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Presidents' Day may really be called Washington's Birthday, but it will never actually fall on February 22, which is George Washington's birthday. Let's celebrate the "Father of Our Country" by taking a look at some of the legends and myths surrounding this fantastic Father.

If you remember our recent Wonder of the Day about cherries ( Are All Cherries Red?), you know that George Washington did not really chop down a cherry tree as a young boy. That story was made up by an author trying to demonstrate Washington's honesty. How !

Another popular is that George Washington had wooden teeth. He did live a long, long time ago, so maybe that story is true. What do you think?

If you guessed that Washington really did have wooden teeth, you guessed wrong! Contrary to , he never had wooden teeth. Although he did have false teeth (called ""), none were made of wood.

Historians believe Washington had lost all but one of his teeth by the time he became president. The he wore when he was inaugurated were made from carved hippopotamus and gold by Dr. John Greenwood, who became known as the "Father of Modern Dentistry."

Researchers have performed scans on another set of Washington's located at the National Museum of Dentistry. Those were made from gold and , as well as real teeth from humans and animals, such as horses and donkeys.

Another popular holds that Washington once threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Although Washington was quite , he could not have thrown a silver dollar across the Potomac, which is more than a mile wide. Also, there were no silver dollars when Washington was young.

One of his distant relatives, however, once reported that Washington threw a piece of rock "about the size and shape of a dollar" across the Rappahannock River, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he grew up. We don't know for sure if this is true, but historians believe it could be.

At the site of the Washington family , the Rappahannock River is only 250 feet across, making for an impressive but not impossible throwing distance.

In light of the half-truths about Washington we've uncovered, let's take a look at some things we know to be true.

George Washington was:

The only one of the country's Fathers who freed his slaves

The only president who did not live in the White House or Washington, D.C.

The only president who was unanimously elected

The Commander of Continental Forces during the Revolutionary War

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Did George Washington Have Wooden Teeth?

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Presidents' Day may really be called Washington's Birthday, but it will never actually fall on February 22, which is George Washington's birthday. Let's celebrate the "Father of Our Country" by taking a look at some of the legends and myths surrounding this fantastic Father.

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America...the land of the ...the of the ...these are phrases Americans sing frequently . The President of the United States is often referred to as the leader of the world. Americans often quote the Declaration of Independence when discussing their freedoms.

But the freedoms Americans were not . They came with the high of war. What started out as a small collection of British colonies did not become the United States of America until a band of revolutionaries fought for their independence.

In 1775, a between colonial militia members and British troops at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts signaled the start of the Revolutionary War. Also known as the American Revolution and the United States War of Independence, the conflict would quickly grow from a small civil war to a full-blown international conflict.

By the time the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the Americans had basically won their independence. Fighting would finally come to a formal end in 1783.

American history courses teach us much about why the Americans wanted their independence from Great Britain, and we know the important dates and facts about their ultimate . But exactly how did they ever succeed in their mission with the stacked against them in every way?

The British military was the best in the world. It had conquered much of the world and prevailed in war after war over the past century. It was well-trained, fully-equipped, and 50,000 troops strong. If you add in the 30,000 Hessian (German) mercenaries hired to fight the colonists, the British forces outnumbered the colonial forces four to one, as George Washington never commanded a force of more than 20,000 troops at one time.

Moreover, the colonial troops were mostly inexperienced , unskilled, poor, unprepared, and undisciplined . They were also often divided by competing loyalties, as there remained a significant group of colonists, known as Loyalists, who were loyal to Great Britain.

Despite these disadvantages, the colonists prevailed due to a number of factors, great and small. For example, the sheer size of the colonies made them almost impossible to conquer. Although the British were able to maintain control of a few of the large cities for a while, they did not have the manpower to control the vast areas of countryside where the patriots were able to regroup and focus their efforts.

The British also failed to take advantage of the Loyalists throughout the colonies. They didn't fully trust them and preferred to rely instead on their own army. This allowed the patriots to diminish Loyalist efforts to help the British.

The colonists under George Washington also fought a different type of war that British forces were not used to. They avoided large-scale confrontations and instead struck quickly in -style attacks that they had learned and developed during recent wars with Native Americans.

None of these things would have likely brought , however. The key factor that turned the tide for the Americans was the intervention of other nations into the conflict. Without the help of Spain, the Netherlands, and especially France, it's unlikely the colonists would have prevailed.

Ultimately, the Americans prevailed due to their spirit and the fact that they were fighting for something they believed in. Popular support for the Revolutionary War was overwhelming. In the end, the British desire to maintain economic control over the colonies could not match the intense desire of the colonists to be independent and .

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How Did the Americans Win the Revolutionary War?

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America...the land of the ...the of the ...these are phrases Americans sing frequently . The President of the United States is often referred to as the leader of the world. Americans often quote the Declaration of Independence when discussing their freedoms. But the freedoms Americans were not .

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The men who led the American Revolution-George Washington, Sam and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Ethan Allen, and countless others-are well-known. But a number of women aided them in securing a victory over the British. Women played vital roles in the Revolution, serving as soldiers, raising morale, and even spying on the enemy.

1. DEBORAH SAMSON // AMERICAN SOLDIER

In 1783, a young soldier named Robert Shurtlieff took ill, just another man sickened by the "brain fever" outbreak sweeping through the troops stationed in Philadelphia at that time. After a short struggle with the illness, Shurtlieff appeared near death. A doctor checked the man's pulse, then rested a hand on his chest to see if he was still breathing.

He was-and the doctor was in for a surprise. Shurtlieff (sometimes listed as Shurtleff) wasn't a man at all, but a woman who had bound her chest and disguised herself to become a soldier.

Robert Shurtlieff had been invented three years earlier by Deborah Samson (sometimes spelled Sampson), a 20-something girl recently freed from indenture on a farm. A dedicated patriot, she was determined to join the Continental Army, and enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment.

Samson took well to Army life. So well, in fact, that her fellow soldiers teased her for being unable to grow a beard by calling her " Molly," but apparently never suspected the truth behind the name. She was injured in battle several times, always refusing medical care for fear that her secret would be discovered.

When it finally was, the doctor who learned her true identity (and whose niece was falling in love with "Robert"), nursed her back to health and then sent Samson with a letter for General John Paterson, her superior. Samson was not allowed to stay in the forces, but the Continental Army did arrange an honorable discharge and enough money to get her home.

Samson wasn't satisfied with this metaphorical pat on the head. She went on to lecture about her time in the Army, and demanded back pay for her service. She got it in 1792. And in 1805, Congress voted to grant her a pension as a war veteran. Most recently, she was declared Massachusetts' official state heroine, with May 23 as her official day.

2. PRUDENCE CUMMINGS WRIGHT // MINUTEWOMAN

The women of Pepperell, Massachusetts were a patriotic bunch. When they learned of the Boston Tea Party, they burned their tea leaves on the town common.

So when Pepperell's men marched off to war, it's not surprising that the women decided to form their own militia to protect the remaining townspeople. Prudence "Prue" Cummings Wright, who had just lost two children, was elected the leader of "Mrs. David Wright's Guard."

The women wore their husbands' clothing and carried weapons ranging from muskets to farm tools. The militia had formed, in part, because Wright had heard her British-sympathizing brother talk to a friend about smuggling information from Canada to Boston. So, on the day the two were set to cross Pepperell, the militia met them at the one bridge the spies could cross.

The women confiscated their documents and held them prisoner overnight while their messages were forwarded to the Committee of Safety for review. The two men were exiled from the area, and Wright's brother never returned.

3. SYBIL LUDINGTON // THE FEMALE PAUL REVERE

On the evening April 26, 1777, Colonel Henry Ludington received bad news.

British forces led by Major General William Tryon had landed on the coast of Connecticut and marched to Danbury, where they destroyed Continental Army supplies. Colonel Ludington was being asked to gather his militia and march for Danbury, 25 miles away. However, Ludington also needed to stay at his farm to brief the men as they arrived and prepare for the march.

His eldest child, 16-year-old Sybil, volunteered to rouse the militia. She rode out at 9 p.m. on the start of a 40-mile circuit, knocking on farm doors and shouting that the British were in Danbury. Each of the men she woke gathered nearby militiamen and headed for the Ludington homestead, where the colonel was waiting.

Ludington rode through the night, waking dozens of her father's men. She had to avoid bandits and British sympathizers on her route, but she returned home safely. Most of Colonel Ludington's militia gathered and marched to Danbury. They were too late to save the town from British torches, but they did manage to harry the British soldiers all the way back to Long Island Sound.

4. LYDIA DARRAGH // UNDERCOVER PATRIOT

George Washington maintained a large spy network, including a number of agents in British-occupied Philadelphia. According to her descendants, one of these was Lydia Darragh, a Quaker woman whose home became a meeting place for British officers.

Family legend has it that she often hid in a closet adjoining the room the officers met in, then smuggled word of their plans to her son, who served in the Revolutionary forces. Sometimes she sewed the messages into button covers or hid them in needle books.

If the stories are true, her spying career saved the lives of thousands of Revolutionary soldiers, including General George Washington himself. Sometime in early December, British officers meeting in Darragh's home discussed information they'd received that the colonists, led by Washington, were in Whitemarsh. They would launch a surprise attack, they decided. Darragh overheard the plans, then concocted a lie that she needed to purchase flour from a mill outside the city. She was given a pass by the British, then headed straight for the Revolutionary leaders, where she passed the information to an officer in Washington's army.

Thanks to Darragh's intelligence, the colonists were prepared for the Redcoats and, after a few skirmishes, the British retreated back into Philadelphia. Unfortunately, historians have been unable to verify many of the family tales surrounding Darragh's espionage.

5. PATIENCE WRIGHT // SCULPTOR & SPY

Patience Lovell Wright was born in the Colonies, on Long Island. She and her family later moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, where she married a Quaker farmer. However, he died in 1769, and while she was able to stay in her home, she wasn't able to inherit any of his other property. She began sculpting in wax to support herself.

Wright and her sister Rachel, who had also been widowed, opened waxworks houses in Manhattan and Philadelphia, but Wright wanted more. After meeting Jane Mecom, the sister of Benjamin Franklin, she traveled to London, where she quickly won over British high society with her artistic skills and plainspoken ways. She even had the opportunity to meet King George and Queen Charlotte.

Wright began gathering sensitive information during her London sculpting sessions and sent it back to patriot leaders in the Colonies, supposedly encased in her wax sculptures. She also took the Colonies' case directly to the king and queen, finding a supporter in William Pitt.

Wright was a little too vocally supportive of the Colonies, however. Once open warfare broke out, the higher-ups of London society began distancing themselves from her, and she eventually retreated to Paris. She also fell out of favor with the Americans as well, and the Founding Fathers stopped responding to her letters. She returned to London after the war's end, on her way home to the newly founded United States. But she never made it back to America-she died in London a few days after a fall.

6. NANYE'HI (NANCY WARD) // BELOVED WOMAN OF THE CHEROKEE

Nanye'hi of the Cherokee dreamed of peace between her own people and the European settlers who were a growing population in the hills of eastern Tennessee, where she lived. She had seen regular violence throughout her life, due to battles between the Cherokee people and white settlers or other Native American nations.

In a battle against the Creeks, she earned the title of Beloved Woman, giving her a leadership role among the Cherokee. When her husband was killed in the skirmish, she picked up his rifle and led a rout of the enemy. Among her duties as a Beloved Woman was watching over prisoners captured by the Cherokee in raids and warfare. This would become key to her ability to help the Americans during the Revolutionary War.

During the French and Indian War, the Cherokee sided with the British, and that didn't change when the Americans declared independence. The British took advantage of this, encouraging the Cherokee to attack American settlements. Some of the Cherokee were against warfare, but others, tired of the encroaching American settlers taking more of their land, were only too happy to fight.

Historians aren't sure why Nanye'hi chose to side with the Americans. It may have been out of practicality-many Cherokee leaders wanted to drive the white settlers out, but Nanye'hi may have sought to keep things civil with their new, close neighbors, or worried about retaliation if the British lost. Regardless of her motives, whenever Nanye'hi learned of a coming Cherokee attack on the nearby settlers, she freed American prisoners so they might return home with warnings. One of these prisoners was Lydia Bean, a woman rescued by Nanye'hi from being burned at the stake. While Bean was with the Cherokee, the two women reportedly traded skills such as making butter.

After the war, Nanye'hi helped to negotiate peace with the new United States, though she's believed to have later urged the Cherokee not to cede any more land to the Americans, and take up arms if necessary.

7. ESTHER DEBERDT REED // HOMEFRONT HEROINE

On July 4, 1780, General George Washington received a letter from Esther DeBerdt Reed, whose husband knew the general. In the letter, she reported that she and the ladies of Philadelphia had raised $300,000, and asked how it should be spent.

Reed had come to the Colonies with her widowed mother only 10 years earlier, but had quickly set out becoming active in the political and social life of Pennsylvania, eventually rising to the role of Pennsylvania's First Lady. Reed and her husband had entertained notables among the American cause, including Washington himself. So when Reed learned that the soldiers in the Continental Army were hungry and in need of good, warm clothing, she decided she would help.

She gathered other political women, and they went door to door in Philadelphia, asking for donations. While a good deal of the $300,000 they collected was devalued paper currency, they also received coin and in-kind donations such as leather trousers. At Washington's urging, they spent the donations on linen cloth and set out to sew shirts.

Reed died suddenly of a fever in the fall of 1780, but her friend Sarah Franklin Bache, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin, took up the work. The women sewed 2000 shirts for Washington's men.

And that's not where Reed's story ended. She was also the author of an anonymously published broadsheet entitled " Sentiments of an American Woman." The treatise encouraged politically minded women to show their patriotism by offering material support to American soldiers, and inspired movements similar to the one in Philadelphia throughout the Colonies.

8. AGENT 355 // HIDDEN DAUGHTER OF THE REVOLUTION

Agent 355 is one of the most mysterious figures of the American Revolution. After more than 200 years, her identity is still unknown.

A member of the Culper spy ring, 355 reported to Abraham Woodhull, who went by the alias of Samuel Culper Sr. However, she may have been closer to his fictitious "son," merchant Robert Townsend, a.k.a. Samuel Culper Jr. Agent 355 may have been a family member or maid in a well-regarded Loyalist family in New York City, which would have allowed her contact with high-ranking British officers.

It's likely that she was someone particularly close to Major John Andre, who led the British intelligence efforts. The intelligence she passed to the Culper ring was detailed when Andre was in New York, and sparse when he was not.

Whoever she was, she helped to uncover American General Benedict Arnold 's plans to betray the Revolution, and Andre, his contact, was arrested by the colonists. The fort at West Point, which Arnold had schemed to turn over to the British, was saved. Andre was eventually hanged, but Arnold escaped capture and joined the British as planned.

This is where records become murky. According to one legend, Arnold turned over the names of several Patriot spies, including Agent 355. She was captured and held on a British prison ship, where she died-though not before giving birth to a son, Robert Townsend Jr.

Because no one knows who she is, her fate can't be confirmed. While a number of women were held on the prison ships and the Culper ring had several female members, none can be definitively identified as 355.

9. MARGARET CORBIN // MOLLY PITCHER

During the Revolution, women followed along behind the armies on both sides. These camp followers, often the wives or female relatives of soldiers, did laundry, mended clothing, cooked and took on other chores in exchange for food and shelter. However, a few ventured out of the camps and onto the battlefield. Margaret Corbin was one of them.

Corbin's husband handled ammunition for a cannon, and she assisted him. In the fall of 1776, they were stationed at Fort Washington, New York when the fort was attacked by British troops. The man operating the cannon was killed, and Corbin's husband quickly took his place, with Corbin taking over the ammunition duties.

Then Corbin's husband was struck down by enemy fire and killed, too. Without a pause, Corbin manned the cannon, firing it until she was struck by grapeshot that mangled her chest and left arm.

In 1779, the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania awarded Corbin a $30 stipend in exchange for her service. They also recommended that the Board of War grant her a soldier's pension, and the board complied. The Continental Congress gave her a monthly stipend of half an active-duty soldier's pay. Corbin and Deborah Samson were the only women to receive federal pensions for their service in the Revolution.

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9 Women Who Helped Win the American Revolution

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The men who led the American Revolution-George Washington, Sam and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Ethan Allen, and countless others-are well-known. But a number of women aided them in securing a victory over the British. Women played vital roles in the Revolution, serving as soldiers, raising morale, and even spying on the enemy.

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Battles of Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775, (The American Revolution)

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Valley Forge, 1777 (The American Revolution) cartoon

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Deborah Sampson Facts

Deborah Sampson (also known as Deborah Sampson Gannett) is famous for disguising herself as a man so that she could serve in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Deborah was born on December 17 th, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts to Colonial parents Jonathan Sampson and Deborah Bradford Sampson. Deborah was the first of seven children born to her parents (Jonathan, Elisha, Hannah, Ephraim, Nehemiah and Sylvia). Deborah and her family lived in Plympton, Massachusetts while she was young but her father abandoned the family, she was sent to live with a relative, and she began working at a young age. She questioned the British's actions at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and as the war went on, even though she worked as a teacher, she dressed as a man so she could fight along with the men.

After Deborah's father abandoned the family her mother could not afford to care for all seven children.

Deborah and the next four oldest siblings were sent to live with neighbors or relatives.

Deborah was sent to live with her cousin Ruth Fuller in Middle borough where she learned to sew, read and write.

Three years after Deborah arrived at Ruth Fuller's house to live, Ruth became ill and died.

Deborah was then sent to live with Mistress Thatcher, an old widow, who required constant care.

Within a year the Mistress Thatcher was sent to live with a relative and Deborah was sent to live with Benjamin Thomas.

At Benjamin's house Deborah took care of his sons and was not permitted to go to school.

When she was 18 years old Deborah left Benjamin's house and became a weaver and then a teacher.

In the spring of 1781 Deborah enlisted in the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff. She was 21 but she gave the age of 17.

Deborah had to sleep in a tent with six men on a bed made of hay and burlap.

While on a scouting party with other soldiers Deborah was shot in the leg and the head. She thought she was going to die, and the British thought she was dead, so they left her there.

Another soldier took her to a hospital and Deborah survived the wounds.

Deborah got sick in 1783 and a doctor discovered that she was a woman, but he kept her secret.

The doctor's niece fell in love with Robert (Deborah), and the truth had to be revealed.

When she disclosed the fact that she was a woman to the General she was discharged, but with much respect and an excellent service record.

Deborah Sampson married Benjamin Gannett on April 7 th, 1785. Together they had three children.

Deborah was given a small pension for her service in the army and for the wounds she received.

Paul Revere pushed Deborah to go on tour to promote her fame from her service in the war, to help make money. She took his advice and lectured in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.

Deborah Sampson Gannett died on April 29 th, 1827 at the age of 68.

Her tombstone reads 'Deborah wife of Benjamin Gannett, dies April 29 th, 1827, aged 68 years'. The reverse side of her tombstone reads 'Deborah Sampson Gannett, Robert Shurtliff, The Female Soldier Service 1781-1783'.

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Deborah Sampson (also known as Deborah Sampson Gannett) is famous for disguising herself as a man so that she could serve in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Deborah was born on December 17 th , 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts to Colonial parents Jonathan Sampson and Deborah Bradford Sampson.

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Causes of the Revolutionary War

For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities.

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years' War (1756-1763), brought new territories under the power of the crown, but the expensive conflict lead to new and unpopular taxes. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians altered their appearance to hide their identity boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.

Did you know? Now most famous as a traitor to the American cause, General Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as one of its earliest heroes, helping lead rebel forces in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.

In response, a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown. This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent. It issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out.

On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoats. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the "shot heard round the world" that signified the start of the Revolutionary War.

HISTORY Vault: The Revolution

Declaring Independence (1775-76)

When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates-including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson-voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief. On June 17, in the Revolution's first major battle, colonial forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British regiment of General William Howe at Breed's Hill in Boston. The engagement, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause.

Throughout that fall and winter, Washington's forces struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York helped shift the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On July 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson. That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000 troops to New York. In August, Howe's Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island; Washington was forced to evacuate his troops from New York City by September. Pushed across the Delaware River, Washington fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night and won another victory at Princeton to revive the rebels' flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

Saratoga: Revolutionary War Turning Point (1777-78)

British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England (where the rebellion enjoyed the most popular support) from the other colonies. To that end, General John Burgoyne's army marched south from Canada toward a planned meeting with Howe's forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne's men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront Washington's army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

Howe's move had left Burgoyne's army exposed near Saratoga, New York, and the British suffered the consequences of this on September 19, when an American force under General Horatio Gates defeated them at Freeman's Farm in the first Battle of Saratoga. After suffering another defeat on October 7 at Bemis Heights (the Second Battle of Saratoga), Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France (which had been secretly aiding the rebels since 1776) to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June 1778. The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

Stalemate in the North, Battle in the South (1778-81)

During the long, hard winter at Valley Forge, Washington's troops benefited from the training and discipline of the Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben (sent by the French) and the leadership of the French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette. On June 28, 1778, as British forces under Sir Henry Clinton (who had replaced Howe as supreme commander) attempted to withdraw from Philadelphia to New York, Washington's army attacked them near Monmouth, New Jersey. The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York. On July 8, a French fleet commanded by the Comte d'Estaing arrived off the Atlantic coast, ready to do battle with the British. A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

The Americans suffered a number of setbacks from 1779 to 1781, including the defection of General Benedict Arnold to the British and the first serious mutinies within the Continental Army. In the South, the British occupied Georgia by early 1779 and captured Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. British forces under Lord Charles Cornwallis then began an offensive in the region, crushing Gates' American troops at Camden in mid-August, though the Americans scored a victory over Loyalist forces at King's Mountain in early October. Nathanael Green replaced Gates as the American commander in the South that December. Under Green's command, General Daniel Morgan scored a victory against a British force led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens, South Carolina, on January 17, 1781.

Revolutionary War Draws to a Close (1781-83)

By the fall of 1781, Greene's American forces had managed to force Cornwallis and his men to withdraw to Virginia's Yorktown peninsula, near where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. Supported by a French army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14,000 soldiers, while a fleet of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October 19. Claiming illness, the British general sent his deputy, Charles O'Hara, to surrender; after O'Hara approached Rochambeau to surrender his sword (the Frenchman deferred to Washington), Washington gave the nod to his own deputy, Benjamin Lincoln, who accepted it.

Though the movement for American independence effectively triumphed at the Battle of Yorktown, contemporary observers did not see that as the decisive victory yet. British forces remained stationed around Charleston, and the powerful main army still resided in New York. Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.

Fact Check

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Revolutionary War - Timeline, Facts & Battles | HISTORY

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The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.

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In June 1775, about two months after Lexington and Concord, the Continental (American) army was still holding Boston in siege. Boston was surrounded on three sides by water, and on the fourth by the Continental army.

The British army was well trained and many had been involved in the wars in Europe. The British could have left Boston by water, but they neither had enough ships nor enough interest to do so. The British troops considered the militia and Minutemen as a bunch of poor, ignorant farmers, with old muskets.

Militia vs Trained Army:

The colonists were not a trained army. They were a militia, kind of like the national guard. They drilled on weekends, but they did not have the same weapons as a true army. In fact each militia member was supposed to supply their own rifle.

The colonial leaders learned from their spies that the British were about to send troops out to occupy the hills surrounding Boston. From there, they could shoot more effectively at the militia and Minutemen who had blocked them in.

Artemus Ward, general of the Massachusetts army, sent about 1,000 men to Charleston peninsula at night, to fortify the hill before the British arrived. Charleston peninsula is right outside of Boston.

The men he sent, led by Colonel Prescott, decided to fortify Breeds Hill instead. Breeds Hill was about a third of a mile (about 1300 feet) from Bunker Hill. Breeds Hill was lower, and within artillery (canon) range of Boston.

When the British woke up the next morning, they found Breed's Hill swarming with Minutemen.

About 2,000 British troops quickly sailed from Boston to the peninsula. If some of the British troops had sailed to the mouth of the peninsula, they might have been able to trap the Americans on the peninsula when they ran out of ammunition, but the British did not do that. The British had heard that the colonists had canons. They did not want to risk their ships.

When they landed on the peninsula, the British ate lunch. That gave the Minutemen more time to fortify the hill by digging trenches to better protect themselves.

Colonel Prescott of the colonial militia warned his men: "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." This quote is famous, and possibly legendary. (This quote is also attributed to Israel Putnam.) It was true that the Minutemen were low on ammunition, and that their muskets were old and inaccurate and billowed a lot of smoke. So it was important to let the British get very close before they fired to be as effective as possible.

It was not until mid-afternoon that the British began their attack. The British attacked Breed's Hill twice but were driven back each time by the Minutemen. The third time the British attacked, the Minutemen retreated, mostly because they were out of ammunition, and also because the British muskets had bayonets and most of the colonial muskets did not. In hand to hand combat, the Minutemen were at a great disadvantage.

So the British won, but it was very costly for them in terms of lost men and reputation. The British lost over 200 men with another 800 wounded, which was nearly half their force. The colonials also lost men, but their losses were much less.

This battle gave heart to the colonial patriots and their cause.

This battle was misnamed "Battle of Bunker Hill", instead of Battle of Breed's Hill, and signaled the beginning of the end of British control in North America.

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The American Revolution for Kids and Teachers - Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill) - Road to Revolution for Kids

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In June 1775, about two months after Lexington and Concord, the Continental (American) army was still holding Boston in siege. Boston was surrounded on three sides by water, and on the fourth by the Continental army. The British army was well trained and many had been involved in the wars in Europe.

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George Washington (1732-1799) President of the USA

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The Boston Tea Party 1773, (The American Revolution)

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And other battles!

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American Revolutionary War Facts

Hessian Soldiers in Trenton

Introduction
In early December of 1776 things looked bad for the American colonist in their fight for independence from Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. In fact they had lost one battle after another and were forced to abandon New York City and retreat through New Jersey into Pennsylvania. The morale of the Continental Army was low and it seemed the short lived rebellion of the American colonist would soon be over. General George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army, was not the type of commander to give up easily. He devised a plan to launch a surprise attack against the enemy which would result in the Battle of Trenton. Every kid in America who has ever taken a U.S. history class has learned how this battle gave renewed hope to the Americans in their struggle for independence. The list of interesting facts below provides information including how the Americans won the Battle of Trenton, where it was fought, and who the commanders were.

Click here for a great selection ofAmazon.com books about the Battle of Trenton.

Basic Battle of Trenton Facts

The battle was fought on the morning of December 26, 1776.

The Battle of Trenton was won by the American forces.

The battle pitted approximately 2,400 soldiers of the Continental Army, commanded by George Washington, up against about 1,400 Hessian soldiers commanded by Colonel Johann Rall. Hessian soldiers are paid German soldiers hired by the British government.

The Americans attacked the Hessian soldiers garrisoned in what was then the small town of Trenton New Jersey.

The surprise attack was made possible due to General Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River a few miles north of Trenton, New Jersey under extremely adverse weather conditions. This event was immortalized by the famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware painted by Emanuel Leutze.

The Hessian casualties were 22 killed and 83 wounded. Over 1,000 Hessians were captured.

The American colonist casualties were only 2 killed and 5 wounded in the battle; however many died in the days following the battle due to illness brought on by exposure and exhaustion.

The other Continental Army commanders, serving under Washington at the Battle of Trenton, were Major General Nathanael Greene, Major General John Sullivan, and Brigadier General Henry Knox.

Interesting Battle of Trenton Facts

The city of Trenton was not fortified thus leaving the Hessians vulnerable to attack. In fact the Hessian commander Rall did not take the advice of several of his officers to fortify the town.

The Hessians were warned of an imminent attack but had let their guard down on the night of the battle believing the cold and icy weather conditions would make an attack impossible.

The Hessian forces were caught off guard and were completely surrounded; after a short battle they surrendered.

The Hessian commander, Colonel Rall, was fatally wounded during the battle and died later that day.

All four Hessian colonels involved in this American Revolutionary War battle were killed.

An interesting fact about this battle is that future president James Monroe fought in it and received a near fatal wound.

General Washington had hoped to move on from Trenton and attack Princeton and New Brunswick both in New Jersey; however his troops exhausted and with reinforcements unable to join them he took his army back into Pennsylvania.

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American Revolutionary War Battle Facts

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American Revolutionary War Facts In early December of 1776 things looked bad for the American colonist in their fight for independence from Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. In fact they had lost one battle after another and were forced to abandon New York City and retreat through New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

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Liberty`s Kids: #05 "Midnight Ride" (1/2)