revolutionary timeline

  • Addition of Freed African Soldiers

    Freed Africans had already been fighting in the battles from an early point but when the American army formed, Africans were banned from fighting. When the British found out, they accepted all the freed slaves in an attempt to gain fighters. The Patriots then found out about this, and lifted the ban to get more people to fight for them in the War.
  • Battle of Concord and Lexington

    The British sent some redcoats to attack Concord, but the colonists found out. They sent some minutemen to intercept the British at Lexington, but unfortunately ended up with a total of 18 casualties. Later at Concord, the colonists had a plan and the British got mad. The minutemen surprised them again, this time successfully, and managed to scare the Redcoats off. Over 4,000 colonists then again attacked the British on their retreat.
  • The Battle of Bunker Hill

    It was the first major battle of the American Revolution, and the British won. The Patriots proved that they could hold themselves against the British, but when it all came down to hand to hand combat they fell short.
  • The Siege of Boston

    Washington deceived the British into thinking the Americans had more weapons than they did, and then sent for more. Then, the Patriots surprised the British on March 3rd, by surrounding the city of Boston with their cannons. The British then abandoned the city thinking the Americans were fully loaded.
  • The Battle of New York

    Both sides met in New York, but the British were clearly better than the Americans. The Redcoats offered the Patriots an easy way out, surrendering. Unwilling to lose his army, Washington retreated and then spent awhile with his army being chased across states by the British and eventually running low on supplies.
  • Surprise at Trenton

    The Americans and Hessians set up their camps on opposite sides of the Delaware River. Late on Christmas night, 1776, the Americans crossed the river and surprise attacked them. The Hessians surrendered easily.
  • Capture at Princeton

    A week after the Americans captured the Hessians on Christmas 1776, they successfully captured 300 British troops.
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    Foreign Officers Arrive

    After the Americans won at Saratoga, some French officers and soldiers showed up to join the Patriots. Later in the spring of 1778 a Prussian Officer named Friedrich von Steuben came to train the Continental Army.
  • Victory at Saratoga

    A British general was taking a long time on his journey to Saratoga Springs, and by the time he got there the Patriots were all over the place. It was an easy win for the Americans, while outnumbering the British by a lot.
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    Winter at Valley Forge

    The American army needed a place to crash for the winter while they were low on supplies. They were low on essential resources and lost a lot of people. During the spring season, Washington decided that the army needed better training, so he instructed someone to train the men better.
  • The Battle of Monmouth

    The British were leaving Philadelphia when the Americans started following them all the way to New Jersey. Washington gathered his troops and successfully pushed the Redcoats into New York City.
  • Clinton takes the Carolinas and Georgia

    An unstable British General, Sir Henry Clinton, believed that Southern Loyalists would support the British army. He began taking over Georgia then the Carolinas, then left everything in the hands of Lord Cornwallis.
  • The Battle of Yorktown

    Lord Cornwallis moved the troops to Yorktown, Virginia. Once Washington gathered all his men together, he secretly moved them all to Virginia as well and surprised the Redcoats. As a bonus, the French men came on their boats and blocked off the Yorktown harbor which sparked an artillery assault on the town that stretched for days.
  • British Surrender/ End of Fighting

    Aid never came to the British during the Yorktown Battle which was what Cornwallis was depending on. He ultimately surrendered to the Americans and on the road out of Yorktown, the French and Patriots stood guard and lined the path. From this point on, the British would only be defeated in a few small victories.
  • Treaty of Paris Signed

    Once all hope in the British was gone, the King finally surrendered. To officially end the war, the Treaty of Paris was signed. English and American representatives showed up and made agreements for their countries.