Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.

Lead-Up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Starting in 1764, Great Britain enacted a series of measures aimed at raising revenue from its 13 American colonies. Many of those measures, including the Sugar Act, Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, generated fierce resentment among the colonists, who protested against “taxation without representation.” Boston, the site of the 1770 Boston Massacre and the 1773 Boston Tea Party, was one of the main points of resistance. King George III of Britain ramped up the military presence there, and in June 1774 he shut down the city’s harbor until colonists paid for tea dumped overboard the previous year. Soon after, the British Parliament declared that Massachusetts was in open rebellion.

On April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren learned from a source inside the British high command that Redcoat troops would march that night on Concord. Warren dispatched two couriers, silversmith Paul Revere and tanner William Dawes, to alert residents of the news. They first traveled by different routes to Lexington, a few miles east of Concord, where revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock had temporarily holed up. Having persuaded those two to flee, a weary Revere and Dawes then set out again. On the road, they met a third rider, Samuel Prescott, who alone made it all the way to Concord. Revere was captured by a British patrol, while Dawes was thrown from his horse and forced to proceed back to Lexington on foot.

Fighting Breaks Out in Lexington and Concord

At dawn on April 19, some 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and came upon 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A British major yelled, “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels.” The heavily outnumbered militiamen had just been ordered by their commander to disperse when a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows which side fired first. Several British volleys were subsequently unleashed before order could be restored. When the smoke cleared, eight militiamen lay dead and nine were wounded, while only one Redcoat was injured.

The British then continued into Concord to search for arms, not realizing that the vast majority had already been relocated. They decided to burn what little they found, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen occupying the high ground outside of Concord incorrectly thought the whole town would be torched. The militiamen hustled to Concord’s North Bridge, which was being defended by a contingent of British soldiers. The British fired first but fell back when the colonists returned the volley. This was the “shot heard ‘round the world” later immortalized by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

After searching Concord for about four hours, the British prepared to return to Boston, located 18 miles away.

Did You Know?

Paul Revere never shouted the legendary phrase later attributed to him (“The British are coming!”) as he passed from town to town during his midnight ride on April 18, 1775. The operation was meant to be conducted as discreetly as possible since scores of British troops were hiding out in the Massachusetts countryside. Furthermore, colonial Americans at that time still considered themselves British.

By that time, almost 2,000 militiamen—known as minutemen for their ability to be ready on a moment’s notice—had descended to the area, and more were constantly arriving. At first, the militiamen simply followed the British column. Fighting started again soon after, however, with the militiamen firing at the British from behind trees, stone walls, houses and sheds. Before long, British troops were abandoning weapons, clothing and equipment in order to retreat faster.

When the British column reached Lexington, it ran into an entire brigade of fresh Redcoats that had answered a call for reinforcements. But that did not stop the colonists from resuming their attack all the way through Menotomy (now Arlington) and Cambridge. The British, for their part, tried to keep the colonists at bay with flanking parties and canon fire. In the evening a contingent of newly arrived minutemen from Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, purportedly had a chance to cut off the Redcoats and perhaps finish them off. Instead, their commander ordered them not to attack, and the British were able to reach the safety of Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support.

Aftermath of Lexington and Concord

The colonists did not show great marksmanship that day. As many as 3,500 militiamen firing constantly for 18 miles only killed or wounded roughly 250 Redcoats, compared to about 90 killed and wounded on their side. Nevertheless, they proved they could stand up to one of the most powerful armies in the world. News of the battle quickly spread, reaching London on May 28. By the following summer, a full-scale war of independence had broken out.

Bunker Hill

On June 17, 1775, early in the Revolutionary War (1775-83), the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. Although commonly referred to as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting occurred on nearby Breed’s Hill.

Battle of Bunker Hill: Yankees Prepare to Fight on Breed's Hill

On June 16, 1775, having learned that the British were planning to send troops from Boston to occupy the hills surrounding the city, some 1,000 colonial militiamen under Colonel William Prescott (1726-95) built earthen fortifications on top of Breed’s Hill, overlooking Boston and located on the Charlestown Peninsula. (The men originally had been ordered to construct their fortifications atop Bunker Hill but instead chose the smaller Breed’s Hill, closer to Boston.)

Battle of Bunker Hill: June 17, 1775

On June 17, some 2,200 British forces under the command of Major General William Howe (1729-1814) and Brigadier General Robert Pigot (1720-96) landed on the Charlestown Peninsula then marched to Breed's Hill. As the British advanced in columns against the Americans, Prescott, in an effort to conserve the Americans’ limited supply of ammunition, reportedly told his men, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" When the Redcoats were within several dozen yards, the Americans let loose with a lethal barrage of musket fire, throwing the British into retreat.

After re-forming their lines, the British attacked again, with much the same result. Prescott's men were now low on ammunition, though, and when the Redcoats went up the hill for a third time, they reached the redoubts and engaged the Americans in hand-to-hand combat. The outnumbered Americans were forced to retreat. However, by the end of the engagement, the Patriots' gunfire had cut down some 1,000 enemy troops, with more than 200 killed and more than 800 wounded. More than 100 Americans perished, while more than 300 others were wounded.

Battle of Bunker Hill: Legacy

The British had won the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill, and Breed's Hill and the Charlestown Peninsula fell firmly under British control. Despite losing their strategic positions, the battle was a significant morale-builder for the inexperienced Americans, convincing them that patriotic dedication could overcome superior British military might. Additionally, the high price of victory at the Battle of Bunker Hill made the British realize that the war with the colonies would be long, tough and costly.

Brooklyn Heights

British forces under General William Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard viscount Howe, defeat Patriot forces under General George Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights in New York on this day in 1776.

On August 22, Howe's large army landed on Long Island, hoping to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half. On August 27, the Redcoats marched against the Patriot position at Brooklyn Heights, overcoming the Americans at Gowanus Pass and then outflanking the entire Continental Army. The Americans suffered 1,000 casualties to the British loss of only 400 men during the fighting. After the victory, Howe chose not to follow the advice of his subordinates and did not storm the Patriot redoubts at Brooklyn Heights, where he could have taken the Patriots' military leadership prisoner and ended the rebellion.

General Washington ordered a retreat to Manhattan by boat. The British could easily have prevented this retreat and captured most of the Patriot officer corps, including Washington. Howe, however, still hoped to convince the Americans to rejoin the British empire in the wake of the humiliating defeat, instead of forcing the former colonies into submission after executing Washington and his officers as traitors. On September 11, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and other congressional representatives reopened negotiations with the Howes on Staten Island. The negotiations fell through when the British refused to accept American independence.

The British captured New York City on September 15; it would remain in British hands until the end of the war.

Saratoga

Fought eighteen days apart in the fall of 1777, the two Battles of Saratoga were a turning point in the American Revolution. On September 19th, British General John Burgoyne achieved a small, but costly victory over American forces led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. Though his troop strength had been weakened, Burgoyne again attacked the Americans at Bemis Heights on October 7th, but this time was defeated and forced to retreat. He surrendered ten days later, and the American victory convinced the French government to formally recognize the colonist's cause and enter the war as their ally.

September 19, 1777, and October 7, 1777

The word Saratoga is shorthand for two battles that gave the coup de grace to the 1777 British invasion from Canada during the American Revolutionary War. After capturing Fort Ticonderoga with almost laughable ease, the British army, led by overconfident General John Burgoyne, crawled south at a tortoise pace, giving the rattled Americans time to regroup under Horatio Gates. To support him, General George Washington sent Benedict Arnold, his best infantry commander; Colonel Daniel Morgan and his crack regiment of Virginia riflemen; and two brigades of Continentals from the Hudson Highlands. They raised Gates's strength to about sixty-five hundred men. Equally important was Colonel Thaddeus Kosciusko, the Polish engineer, who built excellent field fortifications on Bemis Heights overlooking the Hudson River.

On September 19, Burgoyne attacked. The fiery Arnold prodded Gates out of his defensive mentality, winning permission to lead Morgan's men and Henry Dearborn's light infantry into the woods to block a British flanking column. For most of the afternoon, a furious struggle raged around and across a clearing called Freeman's Farm; Arnold poured in fresh regiments until the jittery Gates broke off the action, leaving the battered British in possession of the ground. After fortifying his camp and waiting in vain for reinforcements from New York, Burgoyne attempted another assault on October 7. Ignoring orders from the jealous Gates to remain in his quarters, Arnold joined the fighting and led an attack that captured key strong points, forcing the British to retreat to Saratoga (modern Schuylerville). There, surrounded by a belated outpouring of militia, Burgoyne surrendered ten days later.

British general and playwright John Burgoyne surrenders 5,000 British and Hessian troops to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York, on this day in 1777.

In the summer of 1777, General Burgoyne led an army of 8,000 men south through New York in an effort to join forces with British General Sir William Howe's troops along the Hudson River. After capturing several forts, Burgoyne's force camped near Saratoga while a larger Patriot army under General Gates gathered just four miles away. On September 19, a British advance column marched out and engaged the Patriot force at the Battle of Freeman's Farm, or the First Battle of Saratoga. Failing to break through the American lines, Burgoyne's force retreated. On October 7, another British reconnaissance force was repulsed by an American force under General Benedict Arnold in the Battle of Bemis Heights, also known as the Second Battle of Saratoga.

Gates retreated north to the village of Saratoga with his 5,000 surviving troops. By October 13, some 20,000 Americans had surrounded the British, and four days later Burgoyne was forced to agree to the first large-scale surrender of British forces in the Revolutionary War.

Did You Know?

To celebrate the American victory at Saratoga, the Continental Congress issued a proclamation for a national day "for solemn Thanksgiving and praise," the first official holiday observance with that name.

Burgoyne successfully negotiated that his surviving men would be returned to Britain by pledging that they would never again serve in North America. The nearly 6,000-man army was kept in captivity at great expense to the Continental Congress until the end of the war.

Soon after word of the Patriot victory at Saratoga reached France, King Louis XVI agreed to recognize the independence of the United States and French Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Count de Vergennes, made arrangements with U.S. Ambassador Benjamin Franklin to begin providing formal French aid to the Patriot cause. This assistance was crucial to the eventual American victory in the Revolutionary War.

Valley Forge

Things looked bleak for General George Washington's Continental Army at the end of 1777. After marching from New Jersey to confront 17,000 British forces recently landed at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, they lost two key battles at Brandywine and Germantown, and saw the hated Redcoats occupy Philadelphia. Rather than meet the Continental Congress' demand for a mid-winter attack at Philadelphia, Washington decided to fall back with his 11,000 men and make winter quarters at Valley Forge, located on the west bank of the Schuylkill River some 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The long, harsh winter that followed would be a trying but transformative experience for the Continental troops and their commander in chief. Despite losing nearly 2,000 of their number to disease, cold and starvation, most of the soldiers remained unwaveringly loyal to Washington, and emerged from Valley Forge stronger, more disciplined and more determined than ever to defeat the British.

By December 1777, Washington was well aware that some members of the Continental Congress were questioning his leadership abilities. The Valley Forge site—located along trade routes and near farm supplies—was an attempt to balance Congress’ demands for a winter campaign against Philadelphia with the needs of his troops. It was common for armies at the time to withdraw to fixed camps during the winter, as the harsh weather made transportation of troops, arms and supplies extremely difficult.

The soldiers who marched to Valley Forge on December 19, 1777 were not downtrodden or desperate. Though they had been defeated in two key battles, and had lost Philadelphia to the British, Continental troops had often put themselves on the offensive, and proved themselves as skilled fighters against professional soldiers with superior numbers. They were certainly tired, and lacking in supplies, but these were not unusual circumstances in the life of a Continental soldier. Once the troops arrived at their winter camp site, military engineers directed the construction of some 2,000 huts laid out in parallel lines, forming a kind of city, along with miles of trenches, five earthen redoubts and a bridge over the Schuylkill River.

Raw winter weather made things difficult for the tired troops, while a mismanaged commissary and Congress’ failure to provide the army with sufficient funds for fresh supplies led to widespread hunger and lack of clothing, shoes and other supplies among the men. Yet cold and starvation were not the most dangerous threats to soldiers at Valley Forge: Diseases like influenza, dysentery, typhoid and typhus killed two-thirds of the nearly 2,000 soldiers who died during the encampment.

To keep his battered army together, Washington instituted policies of lashing as punishment and threatened to shoot deserters on sight. Taking rumors of his imminent replacement in stride, he decided to regroup rather than give up. In February 1778, Washington welcomed to camp Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian officer who put Continental troops through a new training regimen, including the precision marching that was so important to Revolutionary-era warfare. Von Steuben also instituted new hygiene standards in the slovenly American camp, introducing the first latrines (and ensuring they were placed far from the kitchens). In thanks, a grateful Washington had Congress appoint Von Steuben inspector general of the Continental Army. Another officer, Nathanael Greene, took charge of procuring supplies through the commissary in March, leaving Washington free to concentrate on developing strategies to confront the British. By April, the general’s critics in Congress were silenced, and news of France’s commitment to the Revolutionary cause in May brought celebration to Valley Forge.

On June 19, 1778, exactly six months after they arrived, a revitalized Continental Army left Valley Forge and headed towards New Jersey. Barely a week later, they forced the British from the field in the Battle of Monmouth. The Valley Forge encampment proved to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War, testing the mettle of George Washington and his troops and paving the way for their ultimate victory in the war for American independence.

Yorktown

In the fall of 1781, a combined American force of Colonial and French troops laid seige to the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia. Led by George Washington and French General Comte de Rochambeau, they began their final attack on October 14th, capturing two British defenses and leading to the surrender, just days later, of British General Lord Corwallis and nearly 9,000 troops. Yorktown proved to be the final battle of the American Revolution, and the British began peace negotiations shortly after the American victory.

When Charles, Lord Cornwallis, British commander in the South during the American Revolutionary War, retreated to the Yorktown peninsula in June 1781 to rest and reequip his battered army, George Washington was outside New York, preparing an assault on that British-held city with the help of the four-thousand-man French expeditionary force commanded by the count of Rochambeau.

Then came news that the thirty-four-ship French West Indies battle fleet was heading for Virginia with three thousand infantry. (Rochambeau had urged the French admiral, de Grasse, to undertake this gamble.) Plans for New York were abandoned, and Washington executed a swift concentration of every available soldier before the little tobacco port on the Chesapeake. A trapped Cornwallis asked the British fleet and army in New York for help. The fleet sortied to clash with French ships of the line off the Virginia Capes in one of the most important least-known naval battles of history. The outnumbered British admiral, Thomas Graves, adhered rigidly to the conservative "Fighting Instructions," which prescribed a strict line of battle formation aimed at limiting losses. De Grasse battered several British ships in a two-and-a-half-hour clash, and Graves, after two more days of fruitless maneuvers for advantage, abandoned Cornwallis and returned to New York.

Meanwhile, a smaller French squadron under Admiral Barras slipped into the Chesapeake, carrying the French army's siege artillery. Trapped behind hastily constructed redoubts, without cannon heavy enough to match the French big guns, Cornwallis's army crumbled under night and day bombardment. On October 14, two key redoubts were carried in a night assault. Three days later, Cornwallis surrendered. As his men marched out to stack their guns, their bands played "The World Turned Upside Down." In London, when Prime Minister Lord North heard the news, he cried: "Oh God, it is all over." So it was.

Oct 19, 1781: Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown

On this day in 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis formally surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a French and American force at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing the American Revolution to a close.

Previously, Cornwallis had driven General George Washington's Patriot forces out of New Jersey in 1776, and led his Recoats in victory over General Horatio Gates and the Patriots at Camden, South Carolina, in 1780. His subsequent invasion of North Carolina was less successful, however, and in April 1781, he led his weary and battered troops toward the Virginia coast, where he could maintain seaborne lines of communication with the large British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City. After conducting a series of raids against towns and plantations in Virginia, Cornwallis settled in Yorktown in August. The British immediately began fortifying the town and the adjacent promontory of Gloucester Point across the York River

Washington instructed the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in Virginia with an American army of around 5,000 men, to block Cornwallis' escape from Yorktown by land. In the meantime, Washington's 2,500 troops in New York were joined by a French army of 4,000 men under the Count de Rochambeau. Washington and Rochambeau made plans to attack Cornwallis with the assistance of a large French fleet under the Count de Grasse, and on August 21 they crossed the Hudson River to march south to Yorktown. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allied force reached the head of Chesapeake Bay in early September.

Meanwhile, a British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to break French naval superiority at the Battle of Virginia Capes on September 5, denying Cornwallis his expected reinforcements. Beginning September 14, de Grasse transported Washington and de Rochambeau's men down the Chesapeake to Virginia, where they joined Lafayette and completed the encirclement of Yorktown on September 28. De Grasse landed another 3,000 French troops carried by his fleet. During the first two weeks of October, the 14,000 Franco-American troops gradually overcame the fortified British positions with the aid of de Grasse's warships. A large British fleet carrying 7,000 men set out to rescue Cornwallis, but it was too late.

On October 19, General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O'Hara, carried Cornwallis' sword to the American and French commanders. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British band played the song "The World Turned Upside Down."

Although the war persisted on the high seas and in other theaters, the Patriot victory at Yorktown effectively ended fighting in the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war.