The Revolutionary War

1. The Revolutionary War

2. Continental Army • General George Washington • goal/strategy: protect by retreat and counterattack when they have the advantage • Strengths - manpower ? - fighting on own soil - guerilla warfare - resourceful leaders - fighting for home and family

3. Continental Army • Weaknesses - raising and organizing army bribery: land and Freedom - supplies and equipment - $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ need foreign support - dealing with state govt. the real center of authority

4. Washington • indispensable - held army and country together • lacked military genius • gained respect of most of patriots • faced mutiny from men • faced removal from Congress

5. British Army • The Regulars • Led by General William Howe • Strategy: confront and defeat Continental Army and isolate radical Patriots of New England • advantages - superior military - financial - most powerful navy

6. British Army • weaknesses - traditional fighting - govt. is far away - fighting for a pay check

7. How did the United States beat the most powerful country in the world?

8. Battle of Bunker Hill

9. Bunker Hill • Breed’s Hill June 17,1775 • Place: On the Charlestown Peninsula on the North side of Boston Harbor. • Combatants: British troops of the Boston garrison against troops of the American Continental Army. • Generals: Major General Howe against General Artemas Ward and General Israel Putnam • Size of the armies: 2,400 British troops against 1,500 Americans.

11. Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!

13. The death of the American General Warren at the climax of the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull

14. Battle Results • Americans Retreat - 450 killed or wounded • British Win! ??????? - 1,150 killed or wounded (1/2) heavy loss! - hold hill until retreat from Boston March 1776

15. What did the Battle of Bunker Hill demonstrate? - determination to fight - can stand up to a professional army - retreat when it is needed

16. Dunmore ProclamationNov. 7, 1775 • martial law • freedom to patriot slaves who joined the British Army • plan backfired = Angry Virginia slave owners • estimated 100,000 tried escape but only 800-1000 joined British

17. First Phase • Patriots surround Boston- British leave March 1776 • British do not gain huge loyalist support in South • Patriots lose Canada - siege of Canada fails- Montgomery and Benedict Arnold - Benjamin Franklin fails as civilian commission Death of General Wolf at the Battle of Quebec

18. Second Phase 1776-1778 • Conventional war - British in position to win but foul it up • British drive Americans from NY into Penn

19. Gentlemen Warfare

21. Dec. 25, 1776 : Trenton New Jersey

22. James Monroe Maryland Regiment

23. New England Sailor: African Descent Western Rifleman Scottish Immigrant

24. Delaware Regiment Western Rifleman Farmers from PA and NJ: blanket coats and wide brimmed hats A woman?

25. George Washington GW rode up and down the column urging his men forward. Suddenly the general’s horse slipped and started to fall on a steep and icy slope. “While passing a slanting slippery bank,” Lieutenant Bostwick remembered, “his excellency’s horse’s hind feet both slip’d from under him.” The animal began to go down. Elisha Bostwick watched in fascination as Washington locked his fingers in the animals mane and hauled up its heavy head by brute force. He shifted his balance backward just enough to allow the horse to regain its hind footing on the treacherous road. Bostwick wrote that the general “seiz’d his horses mane and the horse recovered.” It was an extraordinary feat of strength, skill, and timing; and another reason why his soldiers stood in awe of this man. Source: Washington’s Crossing by: David Hackett Fischer

26. George Washington and his slave William Lee

27. Trenton • 1,400 Hessian Troops • 2,400 American Troops • Fighting lasts approximately 90 minutes • 2-7 American casualties - James Monroe • 100 Hessian/British casualties ( approx. 20 dead) • Approximately 1000 POW

28. Who were the Hessians ?

30. Famous Americans at Trenton James Monroe James Madison John Marshall Aaron Burr Alexander Hamilton

33. Surrender at Trenton

35. What happened to the Hessian Troops?

36. What did the Battle of Trenton Demonstrate? - Resourceful Leadership

37. GB’s Mistakes • plan to cut US in 2 • Burgoyne pursues and Howe changes plan • Howe take Philadelphia • Burgoyne suffers several defeats

38. The Battle of Saratoga October 7, 1777 The major Turning Point of the War

39. British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York France decides to help the Americans

40. Lack of Supplies • “If the war is continued thro the winter, the British troops will be scared at the sight of our men, for they had never fought with naked men.” - a “peaceable man” as he watched the troops march by Source: Washington’s Crossing by: David Hackett Fischer

41. Winter 1777-1778 Valley Forge Pennsylvania

42. Location is close enough to apply pressure far enough away to avoid a sneak attack 2,000 huts built Miles of trenches dug Fortifications built

47. Washington’s Headquarters

48. Naked and Starving as they are We Cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery

49. 2,000 soldiers die 2/3 from disease: influenza, typhus, typhoid, and dysentery