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Battles of Lexington and Concord
After the First Continental Congress, colonists in many eastern New England towns stepped up military preparations. Minutemen, or civilian soldiers, began to quietly stock pile firearms and gunpowder, General Gage soon learned about these activities and prepared to strike back. -
Battle at Bunker Hill
British General Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen who had dug in on Breed's Hill in their customary broad lines.
By the time the smoke cleared, the colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties. The misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Battle of New York
2 brothers, General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe, joined forces on Staten largest British expeditionary force ever assembled 32,000 soldiers, including thousands of German mercenaries, or soldiers who fight solely for money. -
The Battle Of Trenton
Washington resolved to risk everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. -
The Fight For Philadelphia
The Continental Congress fled the city while Washington’s troops unsuccessfully tried to block the redcoats at nearby Brandywine Creek. The British captured Philadelphia, and the pleasure-loving General Howe settled in to enjoy the hospitality of the city’s grateful Loyalists. -
Winter at Valley Forge
In December, 1777, General George Washington moved the Continental Army to their winter quarters at Valley Forge. Though Revolutionary forces had secured a pivotal victory at Saratoga in September and October, Washington's army suffered defeats at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown, Pennsylvania. -
Battle Of Saratoga
Massed American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates on October 17, 1777. The surrender at Saratoga dramatically changed Britain’s war strategy. From that time on, the British generally kept their troops along the coast, close to the big guns and supply bases of the British fleet. -
British Take South
At the end of 1778, a British expe- dition easily took Savannah, Georgia, and by the spring of 1779, a royal governor once again commanded Georgia. -
The British Surrender at Yorktown
The French had stationed one fleet there and were operating another in the West Indies. When news of Cornwallis’s plans reached him, the Marquis de Lafayette suggested that the American and French armies join forces with the two French fleets and attack the British forces at Yorktown. -
British losses in 1781
Angered by the defeat at Cowpens, Cornwallis attacked Greene two months later at Guilford Court House, North Carolina. Cornwallis won the battle, but the victory cost him nearly a fourth of his troops—93 were killed, over 400 were wounded, and 26 were missing.
