Revolutionary War Timeline

1. American Revolution Timelineof Important Events
1775
Battle of Lexington and
Concord in Mass.
Battle of Bunker Hill.
1776
Washington takes
command of army.
Washington surprises
Hessians at Trenton,
New Jersey, Christmas of
1776.
Declaration of
Independence written.
1777
Americans win battle
at Saratoga.
They lose the capital
at Philadelphia.
Americans spend a
harsh winter with few
supplies at Valley
Forge, PA.
1778
France gives
America supplies
and men.
1779
War shifts to the southern
colonies. British try to
divide the colonies.
1780
Vicious fighting in
the south
characterized by
guerilla warfare.
Americans win at
King’s Mountain.
1781
Americans win battle
of Cowpens.
French and
Americans forced
Cornwallis to
surrender at
Yorktown, VA.
1783
Americans
and British signed
the Treaty of
Paris, ending the
war.

2. Battle of Bunker Hill June 1775: Americans surround
Boston and place a siege on the British inside the city.
They create a small fort next to Bunker Hill outside of
Boston (the star on the map). The British capture the
hill, but pay a high price for it. This turns out to be one
of the bloodiest battles of the entire war and Americans
prove to the British that they will fight against
professional troops.
Boston
Lexington and Concord April 1775:
The lines and arrows on the map indicate the
British marching towards Lexington and
Concord. Their mission was to capture and
destroy any weapons and ammunition they
found. The British run into American Militia
at Lexington and the famous ‘shot heard round
the world’ is fired. 8 Americans were killed
and the British marched on to Concord. After
brief fighting the British march back toward
Boston, but are ambushed by almost 4,000
Minutemen along the road back to Boston.
The British lose almost 250 casualties and are
surrounded in Boston.

3. Battle of New York City Summer of 1776: After leaving Boston, the British move towards New York City.
Washington has no other choice but to try to stop them. He is outnumbered, and facing British and German
professional soldiers. Washington places himself between the city and the enemy and hopes for the best. Instead of
directly attacking the Americans, the British simply move around the right side of them and attack from the rear.
The German Hessians commit brutal acts of violence against surrendering Americans, bayoneting many when they
try to surrender or shooting them in the swamps around the city. Washington and his army are only able to escape
after a dense fog surrounds the battlefield and he slips across the Manhattan river to safety. Americans will get a
chance at revenge against the Hessians at Christmas of this same year.

4. Battle of Trenton, New Jersey Christmas of 1776: After being chased out of New York City, Washington and the
American army retreats to Pennsylvania. British General Howe is not used to fighting battles in the winter and has
the majority of him men in New York City. This was usually a time of rest, but Washington has to do something to
boost the spirits of the new nation. He only has around 2,000 men from his original 20,000 around Boston in 1775.
He plans a bold move to attack a small force of Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, NJ which was located across the
Delaware river from Pennsylvania. He knows that Germans usually celebrated fairly intensely for Christmas and
wanted to surprise them the day after when many would still be feeling the effects of the party from the night before.
His plans work, with a little luck, and he surrounds the Hessians and takes many prisoners and badly needed
supplies.

5. Battle of Saratoga September, 11th
1777:
The American success at Trenton did not last
long. In the spring of the next year, 1777,
Howe and the British leave New York and
head for the American capital of
Philadelphia. They hoped that by taking the
capital city, many Americans would give up
the idea of independence. To try to take
pressure off of Philadelphia and gain support
from the public, Washington divides his tiny
army and sends part of it into New York.
His plan works and he captures an entire
British army group. His success convinces
France to join our side with troops and
supplies.

6. Americans
British
Battle of the Cowpens January 1781:
After the year 1779, the fighting of the war
shifts mostly to the southern colonies. The
British had more loyalists in the south and
wanted to try to divide the colonies and
conquer them one section at a time. At the
Battle of the Cowpens, the Americans finally
get the upper hand and defeat the British
using tactics that had been used to defeat
them in the past. This battle is recreated in
the last battle scene of the movie, The
Patriot. The Americans use deception to try
to lure the British into thinking they are
panicking and set a trap that works. From
here the Americans push Cornwallis and the
British towards Yorktown and eventual
surrender.

7. British
Americans and French
Surrounding Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, VA October 1781:
After being chased out of the southern
colonies of South Carolina and North
Carolina, Cornwallis and the British head
north towards Virginia. He is able to make it
to Yorktown and waits there for supplies
from the British navy. He does not know,
however, that the French navy is on the way
to destroy the British navy and cut off his
escape by sea. At the same time,
Washington and his French allies head south
undetected from PA and NJ and surround
Yorktown. A siege of Yorktown lasts only a
few weeks and for the first time, a large
British army surrenders to the Americans.
Yorktown is generally seen as the last major
battle of the Revolutionary War. The British
and Americans sign the Treaty of Paris in
1783 and win their independence at last.