Battles of the American Revolution

Battles of the American Revolution Let’s - Buy -Some -Yogurt Lexington - Bunker Hill Saratoga - Yorktown

Lexington and Concord • The Battles of Lexington and Concord were actually the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America

Lexington and Concord • Background The colonists had been forming militias of various sorts since the 17th century, at first primarily for defense against local native attacks. These forces were also called to action in the French and Indian War in the 1750s and 1760s. They were generally local militias, but there was communication and some coordination at the provincial level. When the political situation began to deteriorate, these existing connections were put to use by the colonists for the purpose of resistance to the military threat.

Lexington and Concord • Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m on the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren told William Dawes and Paul Revere that the King's troops were about to embark in boats from Boston bound for Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord. • Revere and Dawes were sent out to warn them and alert Colonists in nearby towns. • It is a myth that Revere and other riders shouted, "The British are coming!" This warning would have confused a good many of the Americans living in the countryside who still considered themselves British. The Regulars were known to be British soldiers. “The Redcoats are coming!” FALSE

Lexington and Concord • During the wee hours of April 19, 1775, he would send out regiments of British soldiers quartered in Boston. Their destinations were Lexington, where they would capture Colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock, then Concord, where they would seize gunpowder.

Lexington and Concord • Sure enough, when the advance guard of nearly 240 British soldiers arrived in Lexington, they found about 70 minutemen formed on the Lexington Green awaiting them. Both sides eyed each other warily, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, a bullet buzzed through the morning air. • It was "the shot heard round the world.“ • The first bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, marked the crossing of a threshold, and the momentum from these events pushed both sides farther apart.

Lexington and Concord • During the battles of Lexington and Concord, 73 British soldiers had been killed and 174 wounded; 26 were missing. LORD PERCY, who led the British back into Boston after the defeat suffered at Concord, wrote back to London, "Whoever looks upon them [THE REBELS] as an irregular mob will be much mistaken."

Bunker Hill • On the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of American troops acting under orders from ARTEMAS WARD moved out of their camp, carrying picks, shovels, and guns. They entrenched themselves on a rise located on Charleston Peninsula overlooking Boston. Their destination: BUNKER HILL.

Bunker Hill • From this hill, the rebels could bombard the town and British ships in Boston Harbor. But Ward's men misunderstood his orders. They went to BREED'S HILL by mistake and entrenched themselves there — closer to the British position.

Bunker Hill • The next morning, the British were stunned to see Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom demanded that the British attack the Americans, even though the Americans were in a superior position militarily (the Americans had soldiers and cannon pointing down on the British). • Major General William Howe, leading the British forces, could have easily surrounded the Americans with his ships at sea, but instead chose to march his troops uphill. Howe might have believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of a smashing, head-on attack. • He was wrong…

Bunker Hill • By the time the third wave of British charged the hill, the Americans were running low on ammunition. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued. The British eventually took the hill, but at a great cost. Of the 2,300 British soldiers who had gone through the ordeal, 1,054 were either killed or wounded.

Bunker Hill • On July, 2, 1775, George Washington rode into Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take command of the new AMERICAN ARMY. He had a formidable task ahead of him. He needed to establish a CHAIN OF COMMAND and determine a course of action for a war — if there would be a war. • In London, the news of Bunker Hill convinced the king that the situation in the Colonies had escalated into an organized uprising and must be treated as a foreign war. Accordingly, he issued a Proclamation of Rebellion.

Saratoga • The BATTLE OF SARATOGA was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. • The scope of the victory is made clear by a few key facts: On October 17, 1777, 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered their arms. General John Burgoyne had lost 86 percent of his expeditionary force

Saratoga • A stupendous American victory in October 1777, the success at Saratoga gave France the confidence in the American cause to enter the war as an American ALLY. Later American successes owed a great deal to French aid in the form of financial and military assistance.

Yorktown • Although the American military was still enduring losses in 1780, the French were making a difference. The French navy was disrupting the British blockade. French commanders such as LAFAYETTE and ROCHAMBEAU earned the respect and admiration of the American troops.

Yorktown • The year 1781 found a large squadron of British troops led by LORD CORNWALLIS at YORKTOWN, Virginia. Cornwallis hoped to keep his men in the Chesapeake town until fresh supplies and reinforcements could arrive from Britain. The French and the Americans conspired to capture the British before that could happen.

Yorktown • When Washington reached Virginia, Americans led by Lafayette joined in the siege. The French navy kept the British out of CHESAPEAKE BAY until Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire unit of nearly 8,000 troops on October 19, 1781. The capture of the troops severely hampered the British war effort.

Yorktown • Despite the American victory, the British military continued to fight. But the Battle of Yorktown turned the British public against the war. The following March, a pro-American Parliament was elected and peace negotiations began in earnest.

Yorktown • In the 1783 TREATY OF PARISthe British agreed to recognize American independence as far west as the Mississippi River. Americans agreed to honor debts owed to British merchants from before the war and to stop persecuting British Loyalists. • David had triumphed over Goliath. Independence was achieved at last!

The Winter at Valley Forge • American spirits reached a low point during the harsh winter of 1777-78. • Washington's army had spent the summer of 1777 fighting a string of losing battles. The Americans harassed the British army in skirmishes and minor battles for much of the fighting season. In the fall, the Americans showed pluck at the Battle of Brandywine in September and the Battle of Germantown in October. Yet the Americans were unable to keep the British out of Philadelphia.

The Winter at Valley Forge • British troops had marched triumphantly into Philadelphia the autumn of 1777.Philadelphia was the largest city in the Colonies and the seat of political power.After the British swept into Philadelphia, the Continental Congress had flee to west, first to Lancaster then to York. • In December, Washington marched his tired, beaten, hungry and sick army to VALLEY FORGE, a location about 20 miles northwest of British-occupied Philadelphia. From Valley Forge, Washington could keep an eye on General Howe's British army ensconced in Philadelphia.

The Winter at Valley Forge • At Valley Forge, there were shortages of everything from food to clothing to medicine. Washington's men were sick from disease, hunger, and exposure. The Continental Army camped in crude Log Cabins and endured cold conditions… • While the Redcoats warmed themselves in colonial homes. The Patriots went hungry while the British soldiers ate well. • Terms of enlistment were ending for many soldiers in Washington's army. The General wondered if he would even have an army left when the spring thaw finally arrived.

The Winter at Valley Forge • Then there was the grumbling of some in Congress and among some of Washington's own officers. Washington's leadership skills were openly questioned. • Help came in the form of a Prussian volunteer, BARON VON STEUBEN. The military leader was aghast at the lack of American discipline. At Washington's urging he trained the Continental Army, Prussian-style. The troops slowly became more professional. Among the soldiers who remained, confidence grew.

The Winter at Valley Forge • The Continental Army encamped at Valley Forge in the fall of 1777 with about 12,000 men in its ranks. Death claimed about a quarter of them before spring arrived. Another thousand didn't reenlist or deserted. But the army that remained was stronger. They were fewer, but more disciplined. They were weary, but firmly resolved.

Battles of the American Revolution