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Battles of Lexington and Concord
The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. -
Seige of Fort Ticonderoga
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. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
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. -
Battle of Quebec
Patriot forces under Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery 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. -
Battle of Long Island
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. -
Battle of Trenton
General George Washington's army crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas Day 1776. In the Battle of Trenton, on December 26, Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. The victory reasserted American control of much of New Jersey and greatly improved the morale and unity of the colonial army and militias. -
Battle of Brandywine
General Sir William Howe and General Charles Cornwallis launch a full-scale British attack on General George Washington and the Patriot outpost at Brandywine Creek. Washington ordered his men to abandon their posts and retreat. Defeated, the Continental Army marched north and camped at Germantown, Pennsylvania. The battle at Brandywine cost the Americans more than 1,100 men killed or captured while the British lost approximately 600 men killed or injured. -
Battle of Saratoga (Freeman's Farm)
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. They clashed with a larger force of American soldiers led by General Horatio Gates at Freeman's Farm on September 19 in the First Battle of Saratoga, but withdrew after failing to penetrate the American line. -
Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights)
Burgoyne's second attack met with a fierce American resistance, spearheaded by Major General Benedict Arnold, in the wooded area of Bemis Heights south of Saratoga. Known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, or the Second Battle of Saratoga, this American victory proved to be a major turning point in the Revolutionary War. -
Seige of Charleston
After a siege that began on April 2, 1780, Americans suffer their worst defeat of the revolution on this day in 1780, with the unconditional surrender of Major General Benjamin Lincoln to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 at Charleston, South Carolina. -
Battle of Cowpens
American troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan routed British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. The Americans inflicted heavy casualties on the British, and the battle was a turning point in the war’s Southern campaign. -
Battle of Guilford Courthouse
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina 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. -
Battle of Yorktown
General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. The Patriot victory at Yorktown ended fighting in the American colonies. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation.
