Battles of the American Revolution

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing the key terms, leaders, strategies, and major military engagements of the early American Revolutionary War.

Militia

A civilian army with no formal organization.

Siege

A military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside.

Patriots

Colonists in support of the Revolution and separating from England.

Loyalists

Colonists who remained loyal to England during the Revolutionary War.

Redcoats

British or English soldiers.

Minutemen

A member of a class of American militiamen who volunteered to be ready for service at a minute's notice.

Mercenaries

Foreign soldiers who fight not out of loyalty, but for pay.

Hessians

Mercenary soldiers from the German state of Hesse hired by the British to fight in the Revolutionary War.

George Washington

Founding Father, member of the Continental Congress, and commander-in-chief of the Continental Army whose major victory was crossing the Delaware at the Battle of Trenton.

Charles Cornwallis

British general and colonial governor who won the Battle of Brandywine, captured Philadelphia in 1777 and Charleston in 1780, and surrendered to Washington at Yorktown in 1781 to end the war.

American Strengths

Colonial wartime advantages: fighting for independence, inspirational leadership from George Washington, and incoming military aid from France including weapons, supplies, and their navy.

American Weaknesses

Colonial wartime challenges: having an untrained army, soldiers enlisting for months instead of years, and severe shortages of money, weapons, and supplies.

British Strengths

British wartime advantages: possessing an experienced professional army that outnumbered the Continental Army and was well supplied with equipment and weapons.

British Weaknesses

British wartime challenges: not fighting for a cause, careless officers and poor leadership, having to transport men and supplies across the Atlantic Ocean, and weak support at home.

American War Strategy

Strategic goals to keep the Colonial Army together, stretch the British away from supply lines, harass the enemy, secure a major battle victory, and gain foreign allies.

British War Strategy

Strategic goals to destroy the Colonial Army, regain regional control of colonies, use standard European tactical warfare, and mobilize Loyalist support.

Battle of Lexington

April 19, 1775 encounter where British soldiers marching toward Concord clashed with militiamen led by Captain John Parker, leaving 8 minutemen dead and 10 injured.

Captain John Parker

The commander who led the Patriot army against British forces on the green at the Battle of Lexington.

Two Lanterns Signal

A signal lit from the Old North Church steeple on the night of April 18, 1775, warning that the British were advancing by water across the Charles River.

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

The opening, unattributed shot at the Battle of Lexington that signified the start of the Revolutionary War and young America's resolve to fight for freedom.

Battle of Concord

An April 19, 1775 confrontation at North Bridge that marked the start of the Revolutionary War, forcing a British retreat to Boston that cost 273 Redcoat lives compared to 100 Patriot casualties.

Breed's Hill

The actual physical location where the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775.

Battle of Bunker Hill

A June 17, 1775 engagement during the Siege of Boston where Patriots repelled two British frontal charges before retreating on the third when ammunition was exhausted, inflicting over 1,000 British casualties.

General Joseph Warren

An important colonial leader killed in action defending against the British assault at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Battle of Quebec

A failed Patriot winter assault on Canada led by Generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold without cannons, ending in Montgomery's death and faded hopes of taking Canada as a 14th colony.

General William Howe

British commander whose 32,000 troops forced Washington off Long Island in late June 1776 and pushed the Continental Army across the Hudson River into New Jersey.

Battle of New York

A series of 1776 battles beginning on Long Island where Howe's better-equipped forces overwhelmed Washington's 23,000 men, forcing a retreat across the Hudson River.

Battle of Trenton

A pivotal Christmas night 1776 offensive where Washington led 2,400 men across the icy Delaware River to surprise sleeping Hessian mercenaries, capturing over 900 prisoners.

General John Burgoyne

British general who devised a plan in 1777 to capture the Hudson River valley and isolate New England, but ended up surrounded and forced to surrender at Saratoga.

Battle of Saratoga

An October 17, 1777 turning point in New York where British General Burgoyne surrendered his entire army to General Gates, boosting American morale and securing military help from France and Spain.

General Thomas Gage

British military commander instructed to seize Patriot weapons stockpiled in Concord to suppress colonial rebellion.

Paul Revere

Boston silversmith and Son of Liberty who rode toward Concord on April 18, 1775, to warn colonial leaders that British troops were advancing.

William Dawes and Samuel Prescott

Patriot riders who accompanied Paul Revere to alert the countryside; both managed to escape British patrols to continue the mission.

"The Regulars Are Coming"

The discreet phrase whispered by colonial couriers to alert Patriot households without alarming local Loyalists.

Old North Church

The Boston church whose steeple was used to display lantern signals indicating whether British soldiers were advancing by land or across the Charles River.

North Bridge

The Concord crossing where colonial militia and British soldiers engaged in the first organized fighting of the Revolutionary War.

"Whites of Their Eyes" Order

Famous command issued to colonial troops on Breed's Hill instructing them to conserve scarce ammunition until British soldiers were in close range.

General Richard Montgomery

Continental Army general who led the northern campaign into Canada and was killed in action during a blizzard attack on Quebec.

General Benedict Arnold

Continental Army officer who joined Richard Montgomery to launch a daring, cannonless assault against the fortified city of Quebec.

Continental Army Enlistment Crisis

The perilous situation in late 1776 when one-year soldier contracts were expiring, threatening to dissolve Washington's depleted forces before new recruits joined.

General Horatio Gates

American general whose northern forces surrounded British troops in New York, securing their surrender at the Battle of Saratoga.

Patriot Delaying Tactics at Saratoga

Defensive measures such as cutting down large trees and damming waterways to bog down British artillery and supply wagons in the New England wilderness.

Siege of Savannah

December 29, 1778 engagement in Georgia where British forces captured the city as part of their southern campaign.

Siege of Charleston

March 29, 1780 confrontation resulting in a major British victory and the surrender of South Carolina's vital seaport.

Battle of Camden

August 16, 1780 clash in South Carolina that resulted in a crushing defeat for American forces against the British.

General Rochambeau

French commander who marched allied troops south alongside General Washington to trap the British at Yorktown.

Battle of Yorktown

The decisive fall 1781 siege where 17,000 allied French and American forces surrounded General Cornwallis, compelling the final major British surrender.

October 19, 1781

The exact date the British army under General Cornwallis formally surrendered at Yorktown, effectively ending combat in the war.

British Reinforcements at Yorktown

A naval fleet carrying 7,000 British soldiers that arrived off Virginia on October 24, 1781, but turned back upon learning of Cornwallis's surrender.

American Diplomats in Europe

Envoys sent to secure vital foreign aid against Britain, including Benjamin Franklin in France, John Jay in Spain, and John Adams in Holland.

Count Vergennes

French foreign minister who arranged secret loans and supplies for America and persuaded King Louis XVI to form an alliance after Saratoga.

Treaty of Alliance (1778)

Agreement between France and the United States stipulating mutual military assistance and that neither nation would make peace without the other's consent.

John Jay

American diplomat who distrusted French motives and urged that the United States negotiate a separate peace agreement directly with England.

Preliminary Treaty of Peace (1782)

Draft agreement negotiated directly with Britain by Adams, Franklin, and Jay without prior French consent, signed in alphabetical order.

Treaty of Paris of 1783

The formal peace agreement ending the Revolutionary War, in which Great Britain officially recognized the United States as an independent nation.

Western Boundary of the United States (1783)

The Mississippi River, designated by the Treaty of Paris as the nation's new western frontier.

British Fort Evacuation Condition

Treaty of Paris stipulation requiring British forces to pull all garrisons out of forts situated within United States boundaries.

Loyalist Protection Provision

Treaty of Paris clause stating that British sympathizers would have their rights protected and recommending states restore their seized property.

Grand Bank of Newfoundland Fishing Rights

Vital commercial concession demanded by American negotiators granting United States fishermen access to rich Atlantic coastal waters.

Fate of Florida in the Treaty of Paris

Territorial adjustment where Great Britain ceded control of Florida back to Spain following the end of the American Revolution.

Slave Return Clause in the Treaty of Paris

Treaty condition specifying that captured enslaved persons were to be returned to their American owners.

"Free, sovereign and independent states"

The precise phrase in the Treaty of Paris confirming Great Britain's official legal recognition of each former colony's sovereignty.