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Trenton
During the American Revolutionary War, Trenton was the site of the Battle of Trenton. On December 25–26, 1776, George Washington and his army crossed the icy Delaware River to Trenton, where they defeated Hessian troops garrisoned there. -
Concord and Lexington
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', marked the start of the American War of Independence (1775-83). -
Bunker hill
Massachusetts | Jun 17, 1775. The American patriots were defeated at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but they proved they could hold their own against the superior British Army. -
Boston
The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. -
New York
The New York Campaign was the lowest point in George Washington's military career during the American War of Independence. -
Princeton
On January 3, 1777, Continental Army soldiers under the command of General George Washington defeated a force of British troops near Princeton, New Jersey. -
Saratoga
The American defeat of the superior British army lifted patriot morale, furthered the hope for independence, and helped to secure the foreign support needed to win the war. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was a naturally defensible plateau where the army could train and recoup from the year's battles, and the wet and cold winter weather, muddy and impassable roads, and scant supplies made major battles less likely. -
Monmouth
Monmouth was the first battle to test Washington as commander-in-chief after the Conway Cabal affair, the first battle after the British decided to shift their strategy away from the American North, -
Clinton takes the Carolinas and Georgia
The 1776 Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, was a short but important military episode in the early years of the American Revolution. -
Yorktown
Supported by the French army and navy, Washington's forces defeated Lord Charles Cornwallis' veteran army dug in at Yorktown, Virginia. Victory at Yorktown led directly to the peace negotiations that ended the war in 1783 and gave America its independence. -
Treaty of Paris
ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. -
Addition of Freed African soldiers
During the Civil War, the Union formally established and maintained regiments of black soldiers. This became possible in 1862 through passage of the Confiscation Act, -
Foreign officers arrive (Prussia and France)
ending French hegemony in continental Europe and creating a unified Germany. -
End of the fighting
On Nov. 11, 1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent.