The American Revolutionary War: Fight for Freedom
Part 1
In the spring of 1775, tensions finally boiled over. Militias, now training regularly and ready at a moment’s notice—earning the nickname "Minute Men"—prepared for what seemed inevitable. Rumors spread that stolen British ammunition was hidden in Concord, a sleepy village outside Boston. General Gage decided it was time to act, ordering 700 troops to seize the munitions and arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, two of the main rebel leaders from Boston.
But the colonists were ready. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out to warn nearby towns, giving Adams and Hancock time to escape and rallying locals to action. When the Redcoats arrived at Lexington Green at dawn, they found a small militia standing silently in protest. Then came the infamous shot "heard 'round the world." No one knows who fired first, but that single shot turned the standoff into chaos. By the end of the skirmish, eight militia members were dead, and the British marched on to Concord—only to find the ammunition already gone.
On their retreat to Boston, the British faced a constant barrage from colonial militia firing from behind fences, rocks, and trees. By the time the Redcoats stumbled back to the city, they had suffered 250 casualties. The Revolutionary War had officially begun.
The Rebels Strike Back
Patriot newspapers wasted no time recasting the Battle of Lexington as a dramatic fight between bloodthirsty British soldiers and innocent farmers defending their homes. Sure, the stories were a little exaggerated, but hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good rallying cry. The news worked like a charm, uniting the colonies like nothing else had.
Within days, 15,000 militia from as far away as Virginia came together on Boston, laying siege to the city. Boston, perched on a peninsula connected to the mainland by the narrow Roxbury Neck, was effectively trapped. The British troops and Loyalists inside the city were cut off, but General Gage wasn’t worried. After all, the British navy controlled Boston Harbor, giving them access to supplies and reinforcements. To Gage, the Americans were as helpless as kittens in a yarn factory (and just as tangled).
But the Americans had a plan. They needed artillery to bombard the British position from the surrounding hills, and they knew just where to get it. Enter Fort Ticonderoga, an old British fort on Lake Champlain. Once called the "Gibraltar of America," the fort had seen better days, and its defenses were practically a joke. The British garrison consisted of just 47 soldiers—half of whom were invalids. On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Benedict Arnold, launched a surprise attack. The two guards on duty were so stunned that they didn’t even shut the gates. Without firing a single shot, the Americans captured the fort and its treasure trove of 78 cannons, 6 mortars, and 3 howitzers. Those cannons would soon make life very difficult for the British in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Second Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, debating what to do next. Radicals like Sam Adams and Patrick Henry pushed for independence, but moderates still hoped to patch things up with King George. News of Lexington and Ticonderoga changed the conversation. Congress voted to create a Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief. Washington, ever the picture of humility, accepted the position without pay, saying he didn’t feel equal to the task. Little did he know that his leadership would soon become the stuff of legend.
Americans use a team of Oxen to haul the canons from Fort Ticonderoga 220 miles back to Boston.
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Meanwhile, back in Boston. The British— bulked up with fresh reinforcements, decided to undermine the American siege by taking the unoccupied hills surrounding the city. Capture and holding the high ground is the basic rule in any army‘s playbook. When the Americans got word of this plan, every man was ordered to dig trenches and build earthen fortifications throughout the night. The Americans were supposed to occupy the larger Bunker Hill but instead chose to make their stand at Breed’s Hill because it was closer to Boston to serve as an “in your face” to the British army. The next morning, on June 17th,1775, the British awoke to find the Americans deeply entrenched at Breed’s Hill. Naval guns from warships in the harbor pounded the Patriot position to soften them up before the main assault. The British were confident that their well-trained regulars could easily defeat “the American rabble”
The British plan was to attack from four sides; defeating the rebels in one pitched battle. Game over. British Empire saved. Howe sent 3000 troops fully loaded with their 100-pound backpacks in the blazing 90-degree heat to dislodge the rebels. The Americans waited until the British got within 50 yards and opened fire, mowing down the enemy stupidly marching in tight formation.
The British beat a quick retreat only to regroup and try again. The second attempt ended like the first. But the third charge did the job (thanks to the rebels running out of ammo). The British jumped over the walls of the fortifications and stabbed the retreating colonists with their bayonets. The Brits won the battle. But both sides claimed victory. The British flag flew over Bunker Hill, but at a cost of over 1,000 casualties compared to only 400 on the American side. By March of 1776, Boston was back in American hands when the British realized that New York, with its much larger loyalist population, would make a better headquarters than Boston.
However, the war was just getting warmed up. Bunker Hill taught the Americans that they could hold their own against the best-trained army in the world. At the same time, it showed the British that they weren’t going to crush the rebellion as easily as they thought. British troops began mobilizing across the empire to converge on the rebellious colonies. To sweeten the deal, the British enlisted 30,000 German mercenary troops known as Hessians.
Later that summer, the Continental Congress issued the Olive Branch Petition telling King George that there was still time for compromise. It arrived in London too late to do any good, but we doubt that George would have backed down anyway.
The Fighting Spirit of 1776
In New York City, on the same day that the Continental Congress was vote to the Declaration of Independence, the British—led by General Howe, were landing 32,000 men on Staten Island (a small farming community outside of New York City). Defending the city was General Washington's Continental Army, made up of 19,000 (mostly untrained) volunteers. Washington knew he did not have a chance. However, Congress badly needed this win. A loss of New York City would divide New England from the rest of the colonies, which is what the British planned to do.
Washington decided to make his stand at Brooklyn Heights on Long Island. As General Howe made his way down Long Island, British warships were busy pounding Brooklyn Heights. The Americans were trapped between the East River behind them and General Howe ahead. Washington may have been inexperienced, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that his men had little chance of beating the British in open formation combat. However, the Americans had a secret weapon— luck. Howe, known for being cautious, did not attack right away. Instead, he waited to see what the rebels would do. This delay allowed a massive rainstorm to blow in, which further slowed Howe's attack. Using the storm for cover, Washington and 6,000 men retreated across the East River using any boats they could find. General Howe now held New York City, which remained in British hands throughout the war. After crossing into New Jersey, Washington caught another stroke of luck that would prove critical to the Patriot cause. Washington happened to stumble across a band of Hessians camped at Trenton, NJ. Washington immediately began drawing up a plan for a surprise attack.
Washington, a master at using spies and deception to win battles. With the help of John Honeyman, a former British soldier turned Patriot, Washington decided to put on a little show for the Germans. Honeyman's mission was simple: get arrested by Washington's army and then escape to the German camp where he would sow disinformation to the enemy. Washington wanted to make the act look as real as possible, so he even had his guards fire at an escaping Honeyman. Once at the German camp, Honeyman told stories of how the Americans were hopelessly unprepared and near collapse. Delighted the German commander Johann Rall told his men to relax and celebrate the Christmas holiday. Little did they know that Honeyman was secretly sending back messages of details of the enemy camp, troop positions, and ammunition stores.
Hungover from too much Christmas booze, the Hessians were totally unprepared for Washington's Christmas Day attack. Under cover of darkness in the early morning hours of December 25, 1776, Washington crossed the icy Delaware River with 2,400 men shocking the Hessians who had been partying all night. Out of 1,500 Hessian soldiers, only 500 made it out alive. The Americans lost only six of their men. The victory at the Battle of Trenton was a rare win for the Patriots.
The biggest battle that Patriot leaders like George Washington faced was not the British, but keeping in their soldiers from deserting. The British had won most of the battles that mattered and were in control of nearly all of the colonial cities. American morale was at rock bottom. On December 31st, most of the Continental Army’s enlistment was up, and many of the exhausted and poorly fed soldiers weren’t planning on making the mistake of signing up for a second tour of duty. The Revolution wasn’t even a year old and was already falling apart.
Part 2
1777: The Year of the Hangman
People call 1777 “the year of the hangman,” referring to the way the sevens resembled a gallows. With the American army running out of everything, loyalists predicted that the rebel leaders would be soon swinging at the end of a rope. The British had retaken Fort Ticonderoga and chased the Americans out of New York and Pennsylvania. When General Howe captured the capital of Philadelphia on September 26th, it looked as if the cause for independence was all but dead. But, those crafty Americans still a few tricks up their sleeve.
First, The Americans used a very different style of combat that the British called “ungentlemanly.” Geography played a big part in the Americans beating the Brits. In Europe, most of the land was open farmland which allowed armies to face each other on the battlefield (marching towards the enemy while being shot at). The Americans, living in a wilderness, thought that this idea method of fighting was stupid. The enemies of the colonists were often the Indians who used guerrilla tactics of striking and then disappear back into the woods. The Americans picked up this style and used it on their new enemy. The British called the Americans cowards, but in the end, war is war, right?
The other secret weapon was time. The American strategy was to hold out long enough to wear the British down. A few years into the war and riots had begun to break out in London as the economic effects of the war began to hit home. Merchants put pressure on Parliament to end the whole thing so they could go back to trading with the Americans.
The French Weigh In
Since 1776, the French king had been sneaking supplies past the British blockade to aide the Americans, but until the Americans could prove they could hold their own, they weren’t ready to come out and declare war on Britain. However, when the American won the Battle of Saratoga in September 1777, capturing 7000 British POW’s the French decided to make it official.
On February 6, 1788, the French and the Americans signed an alliance that officially recognized the United States of America as an independent nation. In 1779, Spain entered the war as an ally of France (but not the United States because the American colonists kept trying to grab Spanish Florida.) Aside from gaining badly needed allies, the Battle of Saratoga was important for another reason. It made the British realize that there was a chance that they could lose this thing. The British Prime Minister, Lord North, urged King George to try to make peace, but he flat out refused to entertain the idea. On March 6, 1778, Parliament repealed the Townshend Act and the Intolerable Acts. But as the saying goes, it was too little, too late.
Lord Dunmore's Proclamation
The British then made two decisions that would seal their defeat. First, they pulled their troops out of Philadelphia to protect New York City and decided on a “Hail Mary pass” to conquer the southern colonies. The king was convinced that the colonies of the south were still loyal and all that was needed for them to switch sides was a show of force. Only, this never happened. The royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, realized that he could use the southern colonies greatest asset against them. Dunmore issued a proclamation offering freedom to any slaves who would join the British cause. He soon had 500 black men enlisted in the Ethiopian Regiment who stormed Norfolk and converted it back into a loyalist stronghold. It might be worth noting that the Continental Congress thought of offering African-Americans the same deal but decided against it out of fear that the southern colonies would back out of the union. Rather than turning the tide of the war in favor of the British, it had the opposite effect. Many plantation owners might have been conservative and loyalist but by freeing their slaves, Lord Dunmore drove them into the patriot camp.
The Fight in the South
On May 12, 1780, the British scored their biggest victory in the South. Not only did the Brits capture Charleston, SC, America’s fourth-largest city, but also over 5,000 POW’s— about one-fourth of the entire continental army! Unlike in the north, the southern war for independence was about to get a whole lot meaner, uglier, and dirtier.
The southern theater of the revolution is full of tales of loyalist and patriot militias laying waste to enemy towns, traitors hung by trees, and homes burnt to the ground. Most the fighting in the south was done by the militia who carried out guerrilla-style attacks on the British troops. One of the most famous of these bands of freedom fighters were led by a South Carolina plantation owner named Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion. Marion was initially given the command as a captain in the Continental Army and served as a defender at Charleston.
Dumb luck would have it that he broke his ankle and was away from the city when the British took it and its defenders captive. From then, Marion served as a militia leader who used guerrilla tactics and terror to fight the British and their loyalist allies. For the rest of the war, the only army fighting against the British in South Carolina was the Swamp Fox and maybe 50 others. With his uncanny ability to hide in the foliage and pick off the enemy, he was able to terrorize the British and their loyalist allies. Outnumbered 100 to 1 Marion was able to frustrate the British at every step of the way. Using tactics that they had learned fighting the Cherokee, the Swamp Fox became the stuff of legend. Appearing out of nowhere to pick off the enemy and then melt back into the forest like a ghost. His actions inspired loyalists to resist the British occupation.
Yorktown: An Unlikely Win
Yorktown: An Unlikely Victory In 1781, a British force of about 7,000 led by General Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold (who had been an American commander at Saratoga, but changed sides soon after) was camped out in Virginia near Yorktown. The British blockade had kept the French from providing much assistance, and the Americans were trying to figure out a way to force the British to surrender. The French managed to land about 6,000 men in Rhode Island, and Washington was planning on linking up with them for a full out assault on New York. When Washington received news that French reinforcements were headed to fight Cornwallis in Virginia, he had a change of plans. The combined American-French army, about 16,000 strong and double the size of Cornwallis, decided to try to land a knockout punch to the British resistance.
On September 28, 1781, the French-American forces began a siege of the British position. British attempts to break the siege failed. On October 14, 1781, the British tried to recapture some lost ground. When they failed, they decided to sneak out that night across the York River. In one of those moments of irony, a storm came across that was similar to the ones that allowed Washington to escape from New York back in 1776. This time the storm worked in Washington’s favor by trapping Cornwallis. On October 19, 1781, the British called for a truce. The Battle of Yorktown marked the end of the British war with America. Against all odds, the Americans with tremendous support from their French allies had beaten the biggest superpower in the colonial world. When news reached London, Lord North replied, "Oh God, it's over." Shortly after that, he resigned as Prime Minister.
After the war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, 100,000 Loyalists fled the United States. Most went to Canada while some fled to either England or the Caribbean. Under the treaty, Loyalists were supposed to receive compensation for lost property. Those who were in New York or the Carolinas had the best chance of getting some cash. For those who owned land in New England, the chances of receiving compensation were pretty slim.
The Treaty of Paris- 1783
The Battle of Yorktown marked the end of the British war with America. Against all odds, the Americans, with huge support from their French allies, had beaten the biggest superpower in the world. When news reached London, Lord North replied, "Oh God, it's over." ...Shortly after he resigned as Prime Minister.
Peace talks would strain the relationship between the former allies. The Americans feared that the French would try to negotiate with the British to reclaim the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Americans, who had been prevented from settling into their lands by the Proclamation of 1763, wanted that land for their new nation.
The Americans secretly negotiated a treaty with the British that gave the United States control the lands east of the Mississippi River. On September 3, 1783, a peace treaty was signed that recognized the sovereignty of the United States of America. By the terms of the treaty, a lot of land began to change hands. Britain got the island of Gibraltar (south of Spain), Spain regained Florida. The French got Tobago and the African colony of Senegal. Prisoners of war were to be released and the Americans were to return all property confiscated from loyalists during the war (The results of this were better upheld in some states than others).
Why It Matters
The American Revolution wasn’t just a war; it was an important moment that showed the world that people could have a voice in their government. Against tough odds, farmers, shopkeepers, and craftspeople came together to create something new: a country based on the idea that leaders should answer to the people, not the other way around.
The Revolution didn’t just stop at America’s borders. It inspired movements around the world. In France, people started their own revolution, aiming for many of the same ideas about fairness and rights. In Haiti, enslaved people looked to the American colonies as an example that freedom could be won. Over time, other countries in South America and Asia also took inspiration from the Revolution in their struggles for independence.
In the United States, the Revolution opened the door for conversations about issues like slavery, women’s rights, and civil rights. While not all of these changes happened right away, the ideas of freedom and equality planted by the Revolution set the stage for progress in the years to come.
For us today, the Revolution is a reminder that having a voice in how you are governed is powerful. It’s a story about determination and the importance of working together for a common goal. The effects of 1776 continue to influence the world, from democratic governments to movements for equality and justice.
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