timeline

  • bunker hill

    2000 redcoats attacked. The minute men were commanded to not fire until they saw the "whites of their eyes." Colonists decided to fortify two hills that overlooked Boston.
  • New york

    This battle would prove to be decisive, both armies really needed to control this city
    British lost: 377 Seeing the extreme loses, the British pulled back and offered the Americans a chance to surrender. Washington refused to surrender but knew he had to retreat or lose his whole army
    Hope began to fade as the Americans retreated from New York City
  • concord and Lexington

    the battles of concord and Lexington was the first major military campaign of the American revolutionary war resulting in an American victory and out posting of military support for the anti British cause.
  • seige of boston

    The British woke up to the Boston surrounded by colonists cannons pointing at the city. Instead of risking a bloody fight with the colonists they believed they were extremely armed. 9000 British soldiers were shipped out to the city along as 1,100 loyalists.
  • Trenton

    Late on December 25,1776, Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware and surprised the Hessians after their Christmas celebrations
    surrendered without loosing a single man
    868 Hessians were taken prisoner, and a week later a victory at Princeton saw another 300 British troops captured
    These victories were exactly what the Patriots needed
    While the Americans had made camp on one side of the Delaware River, the Hessians had made their camp at Trenton New Jersey
  • Princeton

    Princeton saw another 300 British troops captured.
    Washington escaped from one enemy to attack another at Princeton. ...
    “A very intelligent young gentleman” provided Washington with valuable intelligence. ...
    Opposing forces almost missed one another.
    Many British soldiers believed they had killed Gen.Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek.
  • Saratoga

    Burgoyne’s slow movement through the New York
    wilderness gave Washington time to plan
    When Burgoyne finally arrived at Saratoga Springs, the area was swarming with militia
    Heavily outnumbered, Burgoyne surrendered on Oct. 17, 1777
  • valley forge

    A brutal winter set in, and the army was low on food, clothing, fuel, and many other essential supplies
    Many of the soldiers died from starvation and disease
    As the winter started to turn to Spring, the Continental Army looked towards new training
    Washington commissioned Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian officer, to train the army
    He used a method of continual drilling to turn the rag tag army into a true fighting force
  • Monmouth

    As the British left Philadelphia, the Patriots chased them all the way to Monmouth, NJ
    The battle took place on June 28, 1778
    Washington was able to rally his troops into pushing the British back across the Hudson to NYC
    Finally both armies were back where the war had begun. General Howe had been replaced by Sir Henry Clinton, which created some instability in the British Army
  • Clinton takes the Carolinas and Georgia

    began the “southern campaign” by taking over Savannah, GA
    He then pushed through to the Carolina
    After successfully taking over the South, Clinton left Lord Cornwallis in charge
    Cornwallis soon learned that he really did not have control of the Carolina at all.
  • yorktown

    Cornwallis moved his entire army into a small part of Yorktown in Virginia. Meanwhile, Washington had started received troops and supplies from the French
    5,000 were already added to the Continental Army and another 3,000 were scheduled to arrive on 29 French War Ships.On Oct. 6, 1781 the trap sprung and the Continental Army and the French began an artillery assault on the town that lasted for days.
  • treaty of paris

    to end the war they had to sign a treaty must be written out and signed. Representatives from England and America met in France to outline the treaty. England had to recognize America as a country, give up all there land claims of Canada and south Mississippi, and the US would have to return all Land and property to the loyalists taken during the war.
  • end of fighting

    The American Revolution officially ended on September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.To formally end a war, a treaty must be written out and signed.
  • freed african soilders

    It is estimated that 20,000 African Americans joined the British cause, which promised freedom to enslaved people, as Black Loyalists.
  • foreign officers arrive

    a coalition of German states led by Prussia defeated France, ending French hegemony in continental Europe and creating a unified Germany.