American Wars

By NowlinJBrown

  • The Battles of Lexington and Concord

    The Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', marked the start of the American War of Independence (1775-83). Politically disastrous for the British, it persuaded many Americans to take up arms and support the cause of independence.

  • The Winter at Valley Forge

    "Washington's army camped here from 18 Dec. 1777 until 19 June 1778. The site was along the Schuylkill River, about 20 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. During this time the troops suffered from the harsh winter weather and insufficient supplies of food and clothing."

  • Benedict Arnold turns traitor

    "On September 21, 1780, Revolutionary War hero Benedict Arnold turned his back on his country in a secret meeting with a top British official. So how did Arnold, with his patriot's pedigree, become the most hated man in America"

  • The Battle of Cowpens

    "At the Cowpens, a frontier pastureland, on January 17, 1781, Daniel Morgan led his army of tough Continentals and backwoods militia to a brilliant victory over Banastre Tarleton's battle-hardened force of British regulars. Located in present-day South Carolina north of Spartanburg."

  • The USS Constitution defeats the HMS Guerriere

    "On August 19, 1812, USS Constitution met and defeated HMS Guerriere, a 38-gun British frigate under the command of Captain James Richard Dacres. While relatively inconsequential in strategic terms for the War of 1812, the stunning victory provided a much needed morale boost for the American public."

  • The Battle of Baltimore

    The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought on September 13 1814. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the port city of Baltimore, Maryland.

  • The Battle of New Orleans

    "The Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815, was a remarkable American victory. The British gambled and lost on a forward attack that sent a force of 5,300 against about 4,000 Americans dug into fortified mud and cotton bale earthworks on the east bank of the Mississippi."

  • The Election of Andrew Jackson

    Jackson decisively won the election, carrying 55.5% of the popular vote and 178 electoral votes, to Adams' 83. The election marked the rise of Jacksonian Democracy and the transition from the First Party System to the Second Party System.

  • The Battle of the Alamo – 1836

    Battle of the Alamo, battle during the Texas Revolution that occurred from February 23 to March 6, 1836, in San Antonio, Texas. It ended in a decisive victory for Mexican forces over “Texian” volunteers, who were annihilated.

  • Mexico loses California, New Mexico, and Arizona (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo) – 1848

    This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including the present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming

  • South Carolina secedes from the United States – 1860

    Charleston Mercury on November 3, 1860. South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South

  • Abraham Lincoln Elected President – 1860

    The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860.

  • The First Battle of Bull Run – 1861

    Fairfax County and Prince William County, VA | Jul 21, 1861. Bull Run was the first full-scale battle of the Civil War. The fierce fight there forced both the North and South to face the sobering reality that the war would be long and bloody.

  • The Battle of Gettysburg – 1863

    The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point.

  • The Treaty at Appomattox Courthouse – 1865

    There was no treaty signed to end the Civil War. The surrender at Appomattox Court House was a military surrender of an army which was surrounded. The Confederate government never surrendered and even had it wanted to the United States government would likely not have accepted.

  • U.S.S Main

    USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. In the evening of 15 February 1898, Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded.

  • The Adoption of the Star-Spangled Banner as the National Anthem – 1931

    "The Star-Spangled Banner" was first recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889. On March 3, 1931, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution (46 Stat. 1508) making the song the official national anthem of the United States, which President Herbert Hoover signed into law.

  • The Battle of the Philippines

    Battle of the Philippine Sea, (June 19–20, 1944), naval battle of World War II between the Japanese Combined Fleet and the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Known as “the greatest carrier battle of the war,” it accompanied the U.S. landing on Saipan and ended in a complete U.S. victory.