American Revolution
The colonial army faced some early defeats in the American Revolution, such as losses in Canada and New York.
In the loss at Canada, some Patriots believed that Canada should be the essential '14th colony' despite it being controlled by the British. Nonetheless, in Quebec, Generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold joined forces, although neither had cannons to take down the high walls of Quebec. The generals then decided to take a chance at waiting for a snowstorm to arrive, being that it would provide cover for a bold advance. Their plan ended up failing, with Montgomery killed, and any hope of taking over Canada was diminished. New York, respectively New York City, became the first major battleground of the war. By late June 1776, a large fleet of British naval ships approached New York Bay. The British, composed of 32,000 soldiers, were far better equipped in comparison to General Washington's 23,000 men - most a part of the militia. The Continental Army, already pushed off of Long Island, were forced to retreat farther and farther back in a series of battles in which the Redcoats also captured several Patriots and supplies, and after months of fighting, were able to push the Americans across the Hudson River and into New Jersey, whereas Howe had successfully gotten revenge for his loss in Boston.
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By November of 1776, the Continental Army was retreating through New Jersey, and Washington's remaining 6,000 men were discouraged after the losses they'd faced. Along with this, many of their contracts would end soon, and due to a discouraged army facing a few losses, there was a chance that no one would either enlist, or reenlist, and it was at a point where the fate of the Revolution, as well as its army, would soon vanish. Meanwhile, General Howe left New Jersey in the hands of the mercenary group of Hessians, thinking that the rebellion would soon end, and in the December of the same year, Washington and his troops retreated into Pennsylvania, and even with 2,000 more militiamen from Pennsylvania, the Patriots were near the end of their troops. Washington then decided to take the chance of going on the offense against the Hessians, knowing that without a victory, he'd surely loose his army. So, on Christmas night of 1776, Washington and his remaining 2,400 men silently rowed across the Delaware river despite a raging winter storm, and by morning, the troops - short on supplies with many not having shoes - trudged through the snow to the enemy camp. From there, the Americans sprang into action on their attack on the unsuspecting Hessians, taking more than 900 prisoners, gaining an important victory at the battle of Trenton.
With two victories for the Patriots, the British wanted a victory to cover for their losses. In spring of 1777, a general by the name of John Burgoyne came up with a plan to do just that. This plan was to invade from Canada, recapture Fort Ticonderoga, and go south into Albany, while General Howe, located in New York City, would go up the Hudson River to meet him - and all this had to be done within perfect timing. Although the plan went wrong, and Howe ended up capturing Philadelphia, while Burgoyne did in fact recapture Fort Ticonderoga, but was outnumbered on the way to Saratoga by militiamen. The Americans scored a victory at the Battle of Saratoga in New York, and morale soared amidst the patriots. This victory also enabled the Patriots something they'd desperately needed - foreign help from Britain's powerful enemies, both France and Spain, along with Holland.
Alongside the battle at Saratoga, Patriots received a well amount of help from the French, being that a treaty of support had also been worked out in May of 1778. Nonetheless, they'd received help from a French nobleman by the name of Marquis de Lafayette, whom volunteered to serve in the army without pay, contributed money to support the Revolution, and even became a skilled military officer and received the high post of major general despite being wounded in his first battle fought in Philadelphia. The Patriots had even received help from a Prussian officer under the name of Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who trained the Continental Army in fighting skills. In early 1781, the Patriots were at downfall in the war - they were low on money to pay for soldiers and supplies, and the help from their foreign allies had not ended the war soon enough as they'd hoped. Either way, they'd taken a blow when Benedict Arnold turned traitor, and under Nathanael Greene, started harassing the British in the Carolinas, and Cornwallis moved his force of 7,200 men to Yorktown, Virginia to stay in touch with the naval fleet and not realizing how much of a fatal mistake had been made. Seizing the opportunity to trap Cornwallis in Yorktown, Washington ordered Lafayette to block any chance of escape from Cornwallis by land, while he combined his troops with that of Comte de Rochambeau to Virginia to cut off any other escape routes. A French naval fleet blocked Chesapeake Bay to prevent a rescue of Cornwallis' army. For several weeks, they wore down British defense, and on October 19th of 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. This battle was known as the Battle of Yorktown, as well as the last major battle of the American Revolution in which the Americans had gained their independence.
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was formed. In this, Great Britain recognized the independence of the US, and the treaty also set the borders of America, and Britain also accepted American rights to settle and trade west of the original colonies. The Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the successor to the First Continental Congress, and came together May 10, 1775. From this, many of the same delegates attended, although Georgia still refused to send delegates until July 8, 1775, in which the delegates arrived in Pennsylvania in late July of the same year. In this meeting, delegates, now as Congress, took to managing colonial war effort, and moving towards independence. Likewise, they came around to creating the Continental army and commissioning George Washington to be its supreme commander. Also within the time frame of July 1775, the Olive Branch Petition was signed as a final plea for peace with Britain - but it was rejected by the king.
In the time of June 1775, event known as the Battle at Bunker Hill occurred, although most of the fight was atop Breed's Hill. In this Battle, about 2200 British soldiers led by Major General William Howe and Brigadier General Robert Pigot, while the Americans were taken charge of by Prescott, whom had told his soldiers to not shoot until they saw the whites of their opponents eyes, to save ammunition, and by this the Americans were able to unleash an ambush of shots against the British soldiers. Upon this, they were able to force the British to retreat, and the patriots low on ammunition. By the time the British went up the hill the third time, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the outnumbered Americans who eventually retreated. Even though this battle was a win for the British it was in sense a morale booster for the inexperienced American troops, convincing them that they could take on a force as large as the British. The First Continental Congress was held in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 5 to October 26, 1774. This meeting was held in response to the previous Intolerable Acts, and the closing of the port of Boston - both held responsible by the British. Delegates from the colonies attended the Congress meeting except for Georgia - as they had frontier problems with Native Americans, were hoping for British assistance, and didn't want to decrease any chance they had by sending delegates to the meeting. Alongside, delegates had several disagreements as to how they should go about and plan their next move. Eventually an agreement had formed between the delegates, as instead of calling for independence and starting rebellion, they passed and signed a document by the name of the Continental Association, which declared a boycott of British goods. A compromise to halt trade with Britain was also reached, as well as a drafting of the Declaration of Rights - which was ultimately rejected by the king of Britain - King George at that time.
The Battles at Lexington and Concord were the first of the American Revolution. It started in April 18, 1775, when Joseph Warren heard news of British Redcoats coming into Concord that night. (The reason for this? British soldiers had heard of a militia weapons storehouse and were out to destroy it. ) So, Warren sent couriers Paul Revere and William Dawes to go and alert residents. Along traveling different routes to Lexington, which was a few miles east of Concord, they met Samuel Prescott, another rider. By dawn of April 19, 700 British troops arrived at Lexington compared to the heavily outnumbered 77 militiamen, who'd been ordered not to fire until they'd been fired upon. Due to this, a shot rang out, no one knew which side it came from, and thus the "shot heard 'round the world" had been rung, and there were few casualties on each side. From this, British troops returned to Boston after destroying whatever weapons hadn't yet been relocated back in Concord, and by this time, about 2,000 minutemen had followed and attacked the British. By the end, it was evident that although poor marksmanship skills were exhibited, the colonists proved they could fight against the British, and a full-scale rebellion for independence spewed forth. Common Sense is a pamphlet by author Thomas Paine written in 1775-1776, to persuade an advocation of independence from Great Britain to those in the 13 colonies. It was first published anonymously in January 9th of 1776 at the beginning of the revolution, and instantly became a hit. As a result, Common Sense was sold and distributed widely, being that Paine wrote it in a clear, persuasive tone that gave morale and political arguments to encourage the colonists to fight for an egalitarian government. The pamphlet also made an impassioned and persuasive case for independence, which, before the pamphlet was published, hadn't been given serious consideration.
Advantages for the British Army/Weaknesses for Colonial Army:
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