knowt logo

Unit 03: Winning Independence (1776-1777)

Continental Army v.s British

  • General Howe surrendered after seeing canons lined up and aimed at him

  • Britain got the biggest army they have ever put together (at the time) and sent it to America

    Continental Army

Pros

Cons

colonists lived near the colonies which are where the war was

Limited amount supplies

Allies: France, Spain, Netherlands

The state militia wasn’t good at fighting

Fought harder than the British because they had more to lose (could die + independence; passionate)

Supplies were close by

British

Pros

Cons

Lots of supplies

Supplies were all the way in England

Well trained

Fought only for money (not passion)

Allies: Native Americans, Loyalists

War wasn’t at home

Challenges for Continental Army

  • British landed troops in NY

    • The same month independence was voted for

      • (July 1776)

    • troops were looking for Washington

  • Washington brings his forces from Boston to NYC

    • the army was no match for the British

    • found out he wasn’t all that as a general

  • Howe had a large navy and team

    • 34,000 troops

    • 10,000 sailors

  • Washington has a poor team

    • no navy

    • 20,000 poorly trained troops

Battle of Long Island

  • June-July 1776: British invade NY

    • King George just read the olive branch petition

      • serious and sent the largest force they ever sent then

  • July 1776: John Adams and Ben Franklin meet with General Howe on Staten Island to discuss peace

    • Howe was supposed to be a diplomat and go after Washington

  • August 1776

    • 20,000 untrained soldiers

      • some stayed to protect Boston

        • 8,000 remaining

    • Howe: 13,000 soldiers

    • Washington: 8,000 soldiers

      • Washington loses but is saved by John Glover and the Marblehead

    • Fort Lee and Fort Washington were made to prevent the British from going upstream

    • Howe attacks at Brooklyn Heights

      • Washington wanted to fight Bunker Hill style

      • Howe predicted Washington’s plan

      • Howe wanted to attack from behind

      • Washington had scouts watching his flank

        • Scouts got drunk and didn’t alert about the flank

      • Washington escaped to Manhattan

        • got trapped because the navy was there

        • Howe wanted to be peaceful and talk things out

        • Glover and the Marblehead saved Washington

          • A fog came over at the right time to hide them from escaping

    • Howe goes to attack Kip’s Bay

    • Harlem Heights

      • Hold off the British so Americans could escape

    • Washington escapes to PA while Charles Lee was getting captured

      • Easy to get from PA to NJ

    • Patriots in trouble

      • low supplies and morale

      • people leaving the army

    • Washington had the remaining army read The Crisis themselves

      • amount of people leaving decreased

      • still needed to get people to re-enlist

  • Battle of Trenton (1776)

    • needed a quick victory to boost morale

    • Hessians guarding Trenton, NJ

    • attacked 1,500 Hessians on Christmas

    • distracted because Christmas and winter

      • Winter means low supplies and more food needing to be made

    • Glover helped Washington cross the Delaware river

      • amphibious attack

      • Washington won

      • 1,000 captured Hessians

      • 6 men died (Washington troops)

    • enough to keep the army together

    • Cornwallis heads to Trenton (January 2, 1777)

      • surrounded them

      • Washington kept campfires lit to trick them into thinking that they were still at camp

  • Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777)

    • met smaller part of Cornwallis’ army

    • Washington wanted to fight them

    • Washington won

      • no tricks/cheats

    • went to Morristown, NJ

    • kept the army together too (morale)

  • Meanwhile…

    • 1776: British sent 10,000 soldiers to Canada

    • Arnold commanded the remainder of the army (Battle of Quebec)

      • met up with Horatio Gates (a Patriot)

        • put Arnold in charge of getting warships out to protect Lake Champlain

    • Charles and Horatio hated Washington

      • people trusted Washington just because he was a colonist

    • Arnold needed to slow down the British

      • built a navy at Lake Champlain

      • Americans: poorly built ships

      • British: disassemble and assemble

    • Lake Champlain was a good transportation route

      • whoever controlled it controlled trade, transportation, etc.

    • Arnold got help from people in New Hampshire to build boats

    • whoever finished making boats got to fight faster

      • British destroyed American Army

        • Slowed them down

          • ended as a tie, but technically a win for the Patriots

    • Known as Valcour Bay

  • Saratoga (1777)

    • Spring 1777: General John Burgoyne planned to defeat the Americans

      • 3 armies go to Albany and destroy the Americans

        • each one came from Montreal, Hudson, and Mohawk → left the Americans to have to go to New England (East)

          • British would control the whole waterway

      • 3 armies:

        • Burgoyne (North)

        • Howe (South)

        • St. Leger (West)

    • Howe broke away from his plan to get Washington and go back to Albany

    • Americans drove 1 of the enemies (St. Leger) to Fort Stanwix

    • Arnold played psychological tricks

      • spread propaganda

    • 8,000 troops left to fight (Burgoyne)

    • Several days long

    • Americans won

    • Burgoyne had to surrender his army

    • Arnold was amazing leaving Horatio (the higher-up) in the shadows

      • Horatio benches Arnold (the bullet from the Battle of Quebec)

        • Horatio starts to lose

          • Arnold hears and asks Daniel Morgan what’s happening

            • saves the day

              • Arnold gets shot in the same leg again

  • Howe goes to Philadelphia, PA

    • Washington + Continental Congress were here

      • wanted to arrest the Continental Congress

    • believed that capturing the 2 would end the revolution

    • Howe ended up loving Philly

    • left General Clinton in charge of NYC

  • Col. St. Leger

    • lost to Arnold Benedict

    • Native Americans backed out of helping after hearing that Arnold had a larger army

    • Went to Fort Stanwix

      • Arnold captured them

  • Horatio Gates

    • fought outside Saratoga(3 days long)

    • would’ve lost if Howe showed up

  • Clinton

    • didn’t have enough troops

      • asked by Burgoyne to send troops

  • no one got to Albany

  • Arnold Benedict

    • helps Horatio because he was doing a bad job

    • asks Daniel Morgan for help

  • Daniel Morgan

    • had riflemen and musketmen

    • the rifle is more accurate

      • cork grooves make the ball spin at a guaranteed spin

    • hunting weapons like these made it easy to pick off the British

      • would shoot the sergeants/generals

        • brains told the army what to do

    • the rifle was just one weapon

      • couldn’t put a bayonet on it

    • the musket could do 3 things

    • put a leather patch to make the ball spin without losing force (rifle

  • Horatio got credit instead

  • After Saratoga

    • France helps America secretly

      • not openly fighting but helped with money and supplies

        • saw them win Saratoga so they helped openly

  • Washington gets Princeton by luck

  • Arnold was upset that Gates ignored him and tried to take credit

  • Middle states

    • Howe after Washington and Continental Congress

  • Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge

    • Brandywine and Germantown important battles in PA

      • Washington lost → kept them occupied

        • Gates wouldn’t have won (?)

      • lots of loyalists in PA

        • British helped with trade and ports

    • Howe wins Brandywine

      • (9/11/1777)

    • wins Paoli

      • (9/20/1777)

    • wins Germantown

      • Americans lost to a house

      • (10/4/1777)

    • Washington and soldiers → bad at repositioning

  • Brandywine

    • Cornwallis comes North secretly

    • Howe distracted them

  • Paoli

    • Americans lost because they were sleeping

  • Germantown

    • Washington had a 3 prong plan

      • 1 prong was too small

      • 1 got lost

      • 1 lost to a house

        • distracted by a house that held British soldiers

          • Knox wanted to get rid of them

        • the friendly fire happened a lot

          • Americans had no uniforms

          • not all Red Coats wore red coats

  • Saratoga

    • (10/7/1777)

  • Arnold + Morgan = best generals

    • better than Washington

  • Valley Forge

    • Americans go to Valley Forge

Conditions in Valley Forge

mid-winter snow, mud, slush

damp, drafty, huts

frozen ground

poorly clothed (no shoes or coats)

suffered frostbite/disease

poor food - would use fake money to try and buy food (Continental Congress)if you question the value it has no value

  • French economy crumbled because of the revolution

    • king gets beheaded

  • Baron Von Steuben

    • Prussian drill master

    • meets up with Ben Franklin saying he wants to help

    • goes to Washington

    • Alexander Hamilton helps translate to English (Steuben spoke 4 languages but none were English)

    • confused why Americans asked so many questions

    • Steuben trained the Americans

      • helped them not run away

      • bonded them together

        • a team is better than multiple individuals

AD

Unit 03: Winning Independence (1776-1777)

Continental Army v.s British

  • General Howe surrendered after seeing canons lined up and aimed at him

  • Britain got the biggest army they have ever put together (at the time) and sent it to America

    Continental Army

Pros

Cons

colonists lived near the colonies which are where the war was

Limited amount supplies

Allies: France, Spain, Netherlands

The state militia wasn’t good at fighting

Fought harder than the British because they had more to lose (could die + independence; passionate)

Supplies were close by

British

Pros

Cons

Lots of supplies

Supplies were all the way in England

Well trained

Fought only for money (not passion)

Allies: Native Americans, Loyalists

War wasn’t at home

Challenges for Continental Army

  • British landed troops in NY

    • The same month independence was voted for

      • (July 1776)

    • troops were looking for Washington

  • Washington brings his forces from Boston to NYC

    • the army was no match for the British

    • found out he wasn’t all that as a general

  • Howe had a large navy and team

    • 34,000 troops

    • 10,000 sailors

  • Washington has a poor team

    • no navy

    • 20,000 poorly trained troops

Battle of Long Island

  • June-July 1776: British invade NY

    • King George just read the olive branch petition

      • serious and sent the largest force they ever sent then

  • July 1776: John Adams and Ben Franklin meet with General Howe on Staten Island to discuss peace

    • Howe was supposed to be a diplomat and go after Washington

  • August 1776

    • 20,000 untrained soldiers

      • some stayed to protect Boston

        • 8,000 remaining

    • Howe: 13,000 soldiers

    • Washington: 8,000 soldiers

      • Washington loses but is saved by John Glover and the Marblehead

    • Fort Lee and Fort Washington were made to prevent the British from going upstream

    • Howe attacks at Brooklyn Heights

      • Washington wanted to fight Bunker Hill style

      • Howe predicted Washington’s plan

      • Howe wanted to attack from behind

      • Washington had scouts watching his flank

        • Scouts got drunk and didn’t alert about the flank

      • Washington escaped to Manhattan

        • got trapped because the navy was there

        • Howe wanted to be peaceful and talk things out

        • Glover and the Marblehead saved Washington

          • A fog came over at the right time to hide them from escaping

    • Howe goes to attack Kip’s Bay

    • Harlem Heights

      • Hold off the British so Americans could escape

    • Washington escapes to PA while Charles Lee was getting captured

      • Easy to get from PA to NJ

    • Patriots in trouble

      • low supplies and morale

      • people leaving the army

    • Washington had the remaining army read The Crisis themselves

      • amount of people leaving decreased

      • still needed to get people to re-enlist

  • Battle of Trenton (1776)

    • needed a quick victory to boost morale

    • Hessians guarding Trenton, NJ

    • attacked 1,500 Hessians on Christmas

    • distracted because Christmas and winter

      • Winter means low supplies and more food needing to be made

    • Glover helped Washington cross the Delaware river

      • amphibious attack

      • Washington won

      • 1,000 captured Hessians

      • 6 men died (Washington troops)

    • enough to keep the army together

    • Cornwallis heads to Trenton (January 2, 1777)

      • surrounded them

      • Washington kept campfires lit to trick them into thinking that they were still at camp

  • Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777)

    • met smaller part of Cornwallis’ army

    • Washington wanted to fight them

    • Washington won

      • no tricks/cheats

    • went to Morristown, NJ

    • kept the army together too (morale)

  • Meanwhile…

    • 1776: British sent 10,000 soldiers to Canada

    • Arnold commanded the remainder of the army (Battle of Quebec)

      • met up with Horatio Gates (a Patriot)

        • put Arnold in charge of getting warships out to protect Lake Champlain

    • Charles and Horatio hated Washington

      • people trusted Washington just because he was a colonist

    • Arnold needed to slow down the British

      • built a navy at Lake Champlain

      • Americans: poorly built ships

      • British: disassemble and assemble

    • Lake Champlain was a good transportation route

      • whoever controlled it controlled trade, transportation, etc.

    • Arnold got help from people in New Hampshire to build boats

    • whoever finished making boats got to fight faster

      • British destroyed American Army

        • Slowed them down

          • ended as a tie, but technically a win for the Patriots

    • Known as Valcour Bay

  • Saratoga (1777)

    • Spring 1777: General John Burgoyne planned to defeat the Americans

      • 3 armies go to Albany and destroy the Americans

        • each one came from Montreal, Hudson, and Mohawk → left the Americans to have to go to New England (East)

          • British would control the whole waterway

      • 3 armies:

        • Burgoyne (North)

        • Howe (South)

        • St. Leger (West)

    • Howe broke away from his plan to get Washington and go back to Albany

    • Americans drove 1 of the enemies (St. Leger) to Fort Stanwix

    • Arnold played psychological tricks

      • spread propaganda

    • 8,000 troops left to fight (Burgoyne)

    • Several days long

    • Americans won

    • Burgoyne had to surrender his army

    • Arnold was amazing leaving Horatio (the higher-up) in the shadows

      • Horatio benches Arnold (the bullet from the Battle of Quebec)

        • Horatio starts to lose

          • Arnold hears and asks Daniel Morgan what’s happening

            • saves the day

              • Arnold gets shot in the same leg again

  • Howe goes to Philadelphia, PA

    • Washington + Continental Congress were here

      • wanted to arrest the Continental Congress

    • believed that capturing the 2 would end the revolution

    • Howe ended up loving Philly

    • left General Clinton in charge of NYC

  • Col. St. Leger

    • lost to Arnold Benedict

    • Native Americans backed out of helping after hearing that Arnold had a larger army

    • Went to Fort Stanwix

      • Arnold captured them

  • Horatio Gates

    • fought outside Saratoga(3 days long)

    • would’ve lost if Howe showed up

  • Clinton

    • didn’t have enough troops

      • asked by Burgoyne to send troops

  • no one got to Albany

  • Arnold Benedict

    • helps Horatio because he was doing a bad job

    • asks Daniel Morgan for help

  • Daniel Morgan

    • had riflemen and musketmen

    • the rifle is more accurate

      • cork grooves make the ball spin at a guaranteed spin

    • hunting weapons like these made it easy to pick off the British

      • would shoot the sergeants/generals

        • brains told the army what to do

    • the rifle was just one weapon

      • couldn’t put a bayonet on it

    • the musket could do 3 things

    • put a leather patch to make the ball spin without losing force (rifle

  • Horatio got credit instead

  • After Saratoga

    • France helps America secretly

      • not openly fighting but helped with money and supplies

        • saw them win Saratoga so they helped openly

  • Washington gets Princeton by luck

  • Arnold was upset that Gates ignored him and tried to take credit

  • Middle states

    • Howe after Washington and Continental Congress

  • Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge

    • Brandywine and Germantown important battles in PA

      • Washington lost → kept them occupied

        • Gates wouldn’t have won (?)

      • lots of loyalists in PA

        • British helped with trade and ports

    • Howe wins Brandywine

      • (9/11/1777)

    • wins Paoli

      • (9/20/1777)

    • wins Germantown

      • Americans lost to a house

      • (10/4/1777)

    • Washington and soldiers → bad at repositioning

  • Brandywine

    • Cornwallis comes North secretly

    • Howe distracted them

  • Paoli

    • Americans lost because they were sleeping

  • Germantown

    • Washington had a 3 prong plan

      • 1 prong was too small

      • 1 got lost

      • 1 lost to a house

        • distracted by a house that held British soldiers

          • Knox wanted to get rid of them

        • the friendly fire happened a lot

          • Americans had no uniforms

          • not all Red Coats wore red coats

  • Saratoga

    • (10/7/1777)

  • Arnold + Morgan = best generals

    • better than Washington

  • Valley Forge

    • Americans go to Valley Forge

Conditions in Valley Forge

mid-winter snow, mud, slush

damp, drafty, huts

frozen ground

poorly clothed (no shoes or coats)

suffered frostbite/disease

poor food - would use fake money to try and buy food (Continental Congress)if you question the value it has no value

  • French economy crumbled because of the revolution

    • king gets beheaded

  • Baron Von Steuben

    • Prussian drill master

    • meets up with Ben Franklin saying he wants to help

    • goes to Washington

    • Alexander Hamilton helps translate to English (Steuben spoke 4 languages but none were English)

    • confused why Americans asked so many questions

    • Steuben trained the Americans

      • helped them not run away

      • bonded them together

        • a team is better than multiple individuals