A TIMELINE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

 

Events leading up to the War

The French and Indian War (1754-63)

The Sugar Act (4/5/1764)

The Stamp Act (3/22/1765)

Patrick Henry's "If This Be Treason" speech (5/29/1765)

The Stamp Act Congress (10/7-25/1765)

Townshend Acts (6/29/1767)

The Boston Massacre (3/5/1770)

The Boston Tea Party (12/16/1773)

The First Continental Congress (Philadelphia, 9/5-10/26/1774)


1775

 

The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes (4/18)

The Battles of Lexington and Concord (4/19)

Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Seize Fort Ticonderoga (5/10)

The Second Continental Congress (met in Philadelphia, 5/10)

George Washington named Commander in Chief (6/15)

Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed's Hill) (6/17)

Montgomery captures Montreal for Americans (11/13)

Benedict Arnold's failed attack on Quebec (12/30)


1776

 

Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" published (1/15)

Patriot triumph at Moore's Creek, NC (2/27)

Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas (3/3)

The British evacuate Boston (3/17)

Richard Henry Lee proposes Independence (6/7)

British defense of Fort Moultrie, SC (6/28)

Declaration of Independence adopted (7/4)

Declaration of Independence signed (8/2)

Arrival of 30,000 British troops in New York harbor

British win the Battle of Long Island (Battle of Brooklyn) (8/27-30)

British occupy New York City (9/15)

British win the Battle of Harlem Heights (9/16)

Benedict Arnold defeated at Lake Champlain (10/11)

American retreat at the Battle of White Plains (10/28)

British capture Fort Washington, NY and Fort Lee, NJ (11/16)

Washington Crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton (12/26)


1777

 

Washington wins the Battle of Princeton (1/3)

Washington winters in Morristown, NJ (1/6-5/28)

Flag Resolution (flag possibly designed by Hopkinson, likely sewn by Betsy Ross) (6/14)

St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British (7/5)

Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia (7/27)

Americans under Herkimer defeat the British under St. Leger at Fort Stanwix, in the Mohawk Valley in Oriskany, New York (8/6)

American Militia under General Stark triumph over Hessians at Bennington (8/16)

British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland (8/25)

British success at the Battle of Brandywine, PA (9/11)

Rain-out at the Battle of the Clouds, PA (9/16)

General Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's Farm, NY (9/19)

Paoli Massacre, PA (9/21)

British under Howe occupy Philadelphia (9/26)

Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown (10/4)

Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, NY (at Bemis Heights) (10/7)

Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga, NY (10/17)

Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed (10/22)

British capture Fort Mifflin, PA (11/16)

Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, PA (12/5-7)

The Winter at Valley Forge, PA (12/19/77-6/19/78)


1778

 

The French Alliance (2/6)

British General William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton (3/7)

Von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge

Battle of Barren Hill, PA (5/20)

Washington fights to a draw at Battle of Monmouth (6/28)

George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia, a French village near Detroit (7/4)

French and American forces besiege Newport, RI (8/8)

British occupy Savannah, GA (12/29)


1779

 

Militia beat Tories at Kettle Creek, NC (2/14)

American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes on the Wabash in the Western campaign (2/25)

Fairfield, CT, burned by British (7/8)

Norwalk, CT, burned by British (7/11)

American "Mad" Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, NY (7/15-16)

"Light Horse" Harry Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ (8/19)

John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures British man-of-war Serapis near English coast (9/23)

The Tappan Massacre ("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet) (9/28)

American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails (10/9)

Coldest Winter of the war, Washington at Morristown, NJ


1780

 

British capture Charleston, SC (5/12)

British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC (5/29)

Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur's Mill, NC (6/20)

French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American cause (7/11)

Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC (8/6)

British rout Americans at Camden, SC (8/16)

Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British discovered (9/25)

King's Mountain, SC: battle lasted 65 minutes. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeated Maj. Patrick Ferguson and one-third of Charles Cornwallis">General Cornwallis' army. (10/7)

Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army (10/14)


1781

 

Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers (1/1)

Patriot Morgan overwhelming defeated British Col. Tarleton at Cowpens, SC (1/17)

Articles of Confederation adopted (3/2)

British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC (3/15)

Greene defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, SC (4/25)

Charles Cornwallis">Cornwallis clashed with Greene at Guilford Courthouse, NC (5/15)

Americans recapture Augusta, GA (6/6)

British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC (6/18)

"Mad" Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm, VA (7/6)

Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC (9/8)

French fleet drove British naval force from Chesapeake Bay (9/15)

Charles Cornwallis">Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA (10/19)


1782 and Beyond

 

Lord North resigned as British Prime Minister (3/20/82)

British evacuated Savannah, GA (7/11/82)

British sign Articles of Peace (11/30/82)

British leave Charleston, SC (12/14/82)

Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty (4/19/83)

Treaty of Paris (9/3/83)

British troops leave New York (11/25/83)

Washington Resigns as Commander (12/23/83)

U.S. Constitution ratified (9/17/87)

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David White