGATES,AmericangeneralwhotookcreditforthevictoryatTheBattleof

Saratoga;alsoblamedforthedefeatatTheBattleofCamdenBENEDICTARNOLD,earlyAmericanherointhewarwhofamouslyturnedandaided

theBritishETHANALLEN,AmericanintegralattheBattleofTiconderoga;Founderofthe

RepublicofVermont.Duringthewarheservedascolonel‐commandantoftheGreenMountainBoys,amilitiawhohelpedcapturedFortTiconderogafromtheBritish

PRE‐REVOLUTION/EARLYWARBATTLESANDSKIRMISHES

• 1770:TheBostonMassacre• 1773:TheBostonTeaParty• 1775:TheBattleofLexingtonandConcord• 1775:TheBattleofBunkerHill• 1775:TheBattleofFortTiconderoga• 1775:TheBattleofQuebec(firstmajordefeatofthewarfortheAmericans)

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SIGNIFICANTREVOLUTIONARYWARBATTLES1776• GeneralHowe’sattackonNewYork(BritishVictory)• BattleofTrentonandPrinceton(December26th)

o SignificantAmericanvictoryo GeorgeWashington’sattempttoregainmorale;bythistime,his

armyhadmostlydeserted,dwindlinginnumberfrom28,000tolessthan3,000.Thisbattlere‐assertedthecause.(HereadThomasPainetohistroopsbeforebattle.)

o WashingtondefeatedalargegarrisonofHessianmercenaries Aweeklate,hereturnedtoTrentontolureBritishforces

south,andthenexecutedadaringnightmarchtocapturePrincetononJanuary3rd,1777.

o ThisassertedAmericancontrolandgreatlyimprovedcolonialmorale

• BattleofLongIsland(a.k.a.“TheBattleofBrooklyn”)(August27th)o FirstmajorbattlefollowingtheDeclarationofIndependenceo Britishvictory(244Americancasualties;40Britishcasualties)

• BattleofMoore’sCreekBridge(February27th)o AmericanforcesdefeatedtheBritish,endingBritishauthorityin

NorthCarolinaandprovidinganimportantboosttoPatriotmorale

1777• FortTiconderoga(July6‐7th)

o Britishvictory 7Americancasualties;5Britishcasualties

o TheuncontestedsurrenderofTiconderogacausedchaosinthecolonies,asFortTiconderogawaswidelybelievedtobevirtuallyimpregnable,andavitalpointofdefenseforthecolonies

• Bennington(August16th)o Americanvictory

30Americanskilled;207Britishkilled(Britishsurrender)o ImportantbecauseitreducedBritisharmyconsiderablyandledhis

NativeAmericanfactionstoabandonhimo HelpedtobringFranceintothewar

• TheBattleofSaratoga(September)o ThetwoBattlesofSaratogawereaturningpointintheAmerican

Revolutiono BritishGeneralJohnBurgoyneachievedasmall,butcostlyvictory

overAmericanforcesledbyHoratioGatesandBenedictArnold.

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Thoughhistroopstrengthhadbeenweakened,BurgoyneagainattackedtheAmericansatBemisHeightsonOctober7th,butthistimewasdefeatedandforcedtoretreat

Hesurrenderedtendayslater,andtheAmericanvictoryconvincedtheFrenchgovernmenttoformallyrecognizethecolonist'scauseandenterthewarastheirally

September15th–TheBritishOccupyNewYorkCity

FRANCEENTERSTHEWARONTHESIDEOFTHECOLONISTSIN1778AmericaandFranceSignTheFrenchAllianceonFebruary6th

1778• BritishOccupySavannahonDecember29th• Britishvictoryandoccupation

o 13.500Americancasualties;5,466Britishcasualties FirsttimetheBritishbegintosignificantlyshifttheirfocusto

theSouth

September26th–BritishOccupationofPhiladelphiaunderGeneralHowe

SPAINENTERSTHEWARONTHESIDEOFTHECOLONISTSIN1779SpainformallydeclareswaronGreatBritain(June21,1779)

1779• BattleofKettleCreek(February14th)

o Britishvictoryandoccupation 13.500Americancasualties;5,466Britishcasualties

• CaptureofVincennes(Indiana)bytheBritish• BattleofBrierCreek

o BritishvictoryunderGeneralJohnAshe

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• BattleofStonoRivero SubstantialAmericanvictory

• FairfieldandNorwalk,Connecticut,areburnedbytheBritish(July8/11)• TheTappanMassacre(September28th)

o "NoFlint"Greykills30Americansbybayonet

THEDUTCHREPUBLICJOINSTHECOLONISTSIN1780

1780• BattleofCharleston(March29‐May12th)

o Britishvictoryandoccupation 13.500Americancasualties;5,466Britishcasualties

o FirsttimetheBritishbegintosignificantlyshifttheirfocustotheSouth

o GeneralBenjaminLincolnsurrenderedhis5,000mentotheBritisho Seealso:TheSiegeofSavannah(1779)

• BattleofWaxhawCreek(May19th)o Britishvictory

• BattleofCamden(August16th)o BritishforcesunderGeneralCharlesCornwallisroutedAmerican

troopsunderGeneralHoratioGatesatthisbattleinSouthCarolinao OneoftheContinentalArmy’smostdisastrouslossesofthewar

1781• BattleofCowpens(January17th)

o Americanvictoryo Americantroops,ledbyBrigadierGeneralDanielMorganrouted

BritishforcesunderLieutenantColonelBanastreTarletono MassiveBritishcasualties;aturningpointinthewar

• BattleofCowan’sFord(February1st)o Americanvictory

March2nd–ArticlesofConfederationAdopted

• BattleofYorktownandCapes(October14th)

o ColonialandFrenchtroopslaidsiegetotheBritishArmyatYorktown,Virginia.LedbyGeorgeWashingtonandFrenchGeneralComtedeRochambeau,theybegantheirfinalattackonOctober14th,

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capturingtwoBritishdefensesandleadingthesurrenderattheSiegeofYorkafewdayslater

• TheBattleofGuilfordCourthouse(March15th)o PivotalbattletotheAmericanvictoryo UnderMajorGeneralNathanielGreene,theBritishsuffered

significanttrooplosses,althoughtheydidwinthebattleo Afterthisbattle,Cornwallisabandonedhiscampaignorthe

CarolinasandmovedtoVirginia,wherehesurrenderedinOctober• SiegeofYork(October19th)

o Yorktown,Virginiao BritishGeneralCornwallissurrendered8,000Britishsoldiersand

seamentotheFranco‐Americanforce;thiseffectivelybroughtanendtotheAmericanRevolution

HeandhisarmyweresurroundedbyAmericanandFrenchforcesonlandandsea

o Britishbeganpeacenegotiationshortlyafterthisvictory

—COMBATOFFICIALLYENDSINTHEAMERICANCOLONIES—

1782• LordNorthresignsasBritishPrimeMinister(March20th)• BritishevacuateSavannah,Georgia(July11th)• BritishandAmericanssignpreliminaryArticlesofPeace(November30th)• BritishleaveCharleston,SC(December14th)

1783• Congressratifiespreliminarypeacetreaty(April19th)• TheUnitedStatesandGreatBritainsigntheTreatyofParis(September3rd)• BritishtroopsleaveNewYorkCity(November25th)• WashingtonresignsasCommander(December23rd)