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Siege of Yorktown: The Revolutionary War In Four Minutes

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North Bridge, Old North Bridge, Concord, MA

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North Bridge, Old North Bridge, Concord, MA

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North Bridge, Old North Bridge, Concord, MA

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Facing an impending rebellion, British General Thomas Gage decided to seize weapons and gun powder being stored in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles northwest of Boston, to prevent violence. Patriot spies soon got wind of Gage's plan. Paul Revere and other riders spread the word of the 800 British regulars who were dispatched to Concord.

Departing Boston late in the evening of April 18, the King's troops marched into the small town of Lexington around 5:00 am to find, facing them, a militia company of more 70 men led by Captain John Parker. When the vanguard of the British force rushed forward upon the town green, Captain Parker immediately ordered his company to disperse. At some point a shot rang out-- historians still debate who fired the shot. The nervous British soldiers fired a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moved on towards Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake. Parker and his men would have revenge later that afternoon.

Arriving in Concord around 8:00 am, British commanders Francis Smith and John Pitcairn ordered several companies, about 220 troops in all, to secure the north bridge across the Concord River and then continue on another mile to the Barrett Farm, where a suspected cache of arms and powder was presumably located. By the time the British arrived at the North Bridge, a growing assembly of close to 400 militia from Concord and the surrounding towns had gathered on the high ground overlooking the north bridge. From their vantage point on the hill they could see smoke rising from Concord, the result of British burning some supplies that they uncovered. Thinking the town was being put to the torch, Lieutenant Joseph Hosmer of Concord shouted to his fellow officers, "Will you let them burn the town down?" The decision was then made to take action. Col. James Barrett ordered his companies to march upon the bridge but not to fire upon the British soldiers unless first fired upon. The Acton Company, commanded by thirty-year old Captain Isaac Davis, was placed at the head of the column. When asked if they were prepared to confront the British troops Davis said, "I haven't a man afraid to go."

The Minute Men formed up and marched down the hill. As they did so, the British soldiers, intimidated by the colonial numbers and orderly advance, retreated to the opposite shore and prepared to defend themselves. When Davis's company came within range, British soldiers opened fire, killing Isaac Davis and also Abner Hosmer, another Acton Minute Man. Major Buttrick of Concord shouted, "For God's sake, fire!" and the Minute Men replied with their own volley, killing three British soldiers and wounding nine others. This volley is the volley considered "the shot heard round the world." The rest of the British troops retreated back to town.

Smith and Pitcairn soon ordered a return to Boston, which devolved into a rout as thousands of minute men patriots descended on the area. As the British were attacked from all sides by swarms of angry Minutemen along what is now known as Battle Road. When they reached Lexington, John Parker and his men had their revenge, firing on the British regulars from behind cover. For the next 12 miles, the British were continually ambushed by Minutemen shooting from behind trees, rock walls, and buildings. The emotions of this fight carried well beyond April 19, inspiring American warriors to "rise up and fight again" even in the face of staggering odds against them.

Having heard of the morning fighting at Lexington, General Gage ordered Lord Percy to march from Boston with a relief column. The column reached Smith and Pitcairn's men on the eastern outskirts of Lexington, but Minutemen continued to pour in as word spread quickly throughout the area. Among these minute and militia companies were many African Americans, both free and enslaved, who took up arms and fought alongside their white neighbors.

The British conducted a running fight until they could get under the cover of British guns in ships anchored in the waterways surrounding Boston. By 8:00 pm, it was clear that the day had been a disaster for the British. They lost 73 killed and many more wounded compared to the patriot's loss of 49 killed.

Concord poet Ralph Waldo Emerson dubbed them the "embattled farmers." They were not American citizens, yet. That would have to wait until 1776 and the Declaration of Independence. On April 19, 1775 they were simply loyal British subjects who believed that they were standing up to defend and fight for their rights. In doing so they changed the world forever.

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Lexington and Concord: The Shot Heard 'Round the World

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Facing an impending rebellion, British General Thomas Gage decided to seize weapons and gun powder being stored in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles northwest of Boston, to prevent violence. Patriot spies soon got wind of Gage's plan. Paul Revere and other riders spread the word of the 800 British regulars who were dispatched to Concord.

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Boston Massacre Site, Corner of State and, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Boston Massacre Site, Corner of State and, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Boston Massacre Site, Corner of State and, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Washington Crossing Historic Park, River Road, Washington Crossing, PA

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Washington Crossing Historic Park, River Road, Washington Crossing, PA

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Washington Crossing Historic Park, River Road, Washington Crossing, PA

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washington crossing the delaware wearing santa hat

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Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Congress Street, Boston, MA

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Fort Ticonderoga: The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes

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The Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island): The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes

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Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD

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Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD

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Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD

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This article is about the siege during the American Revolutionary War. For the 1776 British attempt to capture Charleston, see Battle of Sullivan's Island. For the American Civil War sieges, see Battle of Charleston (disambiguation).

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Kings Mountain National Military Park, Park Road, Blacksburg, SC

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Kings Mountain National Military Park, Park Road, Blacksburg, SC

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Kings Mountain National Military Park, Park Road, Blacksburg, SC

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The Revolutionary War battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina proved to be a stinging defeat in the British attempt to secure control of the Southern colonies.

How it ended

American victory. The fierce firefight at Kings Mountain pitted Loyalist militia elements under the command of British major Patrick Ferguson against 900 patriots. The British effort to secure Loyalist support in the South was a failure. Thomas Jefferson called the battle "The turn of the tide of success."

In context

The siege of Charleston in May 1780 was one of the worst American defeats of the Revolutionary War. Another British victory, in the Battle of Camden, followed in August 1780. British general Charles Lord Cornwallis dispatched Major Patrick Ferguson to North Carolina in early September 1780. Ferguson had two tasks: recruit members to fight for the Loyalist militia and protect the Cornwallis's left flank as he attempted to move through the Carolinas.

Nicknamed Bull Dog by his men, Ferguson soon came up against the Overmountain men, residents of the Carolina Backcountry and the Appalachian mountain range, and from places that would later become the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. American cavalry commander "Light Horse" Harry Lee called them, "A race of hardy men who were familiar with the use of the horse and the rifle, stout, active, patient under privation, and brave." To the British, however, they were "more savage than the Indians." From the start Ferguson miscalculated his potential foes, brazenly issuing a proclamation for the local patriots to "desist from their opposition to British arms" or he would "march over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country to waste with fire and sword." His scare tactics backfired.

On October 7, 1780, Ferguson and the Overmountain men met in a small but significant battle in the War for Independence. It took place on a rocky hilltop in Western South Carolina called Kings Mountain. The rout of the Loyalists there was the first major setback for Britain's southern strategy and started a chain of events that culminated in Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.

Before the Battle

Several local patriot militias of the region led by William Campbell, John Sevier, Joseph McDowell, William Hill, Edward Lacy, Benjamin Cleveland, Joseph Winston, William Chronicle and Isaac Shelby decide to take on Ferguson and his men. Learning of their plans, Ferguson opts to retreat from his forward position and pulls back closer to the main body of the British Army. He digs in and fortifies a small 60-foot hill two miles inside the South Carolina border. An American scouting party learns of Ferguson's position, giving militia commanders the intelligence they need to launch an attack. Sensing an impending battle, the American commanders tell their men, "Don't wait for the word of command. Let each one of you be your own officer and do the very best you can." The American plan was simple-to assault the hill from all sides. Campbell tells his men to "shout like Hell and fight like devils."

During the Battle

October 7. In the early afternoon, the Overmountain men creep quietly toward Ferguson's position. When the first shot rings out the Americans attack en masse from all sides. Ferguson deploys his Loyalist militia in the center of the hilltop. He remains mounted and personally leads the counterattack against the patriots surging from the southwest. After firing a volley and fixing bayonets, Ferguson's men blunt the Overmountain men's advance. But it is only on one side of the hill and the Overmountain men continue unabated to attack from the other sides using the undergrowth and woods to their advantage. One Loyalist later recalled that the Overmountain men looked "like devils from the infernal regions... tall, raw-boned, sinewy with long matted hair." Ferguson and his men are surrounded, and their additional counterattacks fail to stop the Americans. The Overmountain men continue their yelling and whooping as they gain ground.

With his defensive perimeter shrinking, Ferguson tries to lead his men past the onslaught. Mounted on his horse, he proves the perfect target for his crack shot opponents. He is hit multiple times, his body hanging from his horse as his mount flees down the hill.

Shortly after Ferguson's death, the Loyalists surrender.

Aftermath

The American riflemen are victorious but there is a cost. One young Overmountain man later recalled, "The dead lay in heaps on all sides, while the groans of the wounded were heard in every direction. I could not help turning away from the scene before me, with horror, and though exalting in the victory, could not refrain from shedding tears."

At Kings Mountain the Backcountry militiamen demonstrate that they can coordinate and execute a battle plan. Their success encourages other patriot revolutionaries. General George Washington later proclaims to his own army that "The crude, spirited, hardy determined volunteers who crossed the mountains served as proof of the spirit and resources of the country." Loyalist elements in North Carolina and South Carolina are intimidated. Kings Mountain sets the scene for an American military resurgence. With the loss of his western flank force, Cornwallis falls back into South Carolina, delaying his planned invasion of North Carolina.

Kings Mountain: Featured Resources

Related Battles

South Carolina | October 7, 1780

Beckhamville, South Carolina | Jun 6, 1780

South Carolina | Dec 4, 1780

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The Revolutionary War battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina proved to be a stinging defeat in the British attempt to secure control of the Southern...

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Bunker Hill Monument, Monument Square, Charlestown, MA

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Bunker Hill Monument, Monument Square, Charlestown, MA

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Bunker Hill Monument, Monument Square, Charlestown, MA

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The battle of bunker....