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Battle at Lexington
Minutemen were heard to have been stockpiling firearms in Concord. General Thomas Gage sent a group of British soldiers there to stop the transporting, but word is spread out that they are coming, so when the 700 British troops arrive they are met with 70 minutemen as they arrive at the town of Lexington. British soldiers ordered the minutemen to lay down their weapons but the command is ignored and shots are fired resulting in 8 minutemen killed, ten wounded, and 1 British soldier injured. -
Battle at Concord
After the battle at Lexington, the British soldiers march towards Concord only to find the arsenal, where the weapons were meant to be, empty. After a small fight with the minutemen, they prepare to march back to Boston, but that is quickly stopped as 3,000-4,000 minutemen fire on the troops. The soldiers fell by the dozen while some of the remaining continued to march back. -
Battle at Bunker Hill
General Thomas Gage, after deciding to attack a group of militiamen at Breed's Hill, sent 2,400 British soldiers to the hill. The colonist held their fire until the final minutes of the attack in which they mowed down the redcoats before they retreated. The battle resulted in over 450 colonists lost and over 1,000 British casualties. -
New York
In an attempt to stop the rebellion, British soldiers tried to capture New York. They sailed with about 32,000, made up of German soldiers known as Hessians, into the New York Harbor. The Continental Army tried to defend New York but had to retreat due to poorly, untrained troops. -
Trenton
In a risky attempt, Washington led 2,400 soldiers across the icy Delaware river. They marched to Trenton, New Jersey, where they defeated a group of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Philadelphia
After regrouping from their battle in New York, British troops captured the American capital in Philadelphia. -
Winter in Valley Forge
As the inter became harsh, Washington and his troops struggled to stay alive in the winter camp in Valley Forge. They were low on food and supplies, which resulted in 2,000 soldiers dead that winter, though the survivors didn't desert. -
Surrender at Saratoga
General John Burgoyne created a plan to combine two British forces at Albany, to then isolate New England from the other colonies. As he traveled through the forest, soldiers and militiamen from the Continental Army gathered all over New York and New England. While fighting, Burgoyne was unaware of the fact the British officers were held up in Philadelphia and weren't coming to help him. The Continental Army finally surrounded him at Saratoga where he later surrendered. -
Marquis De Lafayette
In a winter in Valley Forge, the American troops went through an amazing transformation. Captains and drillmasters including Marquis De Lafayette offered there help in the process. Lafayette later on lobbied France for reinforcement in 1779 and led a command in Virginia in the last years of war. -
The British Surrender at Yorktown
After learning of of Cornwallis's actions, Washington and Lafayette led their troops to Yorktown. By late September, over 17,000 troops surrounded the British troops in Yorktown and bombarded them day and night. This went on for weeks until Cornwallis finally surrender. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. In 1783, delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, giving U.S. Independence and setting the boundaries for them.
