The Revolutionary

War

Continental Continental ArmyArmy

• General George Washington

• goal/strategy: protect by retreat and counterattack when they have the advantage

• Strengths- manpower ?- fighting on own soil- guerilla warfare- resourceful leaders- fighting for home

and family

Continental Continental ArmyArmy

• Weaknesses- raising and organizing army

bribery: land and Freedom- supplies and equipment- $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

need foreign support- dealing with state govt.

the real center of authority

Washington• indispensable

- held army and country together

• lacked military genius

• gained respect of most of patriots

• faced mutiny from men

• faced removal from Congress

BritishBritish Army Army

• The Regulars• Led by General

William Howe • Strategy: confront

and defeat Continental Army and isolate radical Patriots of New England

• advantages- superior

military- financial- most powerful

navy

BritishBritish Army Army

• weaknesses- traditional fighting- govt. is far away- fighting for a pay check

How did the United States beat the most powerful

country in the world?

Battle of Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill

• Breed’s Hill June 17,1775

• Place: On the Charlestown Peninsula on the North side of Boston Harbor.

• Combatants: British troops of the Boston garrison against troops of the American Continental Army.

• Generals: Major General Howe against General Artemas Ward and General Israel Putnam

• Size of the armies: 2,400 British troops against 1,500 Americans.

Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their

eyes!

The death of the American General Warren at the climax of the Battle of Bunker Hill by John

Trumbull

Battle Results

• Americans Retreat- 450 killed or

wounded• British Win! ???????

- 1,150 killed or wounded (1/2)

heavy loss!- hold hill until

retreat from Boston March 1776

• What did the Battle of Bunker Hill demonstrate?

- determination to fight- can stand up to a

professional army- retreat when it is

needed

Dunmore ProclamationNov. 7, 1775

• martial law• freedom to patriot

slaves who joined the British Army

• plan backfired = Angry Virginia slave owners

• estimated 100,000 tried escape but only 800-1000 joined British

First Phase • Patriots surround Boston- British leave March

1776• British do not gain huge loyalist support in South• Patriots lose Canada

- siege of Canada fails- Montgomery and Benedict Arnold- Benjamin Franklin fails as civilian commission

Death of General Wolf at the Battle

of Quebec

Second Phase 1776-1778

• Conventional war- British in position to win but

foul it up• British drive Americans from NY

into Penn

Gentlemen Warfare

Dec. 25, 1776 : Trenton New Jersey

Maryland Regiment

James Monroe

New England Sailor: African

Descent

Scottish Immigrant

Western Rifleman

Western Rifleman

Farmers from PA and NJ: blanket coats and wide brimmed hats

A woman?

Delaware Regiment

George Washington

GW rode up and down the column urging his men forward. Suddenly the general’s horse slipped and started to fall on a steep and icy slope. “While passing a slanting slippery bank,” Lieutenant Bostwick remembered, “his excellency’s horse’s hind feet both slip’d from under him.” The animal began to go down. Elisha Bostwick watched in fascination as Washington locked his fingers in the animals mane and hauled up its heavy head by brute force. He shifted his balance backward just enough to allow the horse to regain its hind footing on the treacherous road. Bostwick wrote that the general “seiz’d his horses mane and the horse recovered.” It was an extraordinary feat of strength, skill, and timing; and another reason why his soldiers stood in awe of this man. Source: Washington’s Crossing

by: David Hackett Fischer

George Washingt

on and his slave William

Lee

Trenton• 1,400 Hessian Troops• 2,400 American Troops• Fighting lasts approximately

90 minutes• 2-7 American casualties

- James Monroe• 100 Hessian/British

casualties ( approx. 20 dead)• Approximately 1000 POW

Who were the Hessians ?

Famous Americans at TrentonJames

MonroeJames

MadisonJohn

Marshall

Aaron Burr Alexander Hamilton

Surrender at Trenton

What happened to the Hessian Troops?

• What did the Battle of Trenton Demonstrate?- Resourceful Leadership

GB’s Mistakes

• plan to cut US in 2• Burgoyne pursues and Howe

changes plan• Howe take Philadelphia• Burgoyne suffers several defeats

The Battle of SaratogaOctober 7, 1777

The major Turning Point of the War

British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York

France decides to help the American

s

Lack of Supplies

• “If the war is continued thro the winter, the British troops will be scared at the sight of our men, for they had never fought with naked men.”

- a “peaceable man” as he watched the troops march by

Source: Washington’s Crossing by: David Hackett Fischer

Winter 1777-1778

Valley Forge Pennsylvania

Location is close enough to apply pressure far enough away to avoid a sneak attack2,000 huts builtMiles of trenches dugFortifications built

Washington’s

Headquarters

Naked and Starving as

they areWe Cannot

enough admire the

incomparable patience and fidelity of the

soldiery

2,000 soldiers die2/3 from disease: influenza, typhus, typhoid, and dysentery

Baron Baron Friedrich Friedrich

von von Steuben Steuben trains the trains the

troopstroops

And the Force was with us!

• What did the Winter at Valley Forge Demonstrate?- Resourceful Leadership- Determination- Motivation to Win

Patriots Recruit Slaves• In 1775 Washington

rejected the idea• By winter of Valley Forge

he has changed his mind• Washington convinced by

lack of soldiers- disease and desertion

• An estimated 5,000 served in the Patriot army

• 20,000 for British/loyalists

Final Phase

• Characterized by guerilla warfare• British look for loyalist aid

- find more patriots than thought- lose loyalist sympathy due to slavery

• stalemate in N. • Battles in W. won by Patriot George Rogers

Clark• British win some in S. but hounded by

guerillas

Yorktown

• Washington & French v. Cornwallis• Washington joins with Lafayette in march by land French circle by sea• October 17, 1781 Cornwallis surrounded- surrenders• Treaty of Paris Signed September 3, 1783

• What did the Battle of Yorktown Demonstrate?- Great Leadership- Benefits of French Aid

Treaty of Paris 1783

Americans who signed the Treaty:

John Adams, Benjamin

Franklin, and John Jay

Treaty of Paris 1783• unconditional

recognition of independence!

• land (ambiguous)- S. boundary of Canada to N. boundary of Florida- Atlantic to Mississippi