The American Revolutio

n

1775-1781

The Early Years of the American Revolution

1776-1775

Americans Divided• 40% Patriot (Whigs)• 20% Loyalist (Tories)• 40% Neutral• Many loyalists worked for

British government or were clergy (ministers) and members of the Church of England (Anglican/Episcopal). Some Quakers were loyalists.

• Native American chose both sides. The Cherokee chose to fight with the British.

• The British offered freedom to African American slaves if they would join the British army.

Washington Leads Continental Army“Could I have foreseen what I have. And am likely to

experience, no consideration upon the earth could have persuaded me to accept this command.”

George Washington

• Most soldiers did not stay long.• Congress had difficulty in

supplying the army.• Many women helped in the

camps.– Mary Hays “Molly Pitcher” helped

by carrying water.– Deborah Sampson dressed as a

man and fought in several engagements.

Washington Takes Command of Continental Army

Struggle for the Middle Colonies

• The British hired Hessian mercenaries( professional soldiers) from the German state of Hess.

• Through summer of 1776 Washington and British General Howe fought for control of New York State.

• By December 1776, Washington had been forced into New Jersey.

Battle of Trenton, NJDecember 25, 1776

• Washington Crossed the icy Delaware River and surprised Hessian soldiers sleeping off their Christmas celebration encamped at Trenton.

• The victory gave Washington a win when he needed it the most.

• Eight days later Washington won another victory at Princeton, NJ.

• Because of these victories, Washington was able to attract new recruits.

German Beer Stein

“The Christmas Battle”

Washington Crossing the Delaware River

December 25, 1776

Christmas Victory at Trenton, NJ

British Strategy

• Take Control of the Hudson River and split the Middle Colonies from the New England Colonies.

• British Officers John Burgoyne, Barry St. Ledger. and William Howe would rendezvous at Albany, New York

• Big Mistake for British! Howe decides to take Philadelphia and defeat Washington in Pennsylvania. This leads Burgoyne and St. Ledger open to American General Horatio Gates troops.

English General

John Burgoyne

American General

Horatio

Gates

British Mistake

Battle of Saratoga, New YorkOctober 7, 1777

• Burgoyne’s Army had been slowed by the large number of his supply wagons.

• Major American Victory, Why?– Inspired solders to keep fighting– France became our ally with this

victory– Spain allies with America and

seizes British control of the lower Miss. River.

– Benedict Arnold became a traitor giving the British Washington’s trip movements along the Hudson River.

Saratoga, New York“Turning Point in the North”

Battles of Germantown and Brandywine and the British Occupation

of Philadelphia• British General Howe

captures Philadelphia.• Washington looses the

battles of Brandywine and Germantown, just outside Philadelphia, but is not captured.

• Edward Buncombe dies from wounds at Germantown in October of 1777.

Battle of Germantown

Christ Church

Philadelphia

(Episcopal)

Site of

Edward

Buncombe’s Grave

Edward Buncombe Wounded at Germantown, Pennsylvania

http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-

germantown/videos

The War Expands1778-1779

Brown Bess Musket

Cartridge Box

Musket Cartridge

Hole Pick and Brush

Powder Horn

Cannon Lighter

Calvary Sword

Pewter PlateFork

Playing Cards

Pipe

Trousers

Help From Abroad

• Marquis de Lafayette– 19 year-old French nobleman

who volunteered to fight in Washington’s army

– Clothed American soldiers with his won money

– Persuaded King Louis to send 6,000 French troops immediately

– Called the “Soldier’s Friend”– Helped inspire the French

Revolution in the 1790’s– NC Highland Scot town of Cross

Creek was renamed Fayetteville in his honor

Marquis de Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette Comes From France to Aide the American Fight for Independence

Baron Von Steuben

• From the German state of Prussia

• Taught American soldier effective bayonet moves and getting a least 3 shots per minute from their muskets

Winter of 1777, Valley Forge. Pennsylvania

“The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, nor shirts, nor shoes; their feet and their legs froze till they grew black. It was often necessary to amputate them. The army often went days without any food.”

Marquis de Lafayette at Valley Forge

Winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

• 2,000 soldiers died due to exposure, smallpox, and typhoid fever.

• Washington constantly inspired the troops to stay until spring.

• Soldiers ate tree bark and rodents.

• Lieutenant Colonel John Brooks wrote:

“ We stayed together for love of our country.”

Winter of 1777, Valley Forge. Pennsylvania

War on the Frontier• George Rogers Clark

– Attacked the British under Henry Hamilton( Known as the “Hair Buyer”) because he paid the Indians for American scalps

– In February of 1779 Clark and Patriot troops marched over 300 miles of icy swamps and waded in chest high water to attack Hamilton at present Vincennes, Indiana

– The Americans then controlled all land from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River, except Fort Detroit.

Vincennes

George Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark

America’s First Naval Hero:John Paul Jones

• Off the coast of England Jones’s ship named the Bonhomme Richard attacked the British ship Serapis

• The British commander confident of victory, asked Jones and the Americans to surrender.

• Jones replied: “ I have not yet begun to fight.”

• The Americans won the battle even though the Bonhomme Richard eventually sank, the Americans took control of the Serapis and sailed home.

John Paul Jones

“Father of the American Navy”

John Paul Jones “Father of the American Navy”

Path To Victory

• Seeking Loyalist support, the British invaded the South- but ultimately lost the war there.

• The British would be close to troops and supplies from the West Indies ( there islands in the Caribbean)

• General Charles Cornwallis will be chosen as the British leader in the South

• Horatio Gates, hero at Saratoga, NY will lead patriot troops until his defeat at Camden, SC

LORD CHARLES CORNWALLIS

Early British Success in the South

– December 1778, Savannah, Georgia falls to British control

– 1780, Charleston, SC falls to British control

– August, 1780 Cornwallis defeats Horatio Gates at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina

– Banastre Tarleton massacres Patriot troops in the Waxhaws along the NC and SC border near Charlotte.

Savannah

Charleston

British Take Control of the South

Waxhaws Settlements

Battle of Camden

August, 1780

Charleston

Savannah

Francis Marion “The Swamp Fox”

• Francis Marion helped General Gates with helpful knowledge about the South Carolina Low Country before the Battle of Camden.

• Marion used Guerilla warfare tactics to attack the British taking supplies from Charleston to Cornwallis in the SC interior.

• Marion, the county seat of McDowell County is named in his honor.

“The Tide Turns”October, 1780

• Cornwallis advances to Charlotte where Patriot resistance is so strong he say “He feels like he is sitting on a “Hornet’s Nest.”

• He sends Patrick Ferguson west to put down Patriot support in the Carolina foothills and across the mountains in the Watauga Settlements (present NE Tennessee)

• From Rutherfordton, NC Ferguson sends messengers across the mountains to tell the mostly Scots- Irish Watauga Settlement “Either they submit to the king or he will hang their leaders and burn their homes.”

The Battle of Kings MountainSouth Carolina, October 1780

• Patrick Ferguson and loyalist troops from NY and NJ go to the top of Kings Mountain located on the NC and SC border.

• He states: “ All the demons itin hell could not take me from this mountain.”

• The mountain men from the Watauga Settlements arrive under the leadership of John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, Joseph McDowell, and Benjamin Cleveland. (note that these are names of local counties and towns)

• Patrick Ferguson and the Loyalist troops are defeated!

• Turning Point in the South!

John Sevier

Ferguson’s Grave at Kings Mountain

Joseph McDowell

WATAUGA

SETTLEMENTS

CHARLOTTE

RUTHERFORDTON

KINGS MOUNTAIN

OCT, 1780

COWPENS

JAN, 1781

KINGS MOUNTAIN AND COWPENS, SOUTH CAROLINA

NEAREST REVOUTIONARY SITES TO US

OMS

BATTLE OF COWPENS,SOUTH CAROLINAJANUARY, 1781• Following the patriot

victory at Kings Mountain, Daniel Morgan and American troops defeated the British under Banastre Tarleton at the Cowpens near present Spartanburg, South Carolina

Daniel Morgan

Morgan Statue

Downtown Spartanburg

Battle of Cowpens, Spartanburg, SC

Battle of Guilford Court HouseGreensboro, NC

March 1781• Following Gates defeat at

Camden, Washington appoints Nathanael Greene as commander of Southern Patriot troops.

• British General Cornwallis chases “The Cat and Mouse” battle Greene across NC and into Virginia and back into NC at Greensboro.

• Cornwallis held the ground, but lost ¼ of his troops. Weakened, he then retreated to Wilmington before marching into Virginia to meet Washington at Yorktown

Nathanael Greene

Guilford Battle Flag

Cornwallis’s Invasion of the South

Guilford Court House

Retreat to Wilmington

Road to Yorktown, Va, Fall of 1781

THE END: Yorktown VirginiaOctober,1781

• The French Fleet blocks the Chesapeake Bay keeping the British from getting supplies.

• Washington comes from the North trapping Cornwallis on James River Peninsula at Yorktown near Jamestown and Williamsburg.

• Cornwallis surrenders on October 19, 1781

Yorktown

Williamsburg

Jamestown

Trench Warfare Begins at

Yorktown

British Surrender at Yorktown, Virginia