Army Trails
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Description
Explore the history of the American Revolution with some of the wars biggest battles.
This tour was curated by: National Museum of the United States Army
The National Museum of the United States Army preserves and honors the accomplishments, sacrifices and commitment of American Soldiers. As America’s Army Museum we are home to all Soldiers: past, present and future.
1. Battle of Lexington and Concord
19 April 1775American VictoryOn 19 April 1775, the British commander in Boston, Massachusetts, ordered troops to seize military supplies stored by the colonists in Lexington and Concord. Message riders such as Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott sent out advance warning to the militia in Middlesex County. British Regulars dispersed the Lexington militia company on its own town green, exchanging fire in a confused affair that marked the first shots of the Revolution. Continuing on to Concord, British Regulars and Colonial Minutemen clashed at North Bridge. Realizing the countryside was alarmed against them, the Regulars began their march back to Boston. This turned into a near rout as thousands of militia and Minutemen poured harassing fire into the column. The Regulars barely made it to the safety of their fleet in Boston harbor. Within days, Boston was surrounded by 20,000 militiamen.
2. Siege of Boston
19 April 1775 to 17 March 1776American VictoryFollowing the Battles of Lexington and Concord, New England militia units surrounded Boston, Massachusetts, trapping 6,000 British troops and thousands of Loyalists. The siege of Boston had begun. On 14 June 1775, the Continental Congress voted to take on the New England Army of Observation as a Continental Army. They sent General George Washington to take command of the militia forces around the city on 3 July 1775. Continental troops blocked the Charlestown Neck, the only land access to Charlestown and Boston. American control of the land route forced the British to resupply their forces by sea. This was not difficult because the rebellious colonies lacked a navy. Col. Henry Knox conducted a hazardous winter mission to bring cannon from Fort Ticonderoga, New York to Boston. Knox provided Washington’s Army with crucial artillery to reinforce Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston harbor in early March 1776. General William Howe realized that his position in Boston was untenable, and withdrew to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 March 1776. In their haste to leave the city, the British left behind stores of cannons and ammunition for the American arsenal.
3. Seizure of Fort Ticonderoga
10 May 1775 Continental victoryIn May 1775, a small force of American troops called the Green Mountain Boys commanded by Col. Ethan Allen, along with Col. Benedict Arnold of Connecticut, captured Fort Ticonderoga, strategically located where Lake George flows into Lake Champlain in New York. The fifty-man British garrison surrendered with all the fort’s artillery.
4. Battle of Bunker Hill
17 June 1775British Victory On the night of 16 June 1775, Col. William Prescott led 1,200 men to fortify Breed’s Hill overlooking Boston Harbor. The plan was to occupy Bunker Hill, but an advance party of militiamen built fortifications on Breed's Hill. Under the direction of engineer Richard Gridley, the troops constructed a redoubt and additional entrenchments. Royal Navy ships in Boston Harbor opened fire on the redoubt at dawn on 17 June while Maj. Gen. Thomas Gage prepared an assault force. Maj. Gen. William Howe led a three-pronged assault against Prescott’s position. Twice the Americans held, but a third assault forced them off the hill as they ran out of ammunition. The British Regulars took the redoubt and drove the New England troops back. However, the British lost 40 percent of their force, including a high percentage of officers. It was a British victory, but the Americans had shown that they would stand and fight.
5. Battle of Quebec
31 December 1775British VictoryOn 31 December 1775, in an evening snowstorm, 1,200 American Soldiers attempted to storm the defenses of Quebec City. Lacking enough men for a siege, facing expiring enlistments, and with limited supplies, the Americans were running out of time. Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery and Col. Benedict Arnold determined this was their best chance to take Quebec City before spring brought British reinforcements. With a small force acting as a demonstration in front of the walls, Montgomery led a column against the southern edge of the city while Arnold led a column through the lower city. Arnold’s force made a lodgment but Montgomery’s force met with disaster when he was killed in the first volley. Discouraged, his column faltered and fell back. After its initial success, Arnold’s column was driven from the town and he was wounded. The survivors settled in for a siege through the winter as reinforcements from the Continental Army arrived. However, the new troops brought smallpox that ravaged the Northern Army through the winter and spring of 1776. This defeat ended American attempts to carry their revolution into Canada.
6. Battle of Charleston
28-29 June 1776Continental VictoryThe initial British military campaign in the South focused on Charleston, South Carolina. On 28 June 1776, British forces attempted to seize Fort Sullivan, the key to the defenses of Charleston. Naval gunfire from their vessels damaged the fort but could not destroy it. Unable to sustain the attack, the British withdrew, temporarily ending British efforts to invade the South.
7. Battle of Long Island
26-29 August 1776British VictoryOn 22 August 1776, 22,000 British soldiers landed on Long Island, New York. General George Washington rushed reinforcements to its defense. The next day the British routed the Americans, forcing their retreat to their last entrenchments. Washington's forces fought valiantly, but were outnumbered and overwhelmed by a wide flanking attack by the British. The British commander, Sir William Howe elected not to pursue. Instead, he decided to use slow siege tactics rather than conduct a quick attack. On 29 August, bad weather allowed Washington to evacuate to Manhattan and save his Army. This move ensured the survival of his Army and the cause of independence. Howe attacked New York City in September 1776 and drove Washington's Army out of New York and New Jersey. The British gained control over New York, which they retained for the duration of the war.
8. Battle of Trenton
26 December 1776Continental VictoryAfter the retreat from New York, General George Washington and his Continental Army fell back from New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Casualties, disease, desertion, and expiring enlistments brought his strength to only about 3,000 men. With the cause of independence at an all-time low, Washington resolved on one bold stroke. American troops crossed the dangerous, ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night. The Army then marched nine miles south to strike at Hessian-held Trenton, New Jersey, taking them by surprise. In heavy street fighting, Continentals outmaneuvered the Hessians. They swept up nearly 900 prisoners as they captured Trenton. This shocking victory ignited the spirit of the Continental Army and the nascent nation.
9. Battle of Princeton
3 January 1777Continental VictoryOn 31 December 1776, General George Washington returned to Trenton. He planned to fight a defensive battle and selected a position along the south bank of Assunpink Creek. Lord Charles Cornwallis marched 6,000 Redcoats and Hessians against the Americans. On the evening of 2 January 1777, Cornwallis launched three unsuccessful assaults. That night, Washington slipped around Cornwallis and headed north to Princeton. Outside Princeton 6,600 Americans engaged with 800 British reinforcements for Cornwallis. After fierce fighting, the Americans defeated the British and stormed into the village. Washington marched away before Cornwallis could catch up to him. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton rekindled flagged American spirits nationwide.
10. Battle of Brandywine
11 September 1777British victoryThe Battle of Brandywine took place at and around Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, as British Lt. Gen. Sir William Howe attacked General George Washington’s Army that blocked Howe’s advance on Philadelphia. Howe ordered a large force to distract the Americans with a demonstration at Chadds Ford. Meanwhile, the British made a 17-mile flank march around the American right. After putting up a stiff resistance, the American forces were eventually forced to retreat.
11. Battles of Saratoga
19 September to 7 October 1777Continental VictoryIn the summer of 1777, British Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne led 8,000 troops along Lake Champlain through the New York wilderness in an attempt to reach Albany. This would allow him a secure position to advance toward New York City or into New England. Hampered by the logistics of sustaining an army so far from its base, Burgoyne’s advance was slow and tortuous. On 19 September, British Regulars and Continental troops ran into each other at Freeman’s Farm, just in advance of the Northern Army’s lines. Although it was a British victory, Burgoyne was still outnumbered by the forces of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates. On 7 October, Burgoyne sent part of his army on a foraging expedition. The Continentals soon overran the British defensive positions. Burgoyne retreated toward Saratoga and surrendered a month later. This marked the first surrender of a British field army. When news of the victory reached Paris, the French decided to recognize American independence and joined the war with Great Britain.
12. Battle of Germantown
4 October 1777British VictoryOn 26 September 1777, the British captured Philadelphia, the capital of the nascent United States. However, General George Washington refused to quit. When his intelligence indicated that 4,000 British soldiers occupied nearby Germantown, Pennsylvania, he decided to attack. Washington’s plan called for four independent columns simultaneously striking at dawn. The attack required a complex night march over unfamiliar terrain with an amateur Army. This movement would have been difficult to coordinate in any conditions but a thick fog that set in during the attack made it even harder. The two militia columns made little contact while Continental Army troops attacked at different times. Nonetheless, the initial assault on the morning of 4 October 1777, surprised the defenders, causing some British troops to flee the field. After the dense fog confused two American divisions causing them to fire into each other, and a third division exhausted its ammunition, General Charles, Lord Cornwallis counterattacked, forcing the Continental Army to retreat.
13. Battle of Monmouth
28 June 1778InconclusiveFrance’s entry into the war led the British to send reinforcements to the West Indies, leaving them too weak to continue occupying Philadelphia. In mid-June 1778, 12,000 British soldiers and a 12-mile-long wagon train left the city and headed for New York. General George Washington followed cautiously. He gave his second in command, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, command of the advance section of the Army. On 28 June, in intense heat, Lee attacked the British rearguard near Monmouth, New Jersey. The British strongly counterattacked. Lee retreated but was reinforced by the main Continental Army. British rearguard commander Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis went on the offensive but Washington’s timely arrival on the battlefield with more troops halted the Crown attacks. Though the battle was inconclusive, it demonstrated the increasing professionalism and organization of the Continental Army.
14. Siege of Savannah
16 September 1779British VictoryEarly in September 1779, the British learned that a French fleet had arrived at Tybee Island, Georgia. It generated a sizeable recruiting effort by British Maj. Gen. Augustine Prévost to bolster his defensive positions and garner Loyalist supporters. On 10 September 1779, a 1,500-man detachment of the Continental forces in the south and a French fleet with 5,000 soldiers attacked 3,200 Crown soldiers at Savannah, Georgia. The combined American and French armies sent multiple demands that the British surrender the city and its fortifications. French V. Adm. Comte d’Estaing feared leaving his ships exposed to a possible British fleet action and was concerned about the rising cases of disease among his sailors. Consequently, he insisted on a premature attack, which failed in a bloody shambles on 9 October—d’Estaing himself was twice wounded and Continental cavalry commander Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski was killed. Neither the Americans nor the French were happy with their ally’s performance as they lifted the siege. The British remained in control of the city until July 1782.
15. Battle of Kings Mountain
7 October 1780Continental VictoryIn the Fall of 1780, British Maj. Patrick Ferguson led a group of 1,000 Loyalists and Provincial troops on raids throughout the back country of South Carolina. In early October, Ferguson captured a rebel and released him, directing him to notify the community that Ferguson would lay waste to the countryside with “fire and sword” if they did not stop supporting rebels. Ferguson threatened to hang all the rebel leaders and abuse the wives and daughters of all involved. However, this threat did not work as he intended. Infuriated, Patriot militia organized for an attack. Col. William Campbell, commander of the militia units, led 900 men to surround Kings Mountain and engaged Ferguson’s men on 7 October. Ferguson ordered repeated bayonet attacks to drive the rebels back, but they kept returning, gaining footholds on the heights. Ferguson was struck by several rounds and killed, and his men collapsed. It was a major blow to Loyalist support for the British in the backcountry.
16. Battle of Cowpens
17 January 1781Continental VictoryGeneral Lord Charles Cornwallis directed his most trusted subordinate Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to engage Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan’s Army which he thought would threaten the British outpost at Ninety Six, South Carolina. Throughout early January 1781, Tarleton and his legion of infantry and cavalry pursued Morgan and his men, although he was unsuccessful in bringing them to battle for weeks. Morgan decided to make a stand at Hannah’s Cowpens on 17 January, placing his militia in the first line, Continentals in the second, and riflemen on the flanks. Tarleton attacked immediately, only to have his cavalry driven back by accurate fire. When Tarleton’s infantry advanced, they drove back the militia, but then ran up against the main line of Continentals. As the advancing British force became disorganized, Morgan turned and attacked on both flanks, overwhelming the British. Tarleton fled the field with the survivors of his force. This engagement cost the British 30 percent in killed and wounded, with 55 percent of Tarleton’s force captured or missing.
17. Battle of Guilford Courthouse
15 March 1781British VictoryGeneral Charles, Lord Cornwallis and his British army of 1,900 troops attacked General Nathanael Greene’s 4,400-man army at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, at the end of a campaign that spanned seven months and hundreds of miles. Although the American army retreated from the field to end the battle, casualties in the British ranks were so high that Cornwallis was compelled to move to Wilmington and failed to subdue the state.
18. Siege of Yorktown
28 September to 19 October 1781American/French VictoryContinental forces, led by General George Washington, and French forces, led by Lt. Gen. Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, formed an allied Army of 8,845 Continentals and militia and 7,800 French Regulars and Marines. The allies began siege operations against Yorktown, Virginia, where General Lord Charles Cornwallis’s army was entrenched. The Battle of the Virginia Capes between France and England in early September and prevented Cornwallis from being resupplied or evacuated. The lack of the British navy left Cornwallis to battle the combined force alone. The Allies constructed the first parallel of trench and bombarded the British fortifications. On 14 October, Washington sent two columns to capture the last major British outer defenses at Redoubts 9 and 10. The British situation deteriorated as the Allies pushed their guns closer. On 17 October, Cornwallis asked for 1000capitulation terms and surrendered his command of about 8,000 men, ending all British hopes for victory in America.
