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Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze. The Battle of Trenton was was fought on Christmas American forces surprised German mercenary forces known as Hessians because they originated in the German state of Hesse and after defeating them, captured almost everyone with very few losses. The Battle of Trenton was important in that it restored the American morale which was low following the massive defeats and evacuation of New York City. The Battle of Saratoga in was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Burgoyne had intended to split the new country in half, cutting off New England from the rest of the country but failed.
The Battle of Saratoga also marked the point when foreign powers, especially France, decided to give support to the American cause. Valley Forge is where George Washington and the Continental Army camped during the winter of The troops suffered from harsh cold, starvation, and disease. Washington managed to miraculously hold the army together and together with news that the French would enter the war on the American side, the tempered army was able to leave in the spring of and recapture Philadelphia. France then supplied the United States with much needed troops, supplies, and military - especially naval support.
The Treaty of Alliance would last until officially despite being unofficially ended by the Neutrality Act of In the British shifted their strategy for the war by moving towards the south. In after a six week siege, the British army captured Charleston South Carolina.
Battle of Camden by Alonzo Chappel. The battle was important in that it came after many defeats in the area and improved moral among American forces. The Battle of Cowpens by William Ranney. The Battle of Cowpens in was a turning point in the American southern campaign to liberate South Carolina from British control. This battle set into motion the events that ultimately led to the end of the war and the defeat of the British. Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull. After the various battles in South Carolina left his army in terrible condition, General Charles Cornwallis retreated to the Virginia city of Yorktown.
It was there in that a combined French and American army led by George Washington defeated and captured General Cornwallis and his army. This defeat was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War and forced Great Britain to decide to come to the negotiating table. The Revolutionary War was officially ended by the Treaty of Paris in Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States and ceded territory to the new country that included everything between the Appalachian mountains and the Mississippi river. Britain also made peace with France through this treaty as well.
The British would however remain in violation of the treaty by maintaining forts in the Midwest that would not be removed until the end of the War of Siege of Boston Henry Knox bringing cannons from Fort Ticonderoga down to Boston The Siege of Boston was a month long confrontation between the newly created Continental army and the British in the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Several senior British officers turned down appointments or publicly resigned commissions because they chose not to take sides in the conflict, including General Jeffrey Amherst and Admiral Augustus Keppel.
William Howe and Henry Clinton, officers with prominent roles in the war, publicly declared that they were unwilling participants and merely following orders. In general, Whig politicians were vehemently opposed to the Tory plan for militarily suppressing the colonial rebellion, causing great divisions within Parliament.
Washington managed to miraculously hold the army together and together with news that the French would enter the war on the American side, the tempered army was able to leave in the spring of and recapture Philadelphia. Adams, Charles Francis. Subject Date August 27, For the next few months, they engaged in a forage war , in which each targeted the foraging parties of the other. After a few weeks Howe forced the Continentals north to White Plains and defeated them again. However, a dense early morning fog which resulted in some American troops firing on each other while it permitted the better disciplined British to re-form for a counterattackand a shortage of, ammunition contributed to the still not fully explained retreat of the Americans, beginning about
Though the British defeated the colonists in a majority of the battles of the Revolutionary War, these victories rarely achieved decisive results. Conversely, the British defeats at the Battle of Saratoga and Siege of Yorktown had a strongly negative impact on British morale, prestige, and manpower. Aside from the problems inherent in the understaffing of their troops and logistical distance from the battlefields of North America, there were other strategic and psychological factors that prevented the British from achieving outright victory.
First, there was no central area of strategic importance necessary to gain victory in the colonies, unlike many of the European conflicts the British army was accustomed to fighting. So, although the British were able to capture large cities such as New York, Philadelphia, or Boston, none of these strategic victories were enough to decisively end the war in British favor. The colonies had not been centralized prior to the war and British forces on the ground were not sufficient to both occupy captured land and cover territories not yet subdued stretching from Canada to Florida. Therefore, many Patriot defeats were quickly reversed on the ground when Patriot militia occupied formerly captured land because British regulars could not sufficiently cover the area.
The manpower shortage became even more critical when France, Spain, and the Netherlands entered the war on the side of the colonies. The British were also hindered by the need to maintain Loyalist allegiance on the ground, which prevented them from utilizing harsh methods for suppressing the Patriot rebellion as they had already done in similar situations that had arisen in Ireland and Scotland.
Because Loyalists came from the same communities as Patriots, extreme measures could not be taken on the ground for fear of alienating local support for the British crown. Nonetheless, many neutral colonists were driven to the Patriot cause as a result of heavy brutality, making a single American victory on the battlefield more psychologically significant to Patriot morale and support than a string of British successes in the long term.
The invasion of Canada in was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec and to persuade the French-speaking Canadiens to support the revolution. Johns, the main defensive point south of Montreal, in November A simultaneous expedition left Cambridge, Massachusetts, under Benedict Arnold and traveled with great difficulty through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec City.
Montgomery joined Arnold outside of Quebec with an army much reduced in size due to expiring one-year enlistment terms. The battle was a disastrous defeat for the Patriots. Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded. Arnold then conducted an ineffectual siege on the city, but was driven over the border, back to Fort Ticonderoga. The Patriot forces were disorganized and weakened by smallpox by this point. Meanwhile, Loyalist sentiments in Canada were boosted by successful propaganda campaigns launched by the British.
Washington skillfully managed a narrow escape, retreating across the East River to Manhattan Island.
Spirits were low among the Continental troops and popular support for the war was wavering. Combined with news of the recovery of Quebec, circumstances suggested to British leaders that the war could soon be won. Britain maintained control of New York City until the war ended in , using it as a base for operations elsewhere in North America. In mid-December, Washington planned a two-pronged attack on an outpost in Trenton, including a third diversionary attack in Bordentown.
On the evening of December 25, , Washington led 2, of his men across the treacherous Delaware River to ambush Hessian soldiers guarding the British fort at Trenton.
The German soldiers were completely caught off guard and the Continental Army quickly triumphed at the Battle of Trenton, killing or capturing nearly 1, Hessians. This victory increased Patriot morale and recruitment. Cornwallis reassembled an army of more than 6, men and marched most of them against a position Washington was holding south of Trenton. He then stationed a garrison of 1, at Princeton and attacked Washington and his men on January 2, but was repulsed three times before darkness set.
That night, Washington stealthily moved his troops again, intending to attack the garrison Cornwallis left at Princeton. The British lost more than a quarter of their forces in the battle and convinced General Howe to withdraw most of his army from New Jersey, with only outposts at New Brunswick and Perth Amboy remaining. Though the Americans suffered significant casualties and lost important supplies, Washington retained the core of his army and had successfully retaken most of the state from the British.
After both British and Continental Army troops entered their winter quarters in early January, Continental Army forces from New Jersey and Pennsylvania engaged in numerous scouting and harassing operations against British and German troops quartered in New Jersey. Though both armies laid elaborate traps for each other, the Patriots held an advantage due to their superior knowledge of the regional geography. Northern and coastal New Jersey continued to be the site of skirmishing and raiding by the British forces that occupied New York City for the duration of the war.
Skip to main content. The American Revolution: — Search for:. Learning Objectives Identify the challenges that the Continental Congress faced in establishing an army. Key Takeaways Key Points Due to lack of funds for the war effort, much of the burden of financing military operations was passed on to the states. Declining enrollment led to longer enlistment periods later in the war. Key Terms Eighty-eight Battalion Resolve : Passed on September 16, , by the Continental Congress, it called for each state to contribute regiments in proportion to their population.