Few people at the time thought that the American Revolution would succeed and the Americans could win a war against the world's greatest empire. At the beginning of the war, there was no regular American army, just a militia made up of civilians—and most of them were farmers. Naturally, they were not used to long campaigns or battles with British Regulars, and thousands quit. General Washington begged the Continental Congress to provide a regular army of men enlisted for a long term, but Congress felt that step would violate civil liberties. It was only after so many American defeats threatened the war effort that Congress agreed to offer extra pay to officers and privates and pledged to see the war to an end.
By 1775, tension between the colonies and the mother country had reached the breaking point. General Gage, who was in charge of the British troops in Boston, learned that the colonists had hidden a large collection of weapons in nearby Concord. Gage sent a detachment of soldiers to seize the rebel leaders and destroy the stores of ammunition. Sons of Liberty Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to warn of the impending British attack by way of the Charles River; the most direct route. Just as the sun was rising on April 19, 1775, British soldiers reached Lexington. A straggling line of colonists was already waiting on the green--armed with muskets. Eight Minutemen were killed and several others wounded in the first skirmish on Lexington Green which signaled the beginning of the American Revolution.
By the time the Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775, war had already broken out in Massachusetts. Battles had been fought between Massachusetts soldiers and British military forces in the towns of Lexington and Concord. Yet war had not been declared. Even so, citizen soldiers in each of the thirteen American colonies were ready to fight.
This was the first question faced by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Who was going to organize these men into an army? Delegates to the Congress decided that the man for the job was George Washington. He had experience fighting in the French and Indian War. He was thought to know more than any other colonist about being a military commander. Washington accepted the position. But he said he would not take any money for leading the new Continental Army. Washington left Philadelphia for Boston to take command of the soldiers there.
Delegates to the Second Continental Congress made one more attempt to prevent war with Britain. They sent another message to King George. They asked him to consider their problems and try to find a solution. The king would not even read the message. Most members of the Congress -- and most of the colonists -- were not yet ready to break away from Britain. They continued to believe they could have greater self-government and still be part of the British empire.
Two days after the Congress appointed George Washington as army commander, colonists and British troops fought the first major battle of the American Revolution. It was called the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Thomas Paine published a little document that had a great effect on the citizens of America. He named it, "Common Sense." It attacked King George, as well as the idea of government by kings. It called for independence. About 150,000 copies of "Common Sense" were sold in America. Everyone talked about it. As a result, the Continental Congress began to act. It opened American ports to foreign shipping. It urged colonists to establish state governments and to write constitutions.
On 07 June 1776 delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution for independence. The resolution was not approved immediately. Declaring independence was an extremely serious step. Signing such a document would make delegates to the Continental Congress traitors to Britain. The Continental Congress approved a declaration condemning everything the British had done since 1763. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write a document explaining why the colonies should be free from British rule. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Congress.
Jefferson's document was divided into two parts. The first part explained the right of any people to revolt. It also described the ideas the Americans used to create a new, republican form of government. The second part of the Declaration lists twenty-seven complaints by the American colonies against the British government. The major ones concerned British taxes on Americans and the presence of British troops in the colonies.
The French government had been supplying the Americans secretly through the work of America's minister to France, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was popular with the French people and with French government officials. He helped gain French sympathy for the American cause.
After the American victory at Saratoga, the French decided to enter the war on the American side. The government recognized American independence. The two nations signed military and political treaties. France and Britain were at war once again. The British immediately sent a message to America's Continental Congress. They offered to change everything so relations would be as they had been in 1773. The Americans rejected the offer. The war would be fought to the end.Contents:
I.Backround
II.British Forces
III.Continental Forces
IV.British Losses
V.Continental Losses
VI.Conclusion
VII.Important Battles
VIII.Pictures
I.Backround
II.British Forces
| Country | British Troops | Hessian Mercenaries | American Loyalists | Artillery | Ships | Great Britain | 32,000 | 29,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 900 |
|---|
Great Britain's armed forces numbered some 55,000 in 1775. With the majority fighting in North America, it didn't leave a lot of men to be sent over because the home islands would be defenseless. So the British relied on Hessian mercenaries to reinforce their troops against George Washington and the rebels. The British refused to negotiate with the colonists seeking independence, once France, Spain and the Netherlands entered the war the colonists now refused to negotiate.
III.Continental Forces |
| Country | Troops | Artillery | Ships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continental Army | 20,000 | 100 | 64 |
| Privateers | 55,000 | - | 1,697 |
| France | 6,000 | - | 37 |
The Continental armed forces strength is very underestimated. In 1775 the population of the 13 colonies was 2.5 million. An estimated 1/3 of the people were against the Revolution. Even so some 290,000 enlistments were made to join and fight against the British. Even that number is misleading because many signed more than once. It is believed that some 200,000 people fought against the British, the majority as militias.
The 100 cannons were captured from the British Fort Ticconderoga and were the only guns in the early the beginning of the war.
The French Navy was fighting the Royal Navy across near India, the 37 ships were sent to assist the American-French landing at Yorktown.
The Continental Navy was very small, only some 64 ships. However, there was an independent Navy made by Privateers who would capture and destroy British warships and supply ships. These privateers numbered 55,000 and had 1,697 ships. Most were merchant ships that were refitted with guns. They had a devastating effect capturing many military supplies and giving them to the Continental army. Some 1,000 cannons were captured from the British, and some 16,000 prisoners were taken. But they also suffered great losses, some 11,000 men died. The captured were often given the choice of being executed or joining the Royal Navy who was short on men.
IV.British Losses |
| Country | Battle Deaths | Other Deaths | Total Deaths | Troops Wounded | Ships Captured | Great Britain | 2,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 6,000 | 2,479 |
|---|
Most of the numbers are estimates, it is hard to find accurate numbers since neither side kept accurate listings of casualties. The real numbers could be higher due to dissease and missing. American and French forces had captured or killed one-half of the British troops in America. The surviving British troops left Yorktown playing a popular British song called, "The World Turned Upside Down."
V.Continental Losses |
| Country | Battle Deaths | Disease Deaths | Total Deaths | Wounded | Ships Captured | Continental Army | 4,435 | 21,000 | 25,435 | 6,188 | 1,323 |
|---|
Independence was achieved but at a high cost. Many atrocities were commited against the colonists and these would lead to war down the road with the Indians who sided with the British. The Hessians were also very ruthless and were feared the most. After the war many loyalists were driven out, some 150,000 left for Europe.
VI.Conclusion |
How were the Americans able to defeat the most powerful nation in the world? Historians give several reasons:
The Americans were fighting at home, while the British had to bring troops and supplies from across a wide ocean. British officers made mistakes, especially General William Howe. His slowness to take action at the start of the war made it possible for the Americans to survive during two difficult winters.
Another reason was the help the Americans received from the French. Also, the British public had stopped supporting the long and costly war. Finally, historians say America might not have won without the leadership of George Washington. He was honest, brave, and sure that the Americans could win. He never gave up hope that he would reach that goal.
The peace treaty ending the American Revolution was signed in Paris in 1783. The independence of the United States was recognized. Western and northern borders were set. Thirteen colonies were free. Now, they had to become one nation.
The American Revolution raised many questions about the role of government and the place of the military within it. There was no President until 1789, and no Congress as today. A nation was in the making, and it might have failed. But with energy and sense of common purpose, Americans eventually forced the British to sue for peace and grant America its independence.
VII.Important Battles
Key Battles:
Lexington & Concord
Bunker Hill
Trenton
Germantown
Saratoga
Charleston II
Cowpens
Yorktown
Lexington & Concord
(April 18, 1775)
During the increasing bitterness between the American colonies and Great Britain, the Continental Congress began organizing the colonial militia. In Massachusetts a military depot was established at Concord, 21 miles from the New England headquarters of the British occupation force at Boston. Gen. Thomas Gage, the British commander in chief in America, resolved to destroy the depot and capture the rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. On the night of April 18, 1775, Gage sent 700 troops under Lt. Col. Francis Smith to accomplish the double mission. When the detachment crossed the Charles River, patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes rode rapidly ahead alerting the countryside. The British column reached Lexington, 16 miles from Boston, at dawn. Here they found 70 armed minuteman under Capt. John Parker drawn up on the village common. Although there was no official command, Smith's men opened fire, killing eight and wounding ten of the militiamen. One British soldier was wounded. This was the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Moving on to Concord, a British platoon was attacked at North Bridge, suffering 14 casualties. Early in the afternoon the red coated column reformed to return to Boston. But now some 4,000 American militiamen had assembled along the road. Firing from behind trees, rocks, and fences, the colonials harassed the return march all the way back to Charlestown. Before they could come under the protective bombardment of their ships in the harbor, the British suffered 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing. American casualties were 49 killed, 41 wounded, and 5 missing. The colonial militia then closed in around Boston, launching a siege that would last almost a year. Meanwhile other patriots attacked British posts in upper New York.
Bunker Hill
(June 16, 1775)
After the sharp repulse of his raiding party at Lexington and Concord in April, Gen. Thomas Gage concentrated the British occupation troops in the city of Boston. The American militia then closed in to conduct a loose siege under the direction of Gen. Artemas Ward. On the night of June 16, 1,600 colonists under Col. William Prescott moved out on the Charlestown Peninsula, a half-mile north of Boston across the Charles River. By mistake they fortified Breed's Hill, forward of the intended objective of Bunker Hill. While the Americans continued to erect earthworks the following day, Gage ordered a frontal assault on the new position. That afternoon Gen. Sir William Howe landed on the tip of the peninsula with 2,100 British troops. Advancing up the hill in tight formation, the redcoats met a murderous musket and cannon fire that drove them back. A second attack was also repulsed. Then, strengthened by 400 fresh troops under Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, Howe launched a third assault with bayonets fixed. The Americans, now running short of powder, were driven off Breed's Hill. Bunker Hill, held by Gen. Israel Putnam, also was abandoned. Howe had the opportunity to turn the retreat into a disastrous rout. But he halted the British pursuit at the base of the peninsula. In the first pitched battle of the American Revolution, the British suffered 1,054 casualties, a high proportion of them officers, including 226 killed. American losses were 140 killed, 271 wounded, and 30 captured, out of some 1,500 troops actually engaged.
Two weeks after the battle of Bunker Hill, Gen. George Washington arrived at Cambridge to take command of the American army. The siege of Boston was resumed. Finally, on March 17, 1776, after the colonials had fortified Dorchester Heights, to the south, the British evacuated the city and sailed to Halifax, in Canada.
Trenton
(Dec. 26, 1776)
With the loss of forts Washington and Lee, which guarded the Hudson River, Gen. George Washington abandoned New York in November 1776 and retreated southwestward across New Jersey. He crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 11, concentrating the American army behind the river line to cover the U.S. capital at Philadelphia. Congress fled to Baltimore. The British commander, Gen. Sir William Howe, had sent Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis to speed the Continental retreat across New Jersey. But when Washington slipped across the Delaware, Howe ordered his troops into winter quarters.
The American commander in chief seized this opportunity to counterattack. On the night of December 25 he led 2,400 men across the ice choked Delaware nine miles north of Trenton. The following morning he fell on the surprised garrison of 1,400 Hessian troops in Trenton. In a sharp street fight the German commander, Col. Johann Rall, was mortally wounded, 29 others were killed, and 918 captured. The Americans suffered only 5 casualties. After taking his prisoners back into Pennsylvania, Washington recrossed the river to occupy Trenton on December 30 and 31. Howe immediately sent out an army to try to retake the city.
Germantown
(Oct. 4, 1777)
After maneuvering Gen. George Washington away from Philadelphia to the northwest, the British commander, Gen. Sir William Howe, turned back to occupy the city on September 26, 1777. To guard his newly won prize, Howe posted 9,000 troops at Germantown. Washington called in reinforcements to build his army up to 8,000 Continentals and 3,000 militia. By October 4 he was strong enough to launch a four pronged attack against the British lines. The main assault came in the center, with Gen. Nathanael Greene commanding the left column, Gen. John Sullivan the right. On the far left and right Gen. William Smallwood and Gen. John Armstrong, respectively, were to envelop Howe's flanks and close a pincers behind Germantown.
The initial advance of the two center columns drove into Germantown. But in Sullivan's sector along Skippack Road, 120 red coated infantry barricaded themselves in the large stone house of Chief Justice Benjamin Chew. The hedgehog position held up the advance of the American reserve forces. Then a division from Greene's column and Gen. Anthony Wayne's troops from Sullivan's command, confused by heavy fog and smoke, fired on each other. Both units broke in panic and the battle was lost. First Sullivan and then Greene began falling back. The entire American army retreated with a loss of 152 killed, 521 wounded, and 400 captured. Howe suffered 520 casualties. Washington took up winter headquarters at Valley Forge, where his men suffered terrible hardships. The war was now at a critical stage. Washington's army was down to 11,000 men. The winter was one of the coldest and the men were in terrible shape. Soldiers were marching barefoot in the snow, they somehow endured the hardships and fought on. Many died and others refused to fight and went home.
Saratoga
(Sept. 19 - Oct. 7, 1777)
Despite the defeat of his raiding party at Bennington in August 1777, the British commander, Gen. John Burgoyne, resolved to push on southward to Albany, New York. He made this decision even though he now knew that the other two prongs of the triple British offensive had failed to get their mark, Gen. Howe from New York City and Col. Barry St. Leger from Fort Oswego, New York. On September 13, with his army reduced to about 6,000 men, Burgoyne crossed to the west bank of the Hudson River. Ten miles south of Saratoga, and 22 miles short of Albany, the British found the American army entrenched on Bemis Heights, Gen. Horatio Gates, who had arrived on August 19 to take over command of the American forces from Gen. Philip Schuyler, had about 7,000 troops with fresh militiamen pouring in almost daily.
Burgoyne sought to outflank the American position by sending Gen. Simon Fraser with 2,000 men to seize high ground on the left of Gates' position, on September 19. This American wing was commanded by Gen. Benedict Arnold, aided by Gen. Daniel Morgan and Col. Henry Dearborn. In a fierce fight in the woods around Freeman's Farm the British advance was checked. In this first battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne lost 600 in killed, wounded, or captured. Of the 3,000 Americans engaged, 319 were casualties.
After the battle of Freeman's Farm, both sides held their respective positions. Two weeks later Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in New York City, began moving up the Hudson River in an effort to take some pressure off Burgoyne. On October 6 he seized forts Clinton and Montgomery. By October 16 his ships had penetrated as far northward as Kingston. But here he turned back to New York when he learned of the British surrender on October 17.
Meanwhile Burgoyne made one more desperate effort to break out toward Albany. On October 7 with 1,600 picked men he made a reconnaissance in force against the American left. From his army on Bemis Heights, which now numbered 11,000 men, Gates sent Morgan and Gen. Ebenezer Learned to repel the advance. West of Freeman's Farm the Americans checked and then threw back the British attack. Gen. Simon Fraser, the reconnaissance commander, fell mortally wounded. At this point Gen. Benedict Arnold took charge of the American left wing and led a fierce counterassault against the redcoats. The Continentals swept forward to capture a key redoubt defended by Col. Heinrich Breymann's German mercenaries. Breymann was killed and Arnold himself wounded in the leg. In this second action at Saratoga, called the battle of Bemis Heights, the British suffered 600 casualties. American casualties were 150.
The loss of Breymann's redoubt exposed Burgoyne's west flank. That night he withdrew a mile to the north. On the following day he retreated seven miles farther, to the heights of Saratoga. Here his encirclement became complete on October 13 when John Stark led 1,100 New Hampshire militia across the Hudson to take up a position in the British rear. Burgoyne then asked Gates for surrender terms. And on October 17 the British formally surrendered, 5,728 men laying down their arms.
The British capitulation at Saratoga was the turning point in the American Revolution. It cemented American determination to win their full freedom. And it encouraged France to come into the war on the side of the new United States, on February 6, 1778. Spain and then Holland followed suit, turning the revolution into a world war. On 7 October, 1777, Timothy Murphy, a rifleman in Morgan's Kentucky Riflemen shot and killed General Simon Fraser of the British army. Murphy was said to have taken the shot at roughly 500 yards. He was using the renowned Kentucky rifle. Fraser was leading a recon in force against the rebellious colonists at Bemis Heights in New York. As a result of Fraser's death, the recon failed. This had a direct impact on the overall battle, leading to the British defeat. Thus the American victory at Saratoga ranks as one of the decisive battles in military history.
Charleston II
(Apr. 14 - May 8, 1780)
In the sixth year of the war the British commander in the United States, Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, stepped up the offensive in the South. Embarking 8,500 troops at New York City, Clinton sailed to South Carolina, where he landed on February 11 on Johns Island, 30 miles south of Charleston. While the fleet blockaded the harbor, Clinton and his second in command, Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis, pushed slowly northward, crossing the Ashley River on March 29. Meanwhile the American commander in the South, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, had been drawing all available troops into the city. He now had 2,650 Continentals and 2,500 militia to hold three miles of fortified lines. Outside the defenses the British attackers, built up to 10,000 men, plus 5,000 seamen, worked their way toward the city parallels.
Northeast of Charleston, across the Cooper River, Lincoln had posted Gen. Isaac Huger with 500 men to protect the American line of communications to the north. On April 14 this force became the object of a sudden British thrust. Col. Banastre Tarleton's British Legion, composed of both cavalry and infantry, struck Huger's camp at 3:00 AM and swept it away. Tarleton pressed on down the left bank of the Cooper, cutting off Lincoln's last avenue of retreat. By May 8 the British investment was complete and a final assault readied. At this point Lincoln asked for a truce in order to consider surrender terms. Four days later the American army marched out of Charleston and laid down their arms. The number of prisoners, Continentals, militia, and armed citizens, came to 5,466. American casualties were 89 killed and 189 wounded during the siege. In addition, a huge quantity of military stores fell into the hands of the victors. At the cost of only 265 casualties, Great Britain had won its greatest victory of the war over the former colonies.
Cowpens
(Jan. 17, 1781)
Despite the patriotic victory at Kings Mountain in October 1781, American strength in the South was at a low ebb when Gen. Nathanael Greene assumed command on December 3 at Charlotte, North Carolina. The capable Greene promptly began reorganizing his forces. He then moved to Cheraw, South Carolina, while sending Gen. Daniel Morgan to make a sweep west of the British base at Winsboro. The British commander in the South, Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis, ordered Col. Banastre Tarleton to pursue Morgan. At the head of 1,100 well trained men, Tarleton caught up with Morgan at Cowpens, a broad plain in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Morgan made a stand with his back and left flank against the Broad River.
Although Morgan had as many men as Tarleton, the great majority of the American forces consisted of raw militia. Morgan compensated for the inexperience of his troops by skillful deployment. In front of his position he posted 150 expert riflemen from Georgia and North Carolina. Some 150 yards to the rear of this line he organized 300 North and South Carolina militia under Gen. Andrew Pickens. Another 150 yards to the rear stood the main American line of 450 men, Continentals flanked by two Virginia militia detachments. Col. William Washington's 125 mounted men constituted the only reserve.
On January 17 Tarleton's Legion charged the American position. As instructed by Morgan, the sharpshooters fired and then fell back to the second line, which fired two volleys before it too fell back. The British pressed on the main line of resistance despite severe casualties. After a deadly half hour battle, this American line also withdrew. The attackers rushed forward anticipating a complete victory. But Morgan had organized his successive and orderly withdrawals to build up pressure of a coiled spring. His entire force suddenly wheeled about and counterattacked the disorganized British. At the same time Washington's cavalry struck their flank and rear. The British army wavered and then bolted in disorder, leaving 100 dead and 229 wounded on the field. Another 600 were taken prisoner. American losses were 12 killed and 60 wounded.
After the battle, Morgan promptly retreated to the northeast before he could be trapped by Cornwallis' main army, which now began to move against him. Hurrying across four unbridged rivers, Morgan linked up with Greene at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, on February 9. Six days later the reunited American army crossed the Dan River into Virginia.
Yorktown
(Oct. 6-19, 1781)
From North Carolina, the British Gen. Lord Cornwallis marched into Virginia in the spring of 1781. Here he received reinforcements which brought his army up to a strength of 7,500, much superior to the small American army in Virginia under the command of the French Marquis de Lafayette. In June Gen. Anthony Wayne and the Baron von Steuben reinforced Lafayette, increasing his forces to 4,500. Although Cornwallis still had the overwhelming advantage in numbers, he turned eastward to the coast to maintain sea communications with Gen. Sir Henry Clinton in New York City. Reaching Yorktown on August 1, Cornwallis fortified both this town and Gloucester, to the north across the York River.
Meanwhile, above New York City, Gen. George Washington was joined by a French army under the Comte de Rochambeau. The combined allied force crossed the Hudson River on August 21, marching against Cornwallis. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allies arrived at the head of Chesapeake Bay to obtain ship transportation to Virginia. By September 18 all the troops were embarked by the French fleet of the Comte de Grasse, who was maintaining a sea blockade of Cornwallis' army, after having driven off the British fleet in the battle of Chesapeake Capes on September 5. Washington's army finished debarking near Williamsburg on September 26. Here it was joined by Lafayette's force to begin the siege of the 6,000 enemy troops at Yorktown.
From Williamsburg, the allied army marched eastward against the British defenders. Washington, with 8,845 men, commanded the right wing. Rochambeau led 7,800 French troops on the left. By October 6 the allied siege lines, including the heavy guns, were in place, and the first parallel was begun. Three days later 52 siege guns opened fire on the British at Yorktown. A second parallel, started on October 10, was blocked by two British redoubts near the river east of the town. Theses redoubts were stormed and carried four nights later. When a British sortie on October 16 failed to prevent the closes emplacement of the siege artillery, Cornwallis lost hope in holding out. The following morning all allied guns began a cannonade of the doomed town. Cornwallis asked for an armistice and accepted terms of complete surrender. At two o'clock on the afternoon of October 19 the British army marched out of Yorktown and laid down their arms. Across the York River Col. Banastre Tarleton surrendered at Gloucester, bringing the total number of prisoners to 7,247 soldiers and 800 seamen. The siege had cost the British 156 killed, 326 wounded. American losses were 20 killed and 56 wounded, while French losses were 52 killed and 134 wounded.
The British capitulation at Yorktown ended the fighting in America. Early the next year the House of Commons authorized King George III to make peace. The formal treaty acknowledging the independence of the United States was signed on September 3, 1783.
VIII.Pictures
Map of the 13 Colonies
Battle of Lexington
Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware
Battle of Bunker Hill
Surrender of Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown
Sources Used
Lexington & Concord |
During the increasing bitterness between the American colonies and Great Britain, the Continental Congress began organizing the colonial militia. In Massachusetts a military depot was established at Concord, 21 miles from the New England headquarters of the British occupation force at Boston. Gen. Thomas Gage, the British commander in chief in America, resolved to destroy the depot and capture the rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. On the night of April 18, 1775, Gage sent 700 troops under Lt. Col. Francis Smith to accomplish the double mission. When the detachment crossed the Charles River, patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes rode rapidly ahead alerting the countryside. The British column reached Lexington, 16 miles from Boston, at dawn. Here they found 70 armed minuteman under Capt. John Parker drawn up on the village common. Although there was no official command, Smith's men opened fire, killing eight and wounding ten of the militiamen. One British soldier was wounded. This was the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Moving on to Concord, a British platoon was attacked at North Bridge, suffering 14 casualties. Early in the afternoon the red coated column reformed to return to Boston. But now some 4,000 American militiamen had assembled along the road. Firing from behind trees, rocks, and fences, the colonials harassed the return march all the way back to Charlestown. Before they could come under the protective bombardment of their ships in the harbor, the British suffered 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 26 missing. American casualties were 49 killed, 41 wounded, and 5 missing. The colonial militia then closed in around Boston, launching a siege that would last almost a year. Meanwhile other patriots attacked British posts in upper New York.
Bunker Hill |
After the sharp repulse of his raiding party at Lexington and Concord in April, Gen. Thomas Gage concentrated the British occupation troops in the city of Boston. The American militia then closed in to conduct a loose siege under the direction of Gen. Artemas Ward. On the night of June 16, 1,600 colonists under Col. William Prescott moved out on the Charlestown Peninsula, a half-mile north of Boston across the Charles River. By mistake they fortified Breed's Hill, forward of the intended objective of Bunker Hill. While the Americans continued to erect earthworks the following day, Gage ordered a frontal assault on the new position. That afternoon Gen. Sir William Howe landed on the tip of the peninsula with 2,100 British troops. Advancing up the hill in tight formation, the redcoats met a murderous musket and cannon fire that drove them back. A second attack was also repulsed. Then, strengthened by 400 fresh troops under Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, Howe launched a third assault with bayonets fixed. The Americans, now running short of powder, were driven off Breed's Hill. Bunker Hill, held by Gen. Israel Putnam, also was abandoned. Howe had the opportunity to turn the retreat into a disastrous rout. But he halted the British pursuit at the base of the peninsula. In the first pitched battle of the American Revolution, the British suffered 1,054 casualties, a high proportion of them officers, including 226 killed. American losses were 140 killed, 271 wounded, and 30 captured, out of some 1,500 troops actually engaged.
Two weeks after the battle of Bunker Hill, Gen. George Washington arrived at Cambridge to take command of the American army. The siege of Boston was resumed. Finally, on March 17, 1776, after the colonials had fortified Dorchester Heights, to the south, the British evacuated the city and sailed to Halifax, in Canada.
Trenton |
With the loss of forts Washington and Lee, which guarded the Hudson River, Gen. George Washington abandoned New York in November 1776 and retreated southwestward across New Jersey. He crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 11, concentrating the American army behind the river line to cover the U.S. capital at Philadelphia. Congress fled to Baltimore. The British commander, Gen. Sir William Howe, had sent Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis to speed the Continental retreat across New Jersey. But when Washington slipped across the Delaware, Howe ordered his troops into winter quarters.
The American commander in chief seized this opportunity to counterattack. On the night of December 25 he led 2,400 men across the ice choked Delaware nine miles north of Trenton. The following morning he fell on the surprised garrison of 1,400 Hessian troops in Trenton. In a sharp street fight the German commander, Col. Johann Rall, was mortally wounded, 29 others were killed, and 918 captured. The Americans suffered only 5 casualties. After taking his prisoners back into Pennsylvania, Washington recrossed the river to occupy Trenton on December 30 and 31. Howe immediately sent out an army to try to retake the city.
Germantown |
After maneuvering Gen. George Washington away from Philadelphia to the northwest, the British commander, Gen. Sir William Howe, turned back to occupy the city on September 26, 1777. To guard his newly won prize, Howe posted 9,000 troops at Germantown. Washington called in reinforcements to build his army up to 8,000 Continentals and 3,000 militia. By October 4 he was strong enough to launch a four pronged attack against the British lines. The main assault came in the center, with Gen. Nathanael Greene commanding the left column, Gen. John Sullivan the right. On the far left and right Gen. William Smallwood and Gen. John Armstrong, respectively, were to envelop Howe's flanks and close a pincers behind Germantown.
The initial advance of the two center columns drove into Germantown. But in Sullivan's sector along Skippack Road, 120 red coated infantry barricaded themselves in the large stone house of Chief Justice Benjamin Chew. The hedgehog position held up the advance of the American reserve forces. Then a division from Greene's column and Gen. Anthony Wayne's troops from Sullivan's command, confused by heavy fog and smoke, fired on each other. Both units broke in panic and the battle was lost. First Sullivan and then Greene began falling back. The entire American army retreated with a loss of 152 killed, 521 wounded, and 400 captured. Howe suffered 520 casualties. Washington took up winter headquarters at Valley Forge, where his men suffered terrible hardships. The war was now at a critical stage. Washington's army was down to 11,000 men. The winter was one of the coldest and the men were in terrible shape. Soldiers were marching barefoot in the snow, they somehow endured the hardships and fought on. Many died and others refused to fight and went home.
Saratoga |
Despite the defeat of his raiding party at Bennington in August 1777, the British commander, Gen. John Burgoyne, resolved to push on southward to Albany, New York. He made this decision even though he now knew that the other two prongs of the triple British offensive had failed to get their mark, Gen. Howe from New York City and Col. Barry St. Leger from Fort Oswego, New York. On September 13, with his army reduced to about 6,000 men, Burgoyne crossed to the west bank of the Hudson River. Ten miles south of Saratoga, and 22 miles short of Albany, the British found the American army entrenched on Bemis Heights, Gen. Horatio Gates, who had arrived on August 19 to take over command of the American forces from Gen. Philip Schuyler, had about 7,000 troops with fresh militiamen pouring in almost daily.
Burgoyne sought to outflank the American position by sending Gen. Simon Fraser with 2,000 men to seize high ground on the left of Gates' position, on September 19. This American wing was commanded by Gen. Benedict Arnold, aided by Gen. Daniel Morgan and Col. Henry Dearborn. In a fierce fight in the woods around Freeman's Farm the British advance was checked. In this first battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne lost 600 in killed, wounded, or captured. Of the 3,000 Americans engaged, 319 were casualties.
After the battle of Freeman's Farm, both sides held their respective positions. Two weeks later Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in New York City, began moving up the Hudson River in an effort to take some pressure off Burgoyne. On October 6 he seized forts Clinton and Montgomery. By October 16 his ships had penetrated as far northward as Kingston. But here he turned back to New York when he learned of the British surrender on October 17.
Meanwhile Burgoyne made one more desperate effort to break out toward Albany. On October 7 with 1,600 picked men he made a reconnaissance in force against the American left. From his army on Bemis Heights, which now numbered 11,000 men, Gates sent Morgan and Gen. Ebenezer Learned to repel the advance. West of Freeman's Farm the Americans checked and then threw back the British attack. Gen. Simon Fraser, the reconnaissance commander, fell mortally wounded. At this point Gen. Benedict Arnold took charge of the American left wing and led a fierce counterassault against the redcoats. The Continentals swept forward to capture a key redoubt defended by Col. Heinrich Breymann's German mercenaries. Breymann was killed and Arnold himself wounded in the leg. In this second action at Saratoga, called the battle of Bemis Heights, the British suffered 600 casualties. American casualties were 150.
The loss of Breymann's redoubt exposed Burgoyne's west flank. That night he withdrew a mile to the north. On the following day he retreated seven miles farther, to the heights of Saratoga. Here his encirclement became complete on October 13 when John Stark led 1,100 New Hampshire militia across the Hudson to take up a position in the British rear. Burgoyne then asked Gates for surrender terms. And on October 17 the British formally surrendered, 5,728 men laying down their arms.
The British capitulation at Saratoga was the turning point in the American Revolution. It cemented American determination to win their full freedom. And it encouraged France to come into the war on the side of the new United States, on February 6, 1778. Spain and then Holland followed suit, turning the revolution into a world war. On 7 October, 1777, Timothy Murphy, a rifleman in Morgan's Kentucky Riflemen shot and killed General Simon Fraser of the British army. Murphy was said to have taken the shot at roughly 500 yards. He was using the renowned Kentucky rifle. Fraser was leading a recon in force against the rebellious colonists at Bemis Heights in New York. As a result of Fraser's death, the recon failed. This had a direct impact on the overall battle, leading to the British defeat. Thus the American victory at Saratoga ranks as one of the decisive battles in military history.
Charleston II |
In the sixth year of the war the British commander in the United States, Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, stepped up the offensive in the South. Embarking 8,500 troops at New York City, Clinton sailed to South Carolina, where he landed on February 11 on Johns Island, 30 miles south of Charleston. While the fleet blockaded the harbor, Clinton and his second in command, Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis, pushed slowly northward, crossing the Ashley River on March 29. Meanwhile the American commander in the South, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, had been drawing all available troops into the city. He now had 2,650 Continentals and 2,500 militia to hold three miles of fortified lines. Outside the defenses the British attackers, built up to 10,000 men, plus 5,000 seamen, worked their way toward the city parallels.
Northeast of Charleston, across the Cooper River, Lincoln had posted Gen. Isaac Huger with 500 men to protect the American line of communications to the north. On April 14 this force became the object of a sudden British thrust. Col. Banastre Tarleton's British Legion, composed of both cavalry and infantry, struck Huger's camp at 3:00 AM and swept it away. Tarleton pressed on down the left bank of the Cooper, cutting off Lincoln's last avenue of retreat. By May 8 the British investment was complete and a final assault readied. At this point Lincoln asked for a truce in order to consider surrender terms. Four days later the American army marched out of Charleston and laid down their arms. The number of prisoners, Continentals, militia, and armed citizens, came to 5,466. American casualties were 89 killed and 189 wounded during the siege. In addition, a huge quantity of military stores fell into the hands of the victors. At the cost of only 265 casualties, Great Britain had won its greatest victory of the war over the former colonies.
Cowpens |
Despite the patriotic victory at Kings Mountain in October 1781, American strength in the South was at a low ebb when Gen. Nathanael Greene assumed command on December 3 at Charlotte, North Carolina. The capable Greene promptly began reorganizing his forces. He then moved to Cheraw, South Carolina, while sending Gen. Daniel Morgan to make a sweep west of the British base at Winsboro. The British commander in the South, Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis, ordered Col. Banastre Tarleton to pursue Morgan. At the head of 1,100 well trained men, Tarleton caught up with Morgan at Cowpens, a broad plain in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Morgan made a stand with his back and left flank against the Broad River.
Although Morgan had as many men as Tarleton, the great majority of the American forces consisted of raw militia. Morgan compensated for the inexperience of his troops by skillful deployment. In front of his position he posted 150 expert riflemen from Georgia and North Carolina. Some 150 yards to the rear of this line he organized 300 North and South Carolina militia under Gen. Andrew Pickens. Another 150 yards to the rear stood the main American line of 450 men, Continentals flanked by two Virginia militia detachments. Col. William Washington's 125 mounted men constituted the only reserve.
On January 17 Tarleton's Legion charged the American position. As instructed by Morgan, the sharpshooters fired and then fell back to the second line, which fired two volleys before it too fell back. The British pressed on the main line of resistance despite severe casualties. After a deadly half hour battle, this American line also withdrew. The attackers rushed forward anticipating a complete victory. But Morgan had organized his successive and orderly withdrawals to build up pressure of a coiled spring. His entire force suddenly wheeled about and counterattacked the disorganized British. At the same time Washington's cavalry struck their flank and rear. The British army wavered and then bolted in disorder, leaving 100 dead and 229 wounded on the field. Another 600 were taken prisoner. American losses were 12 killed and 60 wounded.
After the battle, Morgan promptly retreated to the northeast before he could be trapped by Cornwallis' main army, which now began to move against him. Hurrying across four unbridged rivers, Morgan linked up with Greene at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, on February 9. Six days later the reunited American army crossed the Dan River into Virginia.
Yorktown |
From North Carolina, the British Gen. Lord Cornwallis marched into Virginia in the spring of 1781. Here he received reinforcements which brought his army up to a strength of 7,500, much superior to the small American army in Virginia under the command of the French Marquis de Lafayette. In June Gen. Anthony Wayne and the Baron von Steuben reinforced Lafayette, increasing his forces to 4,500. Although Cornwallis still had the overwhelming advantage in numbers, he turned eastward to the coast to maintain sea communications with Gen. Sir Henry Clinton in New York City. Reaching Yorktown on August 1, Cornwallis fortified both this town and Gloucester, to the north across the York River.
Meanwhile, above New York City, Gen. George Washington was joined by a French army under the Comte de Rochambeau. The combined allied force crossed the Hudson River on August 21, marching against Cornwallis. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allies arrived at the head of Chesapeake Bay to obtain ship transportation to Virginia. By September 18 all the troops were embarked by the French fleet of the Comte de Grasse, who was maintaining a sea blockade of Cornwallis' army, after having driven off the British fleet in the battle of Chesapeake Capes on September 5. Washington's army finished debarking near Williamsburg on September 26. Here it was joined by Lafayette's force to begin the siege of the 6,000 enemy troops at Yorktown.
From Williamsburg, the allied army marched eastward against the British defenders. Washington, with 8,845 men, commanded the right wing. Rochambeau led 7,800 French troops on the left. By October 6 the allied siege lines, including the heavy guns, were in place, and the first parallel was begun. Three days later 52 siege guns opened fire on the British at Yorktown. A second parallel, started on October 10, was blocked by two British redoubts near the river east of the town. Theses redoubts were stormed and carried four nights later. When a British sortie on October 16 failed to prevent the closes emplacement of the siege artillery, Cornwallis lost hope in holding out. The following morning all allied guns began a cannonade of the doomed town. Cornwallis asked for an armistice and accepted terms of complete surrender. At two o'clock on the afternoon of October 19 the British army marched out of Yorktown and laid down their arms. Across the York River Col. Banastre Tarleton surrendered at Gloucester, bringing the total number of prisoners to 7,247 soldiers and 800 seamen. The siege had cost the British 156 killed, 326 wounded. American losses were 20 killed and 56 wounded, while French losses were 52 killed and 134 wounded.
The British capitulation at Yorktown ended the fighting in America. Early the next year the House of Commons authorized King George III to make peace. The formal treaty acknowledging the independence of the United States was signed on September 3, 1783.
VIII.Pictures |
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Map of the 13 Colonies
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Battle of Lexington
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Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware
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Battle of Bunker Hill
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Surrender of Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown
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