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Early 1776
The French still angered by their defeat during the French and Indian war had been secretly sending weapons to the Patriots -
March 1776
The British move the war to he Middle colonies -
Summer of 1776
In the summer of 1776 General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe led 32,000 soldiers with German missionaries to the New York harbor. Washington rallied 23,000 of his troops to New York's defense but this battle ended in August with an American defeat. -
Fall of 1776
By the fall of 1776 the British had pushed Washington and his army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Fewer than 8,00 men remained under Washington's command he needed a victory to keep them from going home. -
Trenton
On Christmas night Washington led 2,400 men across the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey -
Battle of Trenton
By eight o'clock the men had marched through sleet and snow towards Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessian had drunk the night before and in a surprise attack Washington's men were able to kill 30 enemy men and took 918 captives with six Hessian cannons. -
Battle at Princeton
The Americans a few days after the Battle of Trenton rallied another victory against 1,200 British redcoats at Princeton. -
Spring of 1777
In Spring of 1777 General William Howe began his plan to seize the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Fight for Philadelphia
Howe and his troops sailed from New York to the Chesapeake Bay. The Continental Congress fled Philadelphia while Washington's troops failed to block the British redcoats at Brandywine Creek. The British won and captured Philadephia. -
Saratoga
General Horatio Gates commander of the Northern Deparment of tne Continental Army gathered militiamen and soldiers to fight against General Burgoyne and General William Howe. When American and British forces clashed the American troops were able to surround Burgoyne at Saratoga where he and his army surrendered. This served as a turning point for the war. -
Valley Forge
In the winter of 1777-1778 the Continental Army were struggleing to survive in the cold conditions at winter camp of Valley Forge Pennsylvania. Soldiers were exposed to the bitter cold and were getting frostbite. The soldiers were not prepared and lacked food, clothes and supplies. -
European help
In the winter of Valley Forge Fredrich von Steuben, Prussian captin and drillmaster hoined the Continental Army and vegan training the men to become an effrcrive fighting force. -
Treaty with the French
The victory at Saratoga caused the French to gain trust in the American Army. France agreed to support the Revolution and signed an alliance with the Americans. France agreed not to make peace with Britain unles Britain gave the Americans independence. -
Summer of 1778
After the defeat at Saratoga the British decided to shift their attention to the south were they could rally Loyalists. From there the British could fight their way up north. -
End of 1778
By the end of 1778 the British had already successfully taken Savannah Georgia. -
Lafayette
Marquis de Lafayette a twenty year old French aristocrat also decided to assist Washington and his troops. Lafayette lobbied for French reinforcements back in France. -
Spring of 1779
A royal governor commanded Georgia once again. -
French reinforments
A French Army of 6,000 had landed in Newport, Rhode Island. The French stationed a fleet there and iperated another one in the West Indies. -
Defeat at Guilford Court House
Greene had weakened the British but he wrote to Lafayette asking for help -
Charleston, South Carolina
In 1780 General Henry Clinton that replaced Hiwe in New York with General Cornwallis sailed south with 8,500 men to capture Charleston South Carolina -
British victory at Charleston
In May 1780 the British marched 5,500 American soldiers as prisoners of war. Clinton left for New York and left Cornwallis to command the British in the south. -
Camden, South Carolina
Cornwallis and his army crushed the American forces at Camden South Carolina and estavlished forts across the state. However when Cornwallis moved north the Patriots attacked them and the redcoats were forced to retreat to South Carolina. -
Cowpens, South Carolina
When General Morgan met with Lieutenant Tarleton at Cowpens South Carolina the British expected the outnumbered Americans to retreat. The Americans fought back and force the redcoats to surrender -
Guilford Court House, North Carolina
Angered by the defeat at Cowpens Cornwallis attacked Greene at the Guilford Court House in North Carolina. Although Cornwallis won but many of his troops were sacrificed. -
Civilians at war
On September 8th the soldiers of the Continental Army were finally paid. Many women helped by running businesses and households. Other women followed their husbands to war such as Margaret Corbin and Mary McCauly otherwise kbown as Molly Pitcher. -
Financing the War
When Congress ran out of gold and silver the began printing paper money or Continental. This caused the value to decrease and so prices began rising. Congress appointed a rich Philafephian merchant Robert Morris as superintendent of finance. He and Haym Salomone begged and borrowed on their personal credit to raise money to provide salaries for the Army. -
Yorktown Virginia
Following Lafayettes plan the French and American troops teamed up. The French naval force defeated the British and blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Inland the American and French troops surrounded Corbwallis on the Yorktown peninsula and bombarded them until Cornwallis finally surrendered. -
The British finally surrender at Yorktown
Washington triumphantly accepted the British surrender -
Meeting in Paris
The United States, Great Britain, France, and Spain met in Paris Francr to negotiate a peace treaty. The US wanted independence, France supported American independence, the British wanted to prevent the Americans from gaining independence, and Spain wanted land between the Appalaxhian Mountains znd the Mississippi River. -
Treaty of Paris
In September 1783 delagates signed the Treaty of Paris which confirmed American independance and set boundaries for a new nation.
