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George Washington was the American general and commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

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William Howe was the commander in chief of the British army during the American Revolution.

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The American Revolution was a war fought by the 13 colonies in order to gain independence against the colonial government, which was under the control of Great Britain's King George III. Before the 1760s, the colonies were allowed some independence even though they were still under the rule of King George III, as the British government was more than 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in Great Britain. Following the lengthy French and Indian War, Great Britain would gain new territories, yet this would fall back on the colonists as the British government would try to raise revenue by taxing the colonies. British lawmakers, also known as Parliament, would pass a law called the Stamp Act that would put a tax on legal papers as well as newspapers and other items that required printing. Colonists were very angry with Parliament's decision and would protest against the new act, as colonists did not feel represented in Parliament, and they believed it was unfair to not have the same rights as other British subjects just because they did not live in Great Britain. The tax would be repealed by Parliament, but it would not be long before the Townshend Acts were passed, taxing tea, lead, paper, and glass entering colonial ports. Colonial resistance would lead to violence in 1770 when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what is known as the Boston Massacre. After the Boston Tea Party, in which a group of Bostonians disguised themselves to hide their identity and boarded British ships, dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures known as the Intolerable Acts to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts. The colonists realized that the colonies would have to work together to get rid of the Intolerable Acts, and they held a meeting to ask Great Britain to cancel the Intolerable Acts, but the British government would respond by sending more British soldiers. Many colonists believed that their problems with Britain could not be worked out peacefully, so they prepared to fight by forming their own groups of soldiers called Minutemen that were ready to fight "at a minute's warning." The colonists would soon learn that Great Britain knew of their plan and was ready to fight as well.

Revolutionary War - Timeline, Facts & Battles - HISTORY

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 The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes 

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 The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes 

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The ride occurred in April of 1775, on the eve of the Battles of Concord and Lexington. British soldiers, referred to as "regulars" in the Liberty Kids video, had planned to arrest both Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were the leaders of the Sons of Liberty that were staying in Lexington. Upon capturing the two men, the British wanted to continue their plan by advancing into the town of Concord to destroy the colonists' stores and take the gunpowder, ammunition, and several cannons that were housed at the stores. William Dawes was tasked with warning every volunteer from Boston to Concord. Paul Revere put up the signals of two lanterns in the Old North Church, one if by land and two if by sea, for the Sons of Liberty in Charlestown. After putting up the lanterns, Revere crossed the river where an arranged horse was waiting for him to ride to Charlestown. Upon reaching Lexington, Revere was able to alert both Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the British's plan. Both Revere and Dawes planned to ride to Concord, but they would be met with British soldiers outside of Lexington. Dawes went ahead to Concord, and Revere was captured by the British. Revere would be released after being questioned by the soldiers, where he would instead walk back to Lexington to aid in the escape of Adams and Hancock.

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Liberty's Kids 105 - The Midnight Ride with Paul Revere & William Dawes | History Cartoons for Kids

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Liberty's Kids 106 - The Shot Heard 'Round the World   

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 "The Shot Heard Around the World"              Battles of Lexington and Concord    

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 "The Shot Heard Around the World"              Battles of Lexington and Concord    

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During the evening of April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British Royal Governor of Massachusetts, ordered hundreds of troops to march to Concord to destroy the colonists' weapons and ammunition. This is what prompted Paul Revere and William Dawes to make their rides. On the road to Concord from Boston, the British soldiers met fewer than eighty Minutemen on Lexington Green, the open square in the middle of town. The British ordered the Minutemen to lay down their arms and disperse. When the Minutemen refused, the British were ordered to surround and disarm the Minutemen. When the British soldiers were advancing towards the Minutemen, an unknown shot rang out that shocked both the Minutemen and the British, as both were ordered to not shoot. The shot resulted in both groups taking cover, where they would begin firing on each other. This resulted in the death of 8 colonists, and the British moved on to Concord. The colonists in Concord were able to hide most of their ammunition, but the British destroyed all that they could find. They then met Minutemen on the Old North Bridge over the Concord River. The British fired, the Americans fired back, and the war began. The British were outnumbered and running low on ammunition. They began to retreat toward Boston.

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Liberty's Kids 106 - The Shot Heard 'Round the World

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The Battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill took place on June 17, 1775, near Boston. The Battle of Bunker Hill was a result of the Battles of Concord and Lexington.  Some 1,000 colonial volunteers had taken up residence on Breed's Hill, where they built "forts" under Colonel William Prescott. The colonist volunteers that were holding place at Breed's Hill were told by Prescott, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" as a result of the Americans' having very little ammunition. The volunteers began firing at the British when they were yards away, which shocked the British and caused them to retreat. Yet this did not stop the British, as after regrouping, they were now joined by reinforcements and charged the hill again. Because they were outnumbered and outgunned, the volunteers were forced to retreat after the British took over Breed's Hill. The British had taken Bunker (Breed's) Hill, yet hundreds of casualties were sustained, which made the British feel as though they had lost.

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In early 1777, General William Howe asked London for approval on his plan to attack Philadelphia that would hopefully destroy the American government. In Canada, General John Burgoyne had also submitted his own plan to march south to Albany, New York, to meet up with General Howe, whose army would march north from New York City in an attempt to isolate the colonies. Burgoyne forced the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga on July 6th by leading approximately 8,000 British southward into New York. He would leave 1,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Ticonderoga to proceed onward south, where he would capture Fort Edward on the upper Hudson River on July 31. After crossing the Hudson, he would camp near Saratoga, where General Horatio Gates had an estimated 12,000 Continental soldiers waiting four miles away and were receiving more soldiers every day. Fast forward to September 19th, 1777, when the Burgoynes' army would engage in an attack on Gates' forces in the First Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm. Gate's troops, which number around 12000, would be able to prevent Burgoyne's army of around 1000 from carrying out their plan to advance southward towards Albany. However, Burgoyne and his troops would retreat to think up another plan that would become the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights. The Battle of Bemis Heights would occur on October 7th, 1777, where the British would be greeted with a powerful attack from the Continental Army led by none other than Benedict Arnold. The attack by Arnold's forces on the British would push them back because Burgoyne was now down to 5,000 troops and the British supplies were running low. The next day, the British would be ordered to retreat as they were forced to surrender at Saratoga after they were met with the force of 20,000 American soldiers. Burgoyne would later surrender on October 17, 1777, and accept the given conditions presented during the Convention of Saratoga.

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Battles of Saratoga, in the American Revolution, closely related engagements in the autumn of 1777. The Battles of Saratoga are often considered together as a turning point of the war in favour of the Americans.

The British campaign of 1777

The failure of the American invasion of Canada in 1775-76 had left a large surplus of British troops along the St. Lawrence River. In 1777 these troops were to move south for an attack on Albany, New York. Gen. John Burgoyne, coming down from Canada via Lake Champlain and Lake George, was to meet at Albany a much smaller British force under Col. Barry St. Leger, who was to advance from Oswego along the Mohawk Valley. Coming up the Hudson from the south, Gen. Sir William Howe's army was to serve as the third prong of this complex offensive campaign. With Albany and the Hudson Valley in British hands, the patriot hotbed of New England would be effectively severed from the mid-Atlantic colonies.

American Revolution Events

Burgoyne, with some 9,000 men, including seven regiments of British regulars and 3,000 Germans, reached Fort Ticonderoga (July 1), which was evacuated by its weak garrison (July 5). He then marched his army through the woods and swamps to Fort Edward on the upper Hudson. The fort was evacuated by the American commander, Gen. Philip Schuyler, on July 31. Schuyler retreated across the Hudson to Stillwater, 20 miles (32 km) north of Albany; on August 19, Schuyler was relieved of command and replaced by Gen. Horatio Gates.

Burgoyne's laborious march involved the construction of 40 bridges and required a long halt at Fort Edward. A German detachment was sent to Bennington, Vermont, to seize horses and supplies, but on August 16 it was surrounded and almost completely annihilated by a force under Gen. John Stark and Col. Seth Warner. Burgoyne now became uneasy. He had left nearly 1,000 men to garrison Ticonderoga, and St. Leger was held up before Fort Schuyler (unbeknownst to Burgoyne, St. Leger had retreated on August 22). Most troubling of all, Howe had notified Burgoyne of his intention to abandon the New York campaign entirely and invade Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, Burgoyne considered himself bound by his orders to press on to Albany. Having collected 30 days' rations, he crossed the Hudson on September 13 and camped near Saratoga, New York. Gates, one of the more experienced and trusted officers in the colonial ranks, was encamped 4 miles (about 6 km) away, on Bemis Heights, with 12,000 men. Gates, unlike Burgoyne, was receiving daily reinforcements.

Battle of Freeman's Farm

On September 19 Burgoyne moved south and engaged the Continental forces at the Battle of Freeman's Farm, also called the First Battle of Saratoga. Early in the battle, many British officers were killed in the open fields by Col. Daniel Morgan 's sharpshooters, who were concealed in the thick woods. As the disheartened British advance guard began to break, the main British force arrived, followed soon after by German reinforcements that struck the American troops forcefully. The Continentals stood fast, however, and heavy fighting lasted for several hours, but at dusk they withdrew. Despite losing the field, the Americans had suffered just 90 killed and 240 wounded, compared with 440 killed and nearly 700 wounded for the British.

On September 21 Burgoyne received notice from Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, who had been left in command of British forces at New York, that Clinton was about to launch an attack up the Hudson Valley. Burgoyne sent a dispatch to Clinton, asking for orders, on September 27. The answer was never received. In the meantime, Howe had captured the colonial capital of Philadelphia, but this victory proved almost meaningless in the larger context of the war. On October 3 Clinton headed north with a force of some 4,000 men and quickly captured two forts on the west bank of the Hudson, but he never had any intention of pressing on to Albany. Burgoyne was now awaiting reinforcements from Clinton that would never come. Gates took this time to strengthen his positions as more American units arrived.

Second Battle of Saratoga

Burgoyne's army had dwindled to perhaps 5,000 combat-ready troops, and he estimated that he had two weeks of supplies left. On October 7 he decided that he could wait no longer and launched an attack without the reinforcements. This engagement was called the Battle of Bemis Heights, also known as the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm or the Second Battle of Saratoga. Burgoyne first sent in a reconnaissance force, using 1,500 troops in three columns, while leaving the main body of his troops closer to the heights. Brig. Gen. Simon Fraser, tasked with probing the American left, was met by a body of Continental infantry, including Morgan 's riflemen. They opened fire on the exposed British, fatally wounding Fraser as he attempted to cover a British withdrawal.

Just as the American attack began to falter, Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold appeared on horseback with a fresh brigade behind him. This drove the British troops back to their redoubts at Freeman's Farm. The Germans in their redoubt stubbornly resisted American assaults, but they were finally overwhelmed. On October 8 Burgoyne began to retreat, but Gates, who now had 20,000 men, surrounded him at Saratoga. On October 17 Burgoyne surrendered his troops under the Convention of Saratoga, which provided for the return of his men to Great Britain on condition that they would not serve again in North America during the war.

Aftermath

The American victory in the Battles of Saratoga helped persuade the French to recognize American independence and to openly provide military assistance. It also increased Gates's popularity-so much so that he was being considered to replace George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. That notion was squelched, however, and Washington retained his position until he received the British surrender in 1781.
Kate Lohnes The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Battles of Saratoga | Facts, Casualties, & Significance

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Battles of Saratoga, in the American Revolution, closely related engagements in autumn 1777. The American victories led the French to recognize the colonies' independence and to provide them with military assistance. This marked the turning point of the war, virtually ensuring ultimate victory for the colonies.

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Prussian lieutenant general Frederick von Steuben

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Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, functioned as one of the winter encampments for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. George Washington chose to encamp his army at Valley Forge as it was between Philadelphia and Yorktown. The location proved to be risky at first, as Philadelphia was occupied by the British, and it made it almost impossible for the Continental Army to receive their supplies. Due to this, many of the soldiers lacked proper shoes and clothing, which resulted in many of the soldiers dying due to exposure to the freezing weather as well as malnutrition. Many soldiers chose to desert the army, yet the soldiers that did not leave stayed due to Washington's leadership, which provided them with courage. A huge turning point for the army at Valley Forge was the arrival of Prussian lieutenant general Frederick von Steuben. Von Steuben left Europe to come to America to help train Washington's army to fight. By the time the army chose to leave Valley Forge in 1778, they were well disciplined and organized due to Steuben's efforts.

What Happened at Valley Forge - Valley Forge National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

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The Battle of Yorktown was fought from September 28th to October 19th, 1781. It is considered the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was victorious against the British Army led by General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Cornwallis was forced to surrender after being surrounded by Washington's army. The Americans were assisted by the French, led by the Comte de Rochambeau. The battle took place in Yorktown, Virginia, near the York River. After the French fleet defeated a British fleet, Cornwallis was cut off and had to surrender to the French and the Continental Army. Eventually, it led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, two years later.

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Liberty's Kids 136 - Yorktown | History Cartoons For Children

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 The Aftermath of the American Revolution  

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 The Aftermath of the American Revolution  

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Great Britain recognized the United States as its own independent nation as a result of the Treaty of Paris. The British gave up a large amount of territory, which is the modern-day Midwest, which consists of everything between the Mississippi River and the 13 colonies. The American Revolution was a major factor in paving the way for long-lasting change in the values of Americans. From the beginning of the war in 1765 to the end of the war in 1784, the American Revolution played a vital role in the change of American society as the war resulted in the creation of the Electoral College as well as the Constitution and the viewpoint on slavery as slaves served in the war just as colonists had.

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The entrance of France into the war, followed by that of Spain in 1779 and the Netherlands in 1780, effected important changes in the naval aspect of the war. The Spanish and Dutch were not particularly active, but their role in keeping British naval forces tied down in Europe was significant. The British navy could not maintain an effective blockade of both the American coast and the enemies' ports. Because of years of neglect, Britain's ships of the line were neither modern nor sufficiently numerous. An immediate result was that France's Toulon fleet under d'Estaing got safely away to America, where it appeared off New York and later assisted Sullivan in the unsuccessful siege of Newport. A fierce battle off Ushant, France, in July 1778 between the Channel fleet under Adm. Augustus Keppel and the Brest fleet under the comte d'Orvilliers proved inconclusive. Had Keppel won decisively, French aid to the Americans would have diminished and Rochambeau might never have been able to lead his expedition to America.

In the following year England was in real danger. Not only did it have to face the privateers of the United States, France, and Spain off its coasts, as well as the raids of John Paul Jones, but it also lived in fear of invasion. The combined fleets of France and Spain had acquired command of the English Channel, and a French army of 50,000 waited for the propitious moment to board their transports. Luckily for the British, storms, sickness among the allied crews, and changes of plans terminated the threat.

Despite allied supremacy in the Channel in 1779, the threat of invasion, and the loss of islands in the West Indies, the British maintained control of the North American seaboard for most of 1779 and 1780, which made possible their Southern land campaigns. They also reinforced Gibraltar, which the Spaniards had brought under siege in the fall of 1779, and sent a fleet under Adm. Sir George Rodney to the West Indies in early 1780. After fruitless maneuvering against the comte de Guichen, who had replaced d'Estaing, Rodney sailed for New York.

While Rodney had been in the West Indies, a French squadron slipped out of Brest and sailed to Newport with Rochambeau's army. Rodney, instead of trying to block the approach to Newport, returned to the West Indies, where, upon receiving instructions to attack Dutch possessions, he seized Sint Eustatius, the Dutch island that served as the principal depot for war materials shipped from Europe and transshipped into American vessels. He became so involved in the disposal of the enormous booty that he dallied at the island for six months.

In the meantime, a powerful British fleet relieved Gibraltar in 1781, but the price was the departure of the French fleet at Brest, part of it to India, the larger part under Adm. François-Joseph-Paul, comte de Grasse, to the West Indies. After maneuvering indecisively against Rodney, de Grasse received a request from Washington and Rochambeau to come to New York or the Chesapeake.

Earlier, in March, a French squadron had tried to bring troops from Newport to the Chesapeake but was forced to return by Adm. Marriot Arbuthnot, who had succeeded Lord Howe. Soon afterward Arbuthnot was replaced by Thomas Graves, a conventional-minded admiral.

Informed that a French squadron would shortly leave the West Indies, Rodney sent Samuel Hood north with a powerful force while he sailed for England, taking with him several formidable ships that might better have been left with Hood. Soon after Hood dropped anchor in New York, de Grasse appeared in the Chesapeake, where he landed troops to help Lafayette contain Cornwallis until Washington and Rochambeau could arrive. Fearful that the comte de Barras, who was carrying Rochambeau's artillery train from Newport, might join de Grasse and hoping to intercept him, Graves sailed with Hood to the Chesapeake. Graves had 19 ships of the line against de Grasse's 24. Though the battle that began on September 5 off the Virginia Capes was not a skillfully managed affair, Graves had the worst of it and retired to New York, thus sealing the fate of Cornwallis's army at Yorktown. Graves ventured out again on October 17 with a strong contingent of troops and 25 ships of the line, while de Grasse, reinforced by Barras, now had 36 ships of the line. No battle occurred, however, when Graves learned that Cornwallis had surrendered.

Although Britain subsequently recouped some of its fortunes, by Rodney defeating and capturing de Grasse in the Battle of the Saints off Dominica in 1782 and British land and sea forces inflicting defeats in India, the turn of events did not significantly alter the situation in America as it existed after Yorktown. A new government under Lord Shelburne tried to get the American commissioners to agree to a separate peace, but, ultimately, the treaty negotiated with the Americans was not to go into effect until the formal conclusion of a peace with their European allies.

Aftermath

Preliminary articles of peace were signed on November 30, 1782, and the Peace of Paris (September 3, 1783) ended the U.S. War of Independence. Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States (with western boundaries to the Mississippi River) and ceded Florida to Spain. Other provisions called for payment of U.S. private debts to British citizens, American use of the Newfoundland fisheries, and fair treatment for American colonials loyal to Britain.

In explaining the outcome of the war, scholars have pointed out that the British never contrived an overall general strategy for winning it. Also, even if the war could have been terminated by British power in the early stages, the generals during that period, notably Howe, declined to make a prompt, vigorous, intelligent application of that power. They acted, to be sure, within the conventions of their age, but in choosing to take minimal risks (for example, Carleton at Ticonderoga and Howe at Brooklyn Heights and later in New Jersey and Pennsylvania) they lost the opportunity to deal potentially mortal blows to the rebellion. There was also a grave lack of understanding and cooperation at crucial moments (as with Burgoyne and Howe in 1777). Finally, the British counted too strongly on loyalist support they did not receive.

But British mistakes alone could not account for the success of the United States. Feeble as their war effort occasionally became, the Americans were able generally to take advantage of their enemies' mistakes. The Continental Army, moreover, was by no means an inept force even before Steuben's reforms. The militias, while usually unreliable, could perform admirably under the leadership of men who understood them, like Arnold, Greene, and Morgan, and often reinforced the Continentals in crises. Furthermore, Washington, a rock in adversity, learned slowly but reasonably well the art of generalship. The supplies and funds furnished by France from 1776 to 1778 were invaluable, while French military and naval support after 1778 was essential. The outcome, therefore, resulted from a combination of British blunders, American efforts, and French assistance.
Willard M. Wallace The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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American Revolution - French intervention in the American Revolution

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The entrance of France into the war, followed by that of Spain in 1779 and the Netherlands in 1780, effected important changes in the naval aspect of the war. The Spanish and Dutch were not particularly active, but their role in keeping British naval forces tied down in Europe was significant.