The American Revolution:An Overview

A Coach Odom Production

1775

April 18 - British troops clash with American militia at Lexington and Concord while searching for Colonial weapons.  British troops retreat to Boston, where they are surrounded by American forces.

May – Fort Ticonderoga in Upstate New York is captured By the Americans.   June 17 - British troops drive the Colonials from Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Although successful, the British suffer 1,150 dead and wounded.

1776March - General George Washington seizes Dorchester Heights. Thanks to the arrival of cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, the British are then forced to evacuate Boston. July 4 - The Colonies Declare Independence. August-Nov. - British GeneralHowe wins control of New York City. 

December 26 - Washington takes Trenton, NJ in a surprise attack.

1777

Jan 3 - Washington defeats British troops at Princeton. Sept 9-11 - British win Battle of Brandywine Creek. Sept 26 - British General Howe occupies Philadelphia. Oct 13 - Americans win spectacular victory at Saratoga.

1778-1779February 6 - France allies with the United States, promising money and troops.

July – American George Rogers Clark seizes Vincennes in modern-day Illinois. December 29 - British capture Savannah, GA. December 26 (1779) - British General Clinton sails for Charleston, SC with 8000 men.    

1780

May 12 - British capture Charleston, SC. Aug 16 - British Gen. Cornwallis smashes American Gen. Gates at Camden.  Sep 23-25 - American Gen. Benedict Arnold turns traitor, His plot to surrender the fort of West Point is exposed. He escapes to the British and is made a British General.

1781

Jan 17 - American Gen. Morgan destroys British Gen. Tarleton's Army at Cowpens, SC. Mar 15 - Cornwallis retreats to the coast and decides to invade Virginia after heavy losses at Guilford Courthouse, NC. Sep 28 - Washington and French Gen. Rochambeau trap Cornwallis at Yorktown.   

Oct 19 - Cornwallis surrenders, ending the war.  

1783

The Treaty of Paris is signed, establishing the United States as an independent nation.  The U.S. is given all the land east of the Mississippi River, and south of the Great Lakes (except Florida).