USVA 3.4 Terms

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

• April 1775

• Marked the start of the war for independence

• Lexington + Concord = two country towns west of Boston

• British General Gage sent troops to arrest Hancock + Adams in Lexington and to seize Patriot weapons

• British defeat

Battle of Bunker Hill

• Charlestown June 17, 1775

• First Major battle of the American Revolution

• British won, but the battle gave Patriots the courage to fight

  • Lord William Howe (Brit. commander) tried to retake the hills overlooking Boston (which Patriots had fortified) and marched troops straight up —> major defeat

  • Brit suffered 3 total defeats and finally won bc the Patriots ran out of ammo

  • Brit suffered much more casualties —> Patriots having psychological win

Washington Crosses the Delaware AKA Battle of Trenton

• British left Boston 1776 —> winning battles in NYC and cutting off New England

  • Washington forced to retreat in NJ

  • Washington saved his army by counterattacking Dec. 26 crossing Delaware River in the middle of the night @ Battle of Trenton

• Modest victory raised spirits of the troops/Patriot supporters

Saratoga

• British troops marched from Canada to invade New York’s Hudson Valley —> fell into Patriot trap @ Saratoga

  • British surrendered

  • Greatest Patriot victory yet, Saratoga suggested the US might just win the war

Valley Forge

• in PA, Washington’s army suffered in the winter 1777-78 at Valley Forge outside of Philadelphia

  • lack of supplies/food, no coasts/shoes

• German volunteer, Baron Von Steuben, trained troops

• Patriots pushed British out of Philadelphia

  • Demonstrated their improved discipline

  • Led to British turning their attention elsewhere bc while they won many battles, they only had their HQ at NYC to show it

Yorktown

• 1781 Washington marched South to trap Cornwallis @ Yorktown, VA

• Needed a French fleet @ perfect time to prevent British sea evacuation

  • Wouldn’t know for certain of the fleets arrival

• French fleet came at perfect time @ Chesapeake Bay to trap British

  • French fleet was necessary to winning

  • Lack of long distance communication —> VERY good luck

• Brought British surrender

Weaknesses/strengths of Patriots

Weaknesses:

• Produced less ships/weapons, government was just made from scratch, lacked authority to tax themselves, had untrained soldiers

Strengths:

• Unified under their fight for freedom (motivation), fought at their home (British had to send navies to fight), and Alliance w/ French + indirect alliance w/ Spain thanks to Benjamin Franklin

Weaknesses/strengths of British

Weaknesses:

• Underestimated the Patriots (saw them as an unserious enemy), viewed the Revolution as a traditional European War

  • Didn’t understand that this war was a fight against the hearts/feelings/rights of the people —> Patriots finding strength after setbacks

  • Thought if they defeated the Continental Army, captured major ports (ex Philadelphia), then Patriots would surrender

    • (they accomplished these things but obvi they didn’t surrender L bozo brit behavior)

• In debt (loL!)

• fought overseas

Strengths:

• Produced more ships/weapons, had an established gov, had enough troops + they were trained, had enough supplies, had political power over colonies

Important alliances

• Bernardo de Galvez (spanish governor of Louisiana) provided supplies + prevented brit. ships entering Mississippi River

• Marquis de Lafayette (general) provided military expertise for colonial troops

• Official open alliance w/ France in 1778, negotiated by Ben Franklin