The People & Battles of the American Revolution

1. The People & Battles of the American Revolution

2. Concord Massachusetts • 70 minutemen-colonial militia men ready to fight at a minute’s notice lined up • British ordered them to leave • Someone fired a shot • British fired many shots • 8 minutemen killed • 1 British soldier injured • Battle time: 15 minutes

3. Lexington Massachusetts • 3,000 – 4,000 minutemen fired on the British from behind walls and trees • Many British soldiers were killed • The rest of the British soldiers retreated to Boston • Lexington & Concord began the American Rev. Shot Heard Around the World

4. Second Continental Congress • Met in Philadelphia after Lexington and Concord battles • Drafted petition for King George III, asking for end of unfriendly steps against the colonies • Georgia III refused to accept the petition • Authorized Continental Army with George Washington as the commander.

5. Battle of Bunker Hill/ Breed’s Hill • June 1775 • Took British 3 attacks to win • Colonial Casualties = 450 • British Casualties = 1,000+

6. REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN GEORGIA • Many Georgians hesitated to join the revolution because: • Ga. Was young and was doing well economically • Many still had relatives in England

7. Revolutionary War Fighting in Georgia • Savannah captured and looted by British troops in December 1778; lootings, murders, and burnings occurred • Sunbury port captured in early 1779; Augusta was also attacked • Georgia militia not effective against well-trained British troops • Governor Wright eventually returned from Great Britain to govern Georgia

8. Battle of Kettle Creek (1779) • Colonel Elijah Clarke led Georgia militia, defeated 800 British troops near Washington, Georgia • Great victory for morale of the militia and Georgians seeking independence • Won badly-needed weapons and horses from the British

9. Elijah Clarke1733-1799 • Led militia in Georgia to their first victory at Kettle Creek • Fought throughout the southern colonies in the American Revolution

10. Siege of Savannah (1779) • 15,000 Americans and 4,000 French laid siege to Savannah • Attack on October 9 resulted in 1,000 American and French deaths in less than an hour; only 40 British troops died • Savannah remained under British control for nearly four more years

11. Georgia Wartime Heroes • Nancy Hart single-handedly captured a group of British loyalists who bragged of murdering an American colonel; Hart County is the only county named for a woman • Austin Dabney fought with distinction and was wounded at Kettle Creek; he also saved Elijah Clarke’s life during that battle

12. A fierce patriot Spy for the patriots Known for her determined efforts to rid the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers. Killing one Tory and capturing others who came to take her food Nancy Hart 1735-1830

13. A slave who became a private in the Georgia Militia Only black soldier to fight in the Battle of Kettle Creek. Only African American Granted land for military service Austin Dabney 1765-1830

14. The War Ends • Elijah Clarke, the Georgia Militia, and the Continental Army regain Augusta from British in June 1781; 11 battles or skirmishes fought in Georgia during the war • George Washington and the Continental Army force British Gen. Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781 • British leave Savannah in the spring of 1782 • Treaty of Paris (September 1783) ends war; treaty is signed by United States, Great Britain, and France

15. Lyman Hall1724-1790 • Representative from Georgia to the Second Continental Congress • Signed the Declaration of Independence

16. Button Gwinnett1732-1777 • Representative from Georgia to the Second Continental Congress • Signed the Declaration of Independence

17. George Waltonaround 1749-1804 • Representative from Georgia to the Second Continental Congress • Signed the Declaration of Independence

18. Hall, Gwinnett, and Walton

19. George Washington1732-1799 • Led the British troops who started the French and Indian War • Led the Continental army against the British • General at the Battle of Yorktown • First President