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American Revolution Battles
American Revolution Battles -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the American Revolutionary War. Tension had built up for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities. Hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and others sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and the British retreated -
The Siege of Fort Ticonderoga
Located on Lake Champlain in northeastern New York, Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, Benedict Arnold of Massachusetts joined Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in a dawn attack on the fort, surprising and capturing the sleeping British garrison. Although it was a small-scale conflict, the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles. -
The Battle of Chelsea Creek
This battle was fought on May 27 and 28, 1775, on Chelsea Creek and on the islands of Boston Harbor. The American colonists met their goal of strengthening the siege of Boston by removing livestock and hay on those islands from the reach of the British regulars. The British armed schooner Diana was also destroyed and its weaponry was appropriated by the Colonial side. This was the first naval capture of the war, and it was a significant boost to the morale of the Colonial forces. -
The Battle of Bunker (Breeds) Hill
On June 17, 1775, early in the Revolutionary War (1775-83),the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. Although commonly referred to as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting occurred on nearby Breed’s Hill. -
The Battle of Quebec
On December 31, 1775, during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) and General Richard Montgomery (1738-75) attempted to capture the British-occupied city of Quebec and with it win support for the American cause in Canada. The attack failed, and the effort cost Montgomery his life. The Battle of Quebec was the first major defeat of the Revolutionary War for the Americans. -
The Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn Heights)
On August 27, 1776 the British Army successfully moved against the American Continental Army led by George Washington. The battle was part of a British campaign to seize control of New York and thereby isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. Washington’s defeat could have led to the surrender of his entire force, but his ingenuity instead allowed him to escape and continue the fight. -
The Battle of White Plains
After the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward from NYC,British General William Howe landed troops in Westchester County, intending to cut off Washington's escape route. Alerted to this move, Washington retreated farther, establishing a position in the village of White Plains but failed to gain firm control over local high ground. Howe's men drove Washington's troops from a hill near the village; following this loss, Washington ordered the Americans to retreat farther north. -
The Battle of Fort Washington
The Battle of Fort Washington was a battle fought in New York on November 16, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of Fort Washington near the north end of Manhattan Island. It was one of the worst Patriot defeats of the war. -
The Battle of Trenton
General George Washington’s army crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 and, over the course of the next 10 days, won two crucial battles of the American Revolution. In the Battle of Trenton (December 26), Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. -
The Battle of Princeton
One week after The Battle of Trenton general George Washington returned to Trenton to lure British forces south, then executed a daring night march to capture Princeton on January 3. The victories reasserted American control of much of New Jersey and greatly improved the morale and unity of the colonial army and militias. -
The Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign. An American party trying to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix was ambushed by a party of Loyalists and allies of several American Indian tribes, primarily Iroquois. This was one of the few battles in the war in which almost all of the participants were American; Patriots and allied Oneida fought against Loyalists and allied Indians in the absence of British regular soldiers. -
The Battle of Bennington
Turning point of the American Revolution. Vermont's unique holiday on August 16th is in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Bennington. Here Brigadier General John Stark and his American forces successfully defeated two detachments of British General John Burgoyne's invading army in 1777. -
The Battle of Brandywine
General Sir William Howe and General Charles Cornwallis launched a full-scale British attack on General George Washington and the Patriot outpost at Brandywine Creek. Howe and Cornwallis split their 18,000 British troops into two separate divisions, with Howe leading an attack from the front and Cornwallis circling around and attacking from the right flank.The British troops were covered by a dense fog, so Washington was unaware the British had split into two divisions, and was forced to retreat -
The Battle of Saratoga Freemans Farm
The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a large invasion army southward from Canada in the Champlain Valley, hoping to meet a similar British force marching northward from New York City and another eastward from Lake Ontario; the southern and western forces never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. -
The Battle of Germantown
British forces in Pennsylvania defeated the American Continental Army under General George Washington. After capturing Philadelphia, British General William Howe camped a large contingent of his troops at nearby Germantown. Washington launched a surprise attack on the poorly defended British camp, but his army failed to pull off his complex battle plan. The British drove away the Americans leading to their defeat. This led some prominent Americans to question Washington’s leadership. -
The Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights)
British troops commanded by General John Burgoyne were advancing south from Canada towards New York along the water route of Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson River. On October 7, Burgoyne’s second attack after the Battle of Freemen's Farm met with a fierce American resistance, spearheaded by Major General Benedict Arnold, in the wooded area of Bemis Heights south of Saratoga. This American victory proved to be a major turning point in the Revolutionary War. -
The Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth took place on Sunday, June 28, 1778 at Monmouth, New Jersey. The British, Sir Henry Clinton, the new British commander, retreated from Philadelphia to New York. As Sir Henry Clinton led the British army across the Jerseys, George Washington decided to attack. -
The Capture of Savannah
British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell and his troops launched a surprise attack on American Major General Robert Howe and his army. Significantly outnumbered, Campbell also outflanked the Continental forces by locating a path through the swamp to the right of the American position. Howe ordered the city to be evacuated and the army to withdraw from combat. During the process, the Georgia Brigade took heavy losses when it was cut off from Howe’s other forces. -
The Siege of Charleston
The Siege of Charleston was a major engagement fought between March 29 to May 12, 1780. The British, following the collapse of their northern strategy in late 1777 and their withdrawal from Philadelphia in 1778, shifted their focus to the American Southern Colonies. After approximately six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British, resulting in one of the worst American defeats of the war. -
The Battle of Camden
The Battle of Camden in SC was a victory for the British during the American Revolutionary War. Despite the proliferation of dysentery among his men, Continental General Horatio Gates chose to engage British General Charles Cornwallis’s force.The British pressed forward aggressively as the sole side in possession of bayonets. Resulting in nearly 2,000 Patriots killed or taken prisoner and heavy losses of artillery, Gates was removed from command and replaced by Nathanael Greene. -
The Battle of King's Mountain
Major Ferguson’s Tory force, made up mostly of loyalists from South Carolina and elsewhere, was the western wing of General Lord Cornwallis’ NC invasion force. 1000 American frontiersmen under Colonel Campbell of Virginia gathered in the backcountry to resist Ferguson’s advance. Ferguson positioned his Tory force in defense of a rocky, treeless ridge named King’s Mountain. The Patriots charged the hillside multiple times, leading to a suicidal charge down the mountain. -
Battle of Cowpens
At the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina on January 17, 1781, during the Revolutionary War (1775-83), American troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan (1736-1802) routed British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833). The Americans inflicted heavy casualties on the British, and the battle was a turning point in the war’s Southern campaign. -
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina, on March 15, 1781, proved pivotal to the American victory in the American Revolutionary War. Although British troops under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis scored a tactical victory at Guilford Courthouse over American forces under Major General Nathanael Greene, the British suffered significant troop losses during the battle. -
The Battle of Eutaw Springs
Battle of Eutaw Springs was fought near Charleston, South Carolina, between British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stewart and American forces commanded by General Nathanael Greene. Greene wished to prevent Stewart from joining General Lord Cornwallis in the event of that leader’s retreat south from Yorktown. About 2,000 American troops, many ill-clad and barefoot, were slightly outnumbered. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Americans and their French allies decided to besiege Cornwallis at Yorktown. The Siege of Yorktown took place between September and October, 1781. Rochambeau led his men to New York and joined the main American army. ... The British army was decimated and the Revolutionary war was virtually over.
