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Battles of Lexington and Concord
Spring of 1775, General Gage, the British General, had heard reports about arms and ammunition hidden near Boston in Concord -
Battles at Bunker Hill
British General Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen. Morning of June.17, 1775, Gage
sent out 2,400 British troop. They started marching up Breed’s Hill, colonists held their fire, then started shooting down the at redcoats. Surviving British troops made a second attack, then
a third. The third attack succeeded, but only because the militiamen ran low on ammunition. -
Battle of New York
General William Howe and Admiral
Richard Howe joined forces with the largest British force ever assemble 32,000 soldiers. The Americans called these troops Hessians.
Washington with 23,000 men to New York’s defense, but was out numbered. Most of his troops were untrained recruits with poor equipment. The battle for New York ended in August with an American retreat following heavy losses. Michael Graham, described the withdrawal on August 27, 1776. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington led 2,400
men in small rowboats across the Delaware River. By the next's morning, most of the Hessian's had drunk too much
rum that night. With a surprise attack,Americans killed 30, took 918 captives, and six Hessian cannons. -
Winter at valley forge
The British controlled New York and parts of New England. Washington and Continental Army struggled to stay alive in the cold
at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. -
Fights for Philadelphia
General Howe began his campaign to seize the American capital at
Philadelphia. His troops sailed from New York to the head of Chesapeake Bay, The Continental Congress fled the city
while Washington’s troops unsuccessfully tried to block the redcoats nearby Brandywine Creek. The British captured Philadelphia, and the pleasure-loving
General Howe settled in to enjoy the hospitality of the city’s grateful Loyalists. -
Battle at Saratoga
Burgoyne set out with 4,000 redcoats, 3,000 mercenaries, and 1,000 Mohawk
under his command. Massed American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he
surrendered his battered army to General Gates on October 17, 1777. The surrender
at Saratoga dramatically changed Britain’s war strategy. -
British take South
After their defeat at Saratoga, the British changed their military strategy. In 1778 they shift their operations to the South. Re called colonies in the region, and then slowly fight their way back north. The end of 1778, British took Savannah and Georgia. Cornwallis sailed south with 8,500 men. the British captured Charles Town, South Carolina, and marched 5,500 American soldiers in war. Clinton left for New York, leaving Cornwallis in the South. -
British losses
Washington ordered Nathanael Greene to march south and harass Cornwallis as he retreated. Greene divided his force into two groups, sending 600 soldiers under the command of General Daniel Morgan to South Carolina. When the forces met in January 1781 at Cowpens, South Carolina, the British expected the outnumbered Americans to left but the Continental Army fought back, and forced the redcoats to surrender. -
British surrender at Yorktown
On October 19 Washington, the French
generals, and their troops waiting to accept the British
surrender.
