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The Battle of Lexington and Concord
About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. This was made up of two battles -
War Broke out between the Colonies and Great Britian
Major General Gage was the Commander-in-Chief in Boston. He has 11 battalions of foot in Boston, 1 in New York and 6 others spread through North America. There were 7,000 men in all. -
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Events during the Revolutionary War
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The Second Continental Congress met on May 10th 1776 in the State House in Philadelphia Pensylvania
The drafting of the U.S. Delclaration of Independence. Took place in the wake of the Seven Years War between Great Britian and France which left Britain deep in dept. -
May 15th 1776 the members of the Continental Congress decided to officially put the colonies in a state of defense
The Second Continental Congress was the only official government of the newly proclaimed United States. -
July 4th 1776 Benjamin Franklin helped write the Declaration of Independence
After finalizing the text on July 4th, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially puplised as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. -
July 8th 1776 The Liberty Bell rang out to call the people of Phildelphia together for the reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylavania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people all over the world. -
July 9th 1776 George Washington gave an order for the Declaration of Independece to be read to his army in New York.
The night the Declaration of Independence was read to George Washingtons troops the Americans destroyed the bronze statue of Great Britain's King George III which stood at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green. -
September 22nd 1776 Nathan Hale was hanged.
Nathan Hale was a lieutenant in the Continental Army. In his early twenties he worked as a schoolteacher before the revolution. In late September 1776 he volunteered to cross the British lines to travel to Long Island in order to gather intelligence. His mission was discovered and he was captured by the British. Was Hanged because he was a young spy. -
November 16th 1776 The Hessians captue Fort Washington in New York.
Lieutenant General Wilhelm Von Kynphausen and a force of 3,000 Hessian mercenaries and 5,000 Redcoats lay siege to Fort Washington at the northern end and highest point of Manhattan Island. Nearly 3,000 Patriots were taken prisoner, and valuable ammunition and supplies were lost to the Hessians. -
August 6th 1777 The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back at Oriskany, New York, but then have to evacuate.
The Battle of Oriskany, as a part of the British was plan of 1777, Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger led his army eastward across the Mohawk Valley towards Albany. Both sides suffered heavy losses at this battle. -
August 16th American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle of Bennington, VT, actually fought in Walloomsac, New York several miles to the west.
Between the raiding party and the colonialist militiamen General John Burgoyne was the commander of the British Army and he needed supplies. He sent a regimant of 800 soldiers, including British, German Hessians, to capture Bennington and bring back the supplies for the British Army. -
September 19 1777 Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's Farm New York.
This is part of the Battles of Saratoga. Major General Burgoyne with 6,000 men left Montreal Quebec in Canada in June 1777. When they went through Northern New York, they stopped at Fort Ticonderoga and took that fort over from the Americans. -
October 7th Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, New York
Major General Burgoyne's men had no choice but to retreat to Saratoga. They had suffered 600 losses compared to the Patriot loss of only 150 men. On October 17, 1777, Majoy General Burgoyne with less than 5,000 men surrendered to a Patriot Army of 20,000 men. -
October 17th Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga New York
The Battles of Saratoga were a major turning point in the was. The British goal of taking control of the North died and they were forced to give up hope of ever regaining full authority over the northern Colonies. The French decided then to join the Patriots in the was against the British and they were part of the victory at Yorktown, where General Cornwallis' troops also surrendered. -
June 18th 1778 British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York.
15,000 British Troops under General Sir Henry Clinton evacuate Philadelphia, the former U.S. capital. On June 24th, the Continental Congress returned to the city from its temporary quarters at York, Pennsylavania. -
November 25th 1783 The British leave New York.
Nearly three months after the Treaty of Paris was signed ending th American Revolution, the last British soldiers withdraw from New York Citys, the last British General George Washington entered the city in triump to the cheers of New Yorks, U.S. city had remained in British hands since its capture in September 1776.
