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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The battle of Lexington and Concord was a big victory for the Continental Army. No one knows who fired first, but the first shot was known as the shot heard "round the world". This battle marked that the fight for independence had begun. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Following the battle of Lexington and Concord, many more volunteers joined the colonial militia. On June 17, 1775 the British charged, bayonets drawn and ready to fight. Low on ammunition the Continental Army was told strictly not to fire until they saw the whites of the British eyes, but sadly they still ran out of ammunition. This lead to a British victory. -
Battle of Long Island
As the Battle of Long Island there were only 20,000 solders made up of the Patriot force under George Washington, but they were still determined to fight. The two sides clashed in late August 1776. Due to the British badly outnumbering the Continental Army the British badly defeated them. -
Battle of Trenton
The patriots were struggling through the winter, and the main British force was settled in New York. They did leave some troops in Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey. Washington saw this as a great opportunity to sneak up on the British. So on Christmas night 1776, Washington lead 2,400 troops across the icy river to surprise the British the next day. Washington then escaped and went to Princeton, where his army then attacked the British. -
Battle of Saratoga
Burgoyne (British) lost 1,000 men in the two battles, leaving him outnumbered. American losses came to about 500 killed and wounded. Burgoyne had also lost several of his most effective leaders, and his attempts to capture the American position had failed. During the first week of October 1777, Gate's American army was positioned between Burgoyne's army and Albany. On October 7, Burgoyne took the offensive. The troops crashed together south of the town of Saratoga. -
Battle of Monmouth
British army moved out, leaving a small force behind. In order to strike a big at the British, George Washington ordered Lee, commanding the advance guard, to attack the British's rear. When Lee tried to surround the tiny force at the courthouse, he was surprised by a British troop, which British leader had ordered back to stop the attackers. Rather than risking fighting a delaying action on difficult positions, Lee ordered to retreat, Continental forces retreating in craziness. -
Battle of Cowpens
The Americans suffered less than 100 casualties in the first Patriot victory to demonstrate that they could outfight a similar British force without any other factors, such as surprise or geography, to assist them. -
Battle of Yorktown
Combined American force of Colonial and French troops to the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia. Led by George Washington and a French General, they began their final attack on October 14th, capturing two British defenses and leading to the surrender, just days later, of British General Lord Corwallis and nearly 9,000 troops. Yorktown proved to be the final battle of the American Revolution, and the British began peace negotiations shortly after the American victory.
