The American Revolution
Contents:
British generals, however, tended toward a lack of imagination and initiative , while those who demonstrated such qualities often were rash. Because troops were few and conscription unknown, the British government, following a traditional policy, purchased about 30, troops from various German princes.
The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between and The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from. The Revolutionary War was an insurrection by American Patriots in the 13 colonies to British rule, resulting in American independence. The Revolutionary War (), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s
The Lensgreve landgrave of Hesse furnished approximately three-fifths of that total. Few acts by the crown roused so much antagonism in America as that use of foreign mercenaries. After the Boston Tea Party December 16, , Parliament responded with the Intolerable Acts , a series of punitive measures that were intended to cow the restive population into obedience. Thomas Gage , the commander of all British troops in North America.
William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth , secretary of state for the colonies, advised Gage that. Gage, for his part, felt that no fewer than 20, troops would be adequate for such an endeavour, but he acted with the forces he had at hand. Beginning in the late summer of , Gage attempted to suppress the warlike preparations throughout New England by seizing stores of weapons and powder.
Although the colonials were initially taken by surprise, they soon mobilized. Groups such as the Sons of Liberty uncovered advance details of British actions, and Committees of Correspondence aided in the organization of countermeasures. The following day, several hundred men assembled and stormed the fort, capturing the six-man garrison, seizing a significant quantity of powder, and striking the British colours; a subsequent party removed the remaining cannons and small arms.
On April 16 Revere rode to Concord , a town 20 miles 32 km northwest of Boston, to advise local compatriots to secure their military stores in advance of British troop movements. The trio were apprehended outside Lexington by a British patrol, but Prescott escaped custody and was able to continue on to Concord.
Some British troops spent the evening of April 18, , forming ranks on Boston Common, with orders to seize the colonial armoury at Concord. The lengthy public display ensured that Gage had lost any chance at secrecy, and by the time the force had been transported across the Charles River to Cambridge it was 2: The march to Lexington was an exercise in misery. It began in a swamp, and the British were forced to wade through brackish water that was, in places, waist deep. By the time the soaked infantrymen arrived in Lexington at approximately 5: Officers on both sides ordered their men to hold their positions but not to fire their weapons.
The colonial force evaporated, and the British moved on to Concord, where they were met with determined resistance from hundreds of militiamen. Now outnumbered and running low on ammunition, the British column was forced to retire to Boston.
American Revolution
On the return march, American snipers took a deadly toll on the British, and only the timely arrival of 1, reinforcements prevented the retreat from becoming a rout. Those killed and wounded at the Battles of Lexington and Concord numbered British and 95 Americans. Rebel militia then converged on Boston from all over New England, while London attempted to formulate a response. Those four commanders would be identified with the conduct of the principal British operations. The Continental Congress in Philadelphia , acting for the 13 colonies, voted for general defensive measures, called out troops, and appointed George Washington of Virginia commander in chief.
Before Washington could take charge of the 15, colonial troops laying siege to the British garrison in Boston, Gage ordered Howe to drive the Americans from the heights in Charlestown. The placement of American artillery on the heights would have made the British position in Boston untenable , so on June 17, , Howe led a British frontal assault on the American fortifications. The British eventually cleared the hill but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force, and the battle was a moral victory for the Americans.
On July 3 Washington assumed command of the American forces at Cambridge. Not only did he have to contain the British in Boston, but he also had to recruit a Continental army. During the winter of —76 recruitment lagged so badly that fresh drafts of militia were called up to help maintain the siege.
The balance shifted in late winter, when Gen. The British fort, which occupied a strategic point between Lake George and Lake Champlain , had been surprised and taken on May 10, , by the Green Mountain Boys , a Vermont militia group under the command of Col. The cannons from Ticonderoga were mounted on Dorchester Heights, above Boston.
The guns forced Howe, who had replaced Gage in command in October , to evacuate the city on March 17, Howe then repaired to Halifax to prepare for an invasion of New York, and Washington moved units southward for its defense. Meanwhile, action flared in the North. In the fall of the Americans invaded Canada. One force under Gen. Richard Montgomery captured Montreal on November Another under Benedict Arnold made a remarkable march through the Maine wilderness to Quebec.
Land campaigns to 1778
Unable to take the city, Arnold was joined by Montgomery, many of whose troops had gone home because their enlistments had expired. An attack on the city on the last day of the year failed, Montgomery was killed, and many troops were captured. The Americans maintained a siege of the city but withdrew with the arrival of British reinforcements in the spring. Pursued by the British and decimated by smallpox , the Americans fell back to Ticonderoga. Forced to build one of his own, Carleton destroyed most of the American fleet in October but considered the season too advanced to bring Ticonderoga under siege.
As the Americans suffered defeat in Canada, so did the British in the South. Charleston , South Carolina , was successfully defended against a British assault by sea in June. Having made up its mind to crush the rebellion, the British government sent General Howe and his brother, Richard, Admiral Lord Howe , with a large fleet and 34, British and German troops to New York. It also gave the Howes a commission to treat with the Americans.
The Continental Congress , which had proclaimed the independence of the colonies, at first thought that the Howes were empowered to negotiate peace terms but discovered that they were authorized only to accept submission and assure pardons. Their peace efforts getting nowhere, the Howes turned to force.
Washington, who had anticipated British designs, had already marched from Boston to New York and fortified the city, but his position was far from ideal.
Those battles were fought by local militias. Society emphasized the role of mothers in child rearing, especially the patriotic goal of raising republican children rather than those locked into aristocratic value systems. Then the vast majority of Americans, who were loyal but cowed by the terroristic tactics… would rise up, kick out the rebels, and restore loyal government in each colony. Burned villages and crops, murdered chiefs, divided councils and civil wars, migrations, towns and forts choked with refugees, economic disruption, breaking of ancient traditions, losses in battle and to disease and hunger, betrayal to their enemies, all made the American Revolution one of the darkest periods in American Indian history. British law and the American Revolution. Fads and Heroes
His left flank was thrown across the East River , beyond the village of Brooklyn , while the remainder of his lines fronted the Hudson River , making them open to a combined naval and ground attack. The position was untenable since the British absolutely dominated the waters about Manhattan. Howe drove Washington out of New York and forced the abandonment of the whole of Manhattan Island by employing three well-directed movements upon the American left. He then scored a smashing victory on August 27, driving the Americans into their Brooklyn works and inflicting a loss of about 1, men.
Washington skillfully evacuated his army from Brooklyn to Manhattan that night under cover of a fog. On September 15 Howe followed up his victory by invading Manhattan. Howe slipped between the American army and Fort Washington and stormed the fort on November 16, seizing guns, supplies, and nearly 3, prisoners. Research Your Family History Are you just starting out on your journey to discover your family roots…or are you one document away from solving a mystery of one of your ancestors? Map your Family Tree Find out who you're related to. Honor your Ancestors Preserve your history forever.
Free Access to our Records No membership needed. Become a Member - Share a Bond DAR members come from a variety of backgrounds and interests, but all share a common bond of having an ancestor who helped contribute to securing the independence of the United States of America. Daughters are vibrant, active women who are passionate about community service, preserving history, educating children, as well as honoring and supporting those who serve our nation.
Tell us your DAR story. Signers of the Declaration. Horatio Gates at Camden, S. Even the virtual elimination of a second American army just three months after their triumph at Charleston did the British little lasting good. Small militia bands under commanders like Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens continued to attack isolated British forces.
In October, patriot militia from both the Carolinas and Virginia defeated a loyalist army under British Col. Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain , South Carolina, putting an end to organized loyalist activity in the state, and giving a large boost to American hopes. Following Kings Mountain, Gen. Nathanael Greene arrived in North Carolina to reorganize the southern American forces. Soon thereafter, in January , a combined force of Continental and militia troops under Daniel Morgan beat a British army at Cowpens , South Carolina. Cornwallis won a tactical victory, but one-quarter of his men were killed or wounded.
After shifting to the coast at Wilmington, N. Greene then turned his attention to retaking South Carolina, capturing one by one the isolated British posts, including a day siege that resulted in the British abandoning Ninety Six. Cornwallis's shift to Virginia resulted from frustration with the situation in the Carolinas and a hope that he could combine with Gen.
- Developing Healthy Sleep Habits in Early Childhood (Parenting Pointers Book 22)!
- 11. The American Revolution.
- Fantasy Land (LadyDelight Fantasies Book 4).
- Revolutionary War.
- American Revolution: Causes and Timeline | donnsboatshop.com - HISTORY?
Clinton's forces and win a decisive victory over Washington's army. Washington was then encamped in New Jersey, engaged in planning for an attack on the British in New York in combination with the Comte de Rochambeau's French army.
A large French fleet under the Comte de Grasse had already left France with orders first to take control of the seas in the West Indies and then to support Washington and Rochambeau's operations. In August, Washington learned that de Grasse was headed for the Chesapeake Bay and saw a chance to destroy Cornwallis before he could be reinforced.
Meanwhile, Cornwallis occupied and fortified Yorktown and Gloucester on opposite banks of the York River. A small Continental and militia force under the Marquis de Lafayette kept Cornwallis's army occupied until Washington could concentrate his forces in Virginia. Graves returned to New York with his damaged fleet, leaving Cornwallis trapped at Yorktown.
At the end of September, with heavy cannons landed under the protection of the French ships, the allied forces began the siege of Yorktown.
- Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections.
- Unequal Partners: The United States and Mexico (Pitt Latin American Series).
- The American Revolution - (Home).
- The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
- The American Revolution.
As the bombardment grew heavier and his attempt to break out from the Gloucester beachhead failed, Cornwallis had no choice but to order his subordinate Brig. Charles O'Hara to surrender his army of 8, to Washington on October 19, End Game Yorktown was a great victory for Franco-American arms, but it was not conclusive. The British still occupied New York City, Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah, and there was no immediate prospect of the Americans taking these cities.
However, the British were hard pressed by years of war, and the government in London saw that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Cornwallis's army. The British public was also reaching the limits of its willingness to pay taxes to support the American war. Realizing that the costs of the war were greater than the potential gain, the British government entered into peace negotiations, with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay representing the United States.
The Treaty of Paris, signed in September , officially ended hostilities, recognized American independence, and made the Mississippi River the new nation's western border. It also allowed Britain to retain Canada and returned Florida to Spain. The failure of the British to withdraw from forts in the northwest with "all convenient speed" and difficulties with Spain over the navigation of the Mississippi River would require more negotiations, but American independence, virtually unthinkable in , had been achieved.