American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a between the  and  on the North American continent (as well as some naval conflict). The war was the culmination of the political, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the, and formed a. The following year, they formally as a new nation, the. From 1778 onward, other European powers would fight on the American side in the war. Meanwhile, and  served on both sides.

Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army. In early 1778, shortly after an American, entered the war against Britain;  and the  joined as allies of France over the next two years. French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval leading to the surrender of a British army at  in 1781. The in 1783 ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by what is now  to the north,  to the south, and the  to the west.

People are beginning to describe the American Revolution (though not common) as a civil war between those of the British Royal Troops and British Republican Colonists. This has been brought about because many believe it can be misleading to say "Americans vs British", when at the time, "Americans" still considered themselves British, even though they were citizens of a new nation.

Armies, militias, and mercenaries
When the war began, the British Colonists ("Americans") did not have a professional army or navy. Each colony provided for its own defenses through the use of local. Militiamen were lightly armed, slightly trained, and usually did not have uniforms. Their units served for only a few weeks or months at a time, were reluctant to go very far from home, and were thus generally unavailable for extended operations. Militia lacked the training and discipline of regular soldiers but were more numerous and could overwhelm regular troops as at the of,  and Saratoga, and the. Both sides used but the Americans were particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.



Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the established (on paper) a regular army in June 1775, and appointed  as. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington used both his regulars and state militia throughout the war. The traces its institutional roots to the  of the war, formed at  in, by a resolution of the  on  , a date regarded and celebrated as the birthday of the Marine Corps. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, both the and Continental Marines were disbanded. About 250,000 men served as regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war, but there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms at one time. Armies were small by European standards of the era; the greatest number of men that Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was fewer than 17,000. This could be attributed to tactical preferences, but it also could be because of lack of powder on the American side.

Early in 1775, the consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment steadily increased this number. Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 soldiers from German princes, these soldiers were called "" because many of them came from. The troops were mercenaries in the sense of professionals who were hired out by their prince. Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America was over 60,000, though these were spread from Canada to Florida.

African-Americans and Native Americans
&mdash;slave and free &mdash;served on both sides during the war. The British actively recruited slaves belonging to Patriot masters. Because of manpower shortages, George Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. Small all-black units were formed in and ; many were slaves promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause and more than 20,000 black soldiers fought on the British side.

Most east of the  were affected by the war, and many communities were divided over the question of how to respond to the conflict. Most Native Americans opposed the United States, since native lands were threatened by expanding American settlement. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the, fielded about 1,500 men.

Massachusetts
Before the war, had been the scene of much revolutionary activity, leading to the  that ended home rule as a punishment in 1774. Popular resistance to these measures, however, compelled the newly appointed royal officials in Massachusetts to resign or to seek refuge in Boston. Lieutenant General, the British , commanded four regiments of British regulars (about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston, but the countryside was in the hands of the Revolutionaries.



On the night of, General Gage sent 700 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at. Riders including alerted the countryside, and when British troops entered  on the morning of, they found 77  formed up on the village green. Shots were exchanged, killing several minutemen. The British moved on to Concord, where a detachment of three companies was engaged and routed at the North Bridge by a force of 500 minutemen. As the British retreated back to Boston, thousands of militiamen attacked them along the roads, inflicting great damage before timely British reinforcements prevented a total disaster. With the, the war had begun.

The militia converged on Boston, in the city. About 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, and on, , British forces under General seized the Charlestown peninsula at the. The Americans fell back, but British losses were so heavy that the attack was not followed up. The siege was not broken, and Gage was soon replaced by Howe as the British commander-in-chief.

In July 1775, newly appointed General Washington arrived outside Boston to take charge of the colonial forces and to organize the Continental Army. Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources. Arsenals were raided and some manufacturing was attempted; 90% of the supply (2 million pounds) was imported by the end of 1776, mostly from France.

The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early March 1776, heavy cannons that the patriots had were  by Major Henry Knox. Since the artillery now overlooked the British positions, Howe's situation was untenable, and the British  on, , sailing to their naval base at   then moved most of the Continental Army to fortify.

Two Quebec Regiments join the Americans
Colonel led the  at the  and  led the  to support the American cause at the. They both continued to fight for the Americans until the end of the war.

Canada
During the long standoff at Boston, the sought a way to seize the initiative elsewhere. Congress had initially invited the s to join them as the fourteenth colony, but when that failed to happen, Congress authorized an. The goal was to remove British rule from the primarily  (comprising present-day ).

Two Canada-bound expeditions were undertaken. On, , Brigadier General marched north from  with about 1,700 militiamen, capturing  on. General, the governor of Canada, escaped to. The second expedition, led by Colonel, was a logistical nightmare, with many men succumbing to smallpox. By the time Arnold reached Quebec City in early November, he had but 600 of his original 1,100 men. Montgomery's force joined Arnold's, and they on, but were soundly defeated by Carleton. The remaining Americans held on outside Quebec City until the spring of 1776, and then withdrew. So Canada stood firmly on the front line of the war with many more forces than in America.

Another attempt was made by the Americans to push back towards Quebec, but they failed at on,. Carleton then launched his own invasion and defeated Arnold at the in October. Arnold fell back to Fort Ticonderoga, where the invasion of Canada had begun. The invasion of Canada ended as a disaster for the Americans, but Arnold's efforts in 1776 delayed a full-scale British counteroffensive until the of 1777.

The invasion cost the Americans their base of support in British public opinion, "So that the violent measures towards America are freely adopted and countenanced by a majority of individuals of all ranks, professions, or occupations, in this country."

New York and New Jersey
Having withdrawn his army from Boston, General Howe now focused on capturing New York City. To defend the city, General Washington divided his 20,000 soldiers between and. While British troops were assembling on for the campaign, Washington had the newly issued  read to his men. No longer was there any possibility of compromise. On, , after landing about 22,000 men on Long Island, the British drove the Americans back to in the. Howe then laid to fortifications there, but Washington managed to evacuate his army to Manhattan.

On September 15, Howe on lower Manhattan, quickly taking control of New York City. The Americans withdrew to Harlem Heights, where they but held their ground. When Howe moved to encircle Washington's army in October, the Americans again fell back, and a was fought on October 28. Once more Washington retreated, and Howe returned to Manhattan and captured in mid November, taking about 2,000 prisoners (with an additional 1,000 having been captured during the battle for Long Island). Thus began the infamous "prison ships" system the British maintained in New York for the remainder of the war, in which more American soldiers and sailors than died in every battle of the entire war, combined.



continued to chase Washington's army through, until the Americans withdrew across the into Pennsylvania in early December. With the campaign at an apparent conclusion for the season, the British entered winter quarters. Although Howe had missed several opportunities to crush the diminishing American army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 Americans.

The outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times that try men's souls," wrote, who was with the army on the retreat. The army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after enlistments expired at the end of the year. Congress had abandoned Philadelphia in despair, although popular resistance to British occupation was growing in the countryside.

Washington decided to take the offensive, stealthily crossing the Delaware on Christmas night and capturing nearly 1,000 Hessians at the on,. Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked the British rearguard at on,. Washington then entered winter quarters at, having given a morale boost to the American cause. New Jersey militia continued to harass British and Hessian forces throughout the winter, forcing the British to retreat to their base in and around New York City.

At every stage the British strategy assumed a large base of Loyalist supporters who would rally to the King given some military support. In February 1776 Clinton took 2,000 men and a naval squadron to invade North Carolina, which he called off when he learned the Loyalists had been crushed at the. In June he tried to seize, the leading port in the South, hoping for a simultaneous rising in South Carolina. It seemed a cheap way of waging the war but it failed as the naval force was defeated by the forts and because no local Loyalists attacked the town from behind. The loyalists were too poorly organized to be effective, but as late as 1781 senior officials in London, misled by Loyalist exiles, placed their confidence in their rising.

Saratoga and Philadelphia
When the British began to plan operations for 1777, they had two main armies in North America: Carleton's army in Canada, and Howe's army in New York. In London, approved campaigns for these armies which, because of miscommunication, poor planning, and rivalries between commanders, did not work in conjunction. Although Howe successfully captured Philadelphia, the northern army was lost in a disastrous surrender at Saratoga. Both Carleton and Howe resigned after the 1777 campaign.

Saratoga campaign
The first of the 1777 campaigns was an expedition from Canada led by General. The goal was to seize the and  corridor, effectively isolating  from the rest of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by , would move down the valley and link up with Burgoyne in.



Burgoyne set off in June, and in early July. Thereafter, his march was slowed by Americans who knocked down trees in his path. A detachment was sent out to seize supplies but was by American militia in August, depriving Burgoyne of nearly 1,000 men.

Meanwhile, St. Leger&mdash;half of his force Native Americans led by &mdash;had laid siege to. American militiamen and their Native American allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and scattered at the. When a second relief expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, St. Leger broke off the siege and retreated to Canada.

Burgoyne's army was now reduced to about 6,000 men. Despite these setbacks, he determined to push on towards Albany&mdash;a fateful decision which would later produce much controversy. An American army of 8,000 men, commanded by the General, had entrenched about 10 miles (16 km) south of. Burgoyne tried to outflank the Americans but was checked at the in September. Burgoyne's situation was desperate, but he now hoped that help from Howe's army in New York City might be on the way. It was not: Howe had instead sailed away on an expedition to capture Philadelphia. American militiamen flocked to Gates's army, swelling his force to 11,000 by the beginning of October. After being badly beaten at the, Burgoyne surrendered on.

Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Revolutionary confidence and determination, suffering from Howe's successful occupation of Philadelphia, was renewed. More importantly, the victory encouraged. For the British, the war had now become much more complicated.

Philadelphia campaign
Having secured New York City in 1776, General Howe concentrated on capturing Philadelphia, the seat of the Revolutionary government, in 1777. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at the northern end of. Washington positioned his 11,000 men between Howe and Philadelphia but was driven back at the on,. The Continental Congress once again abandoned Philadelphia, and on, Howe finally outmaneuvered Washington and marched into the city unopposed. Washington the British encampment in nearby Germantown in early October and then retreated to watch and wait.



After repelling a British attack at, Washington and his army encamped at in December 1777, about 20 miles (32 km) from Philadelphia, where they stayed for the next six months. Over the winter, 2,500 men (out of 10,000) died from disease and exposure. The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to a training program supervised by. Indeed, von Steuben introduced the most modern Prussian methods of organization and tactics.

General Clinton replaced Howe as British commander-in-chief. French entry into the war had changed British strategy, and Clinton abandoned Philadelphia in order to reinforce New York City, now vulnerable to French naval power. Washington shadowed Clinton on his withdrawal and forced a draw at the on June 28, 1778, the last major battle in the north. Clinton's army went to New York City in July, just before a French fleet under arrived off the American coast. Washington's army returned to, north of the city. Although both armies were back where they had been two years earlier, the nature of the war had now changed.

An international war, 1778–1783
In 1778, the war over the rebellion in North America became international; spreading not only to Europe, but to the European colonies, chiefly in India. After learning of the American victory in Saratoga, France signed the with the United States on,. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in June 1779, a renewal of the. Unlike France, however, Spain initially refused to recognize the independence of the United States&mdash;Spain was not keen on encouraging similar anti-colonial rebellions in the. The Netherlands also became a combatant in 1780. All three countries had quietly provided financial assistance to the Americans since the beginning of the war, hoping to dilute British power.

In London King George III gave up hope of subduing America by more armies while Britain had a European war to fight. "It was a joke," he said, "to think of keeping Pennsylvania." There was no hope of recovering New England. But the King was determined "never to acknowledge the independence of the Americans, and to punish their contumacy by the indefinite prolongation of a war which promised to be eternal." His plan was to keep the 30,000 men garrisoned in New York, Rhode Island, in Canada, and in Florida; other forces would attack the French and Spanish in the West Indies. To punish the Americans the King planned to destroy their coasting-trade, bombard their ports; sack and burn towns along the coast (like ), and turn loose the Native Americans to attack civilians in frontier settlements. These operations, the King felt, would inspire the Loyalists; would splinter the Congress; and "would keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse" and they would beg to return to his authority. The plan meant destruction for the Loyalists and loyal Native Americans, and indefinite prolongation of a costly war, as well as the risk of disaster as the French and Spanish were assembling an armada to invade the British isles and seize London. The British planned to re-subjugate the rebellious colonies after dealing with their European allies.

Widening of the naval war
When the war began, the British had overwhelming naval superiority over the American colonists. The had over 100  and many frigates and smaller craft, although this fleet was old and in poor condition, a situation which would be blamed on, the. During the first three years of the war, the Royal Navy was primarily used to transport troops for land operations and to protect commercial shipping. The American colonists had no, and relied extensively on ing to harass British shipping. The privateers caused worry disproportionate to their material success although those operating out of French ports before and after France joined the war caused significant embarrassment to the Royal Navy and inflamed Anglo-French relations. The authorized the creation of a small  in October, 1775, which was primarily used for. became the first great American naval hero, capturing on, , the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.



French entry into the war meant that British naval superiority was now contested. The Franco-American alliance began poorly, however, with failed operations at in 1778 and, in 1779. Part of the problem was that France and the United States had different military priorities: France hoped to capture British possessions in the before helping to secure American independence. While French financial assistance to the American war effort was already of critical importance, French military aid to the Americans would not show positive results until the arrival in July 1780 of a large force of soldiers led by the.

Spain entered the war on the side of the Americans with the goal of recapturing and, which had been lost to the British in 1704. for more than three years, but the British garrison stubbornly resisted for years and was finally resupplied after Admiral 's victory in the (January, 1780). Further Franco-Spanish efforts to capture Gibraltar were unsuccessful. One notable success took place on February 5, 1782 when Spanish and French forces captured, which Spain retained after the war.

West Indies and Gulf Coast
There was much action in the West Indies, with several islands changing hands, especially in the. At the in April 1782, a victory by Rodney's fleet over the French  frustrated the hopes of France and Spain to take  and other colonies from the British. On, , Count , the Spanish governor of , captured the British naval base at in. Nevertheless, except for the French retention of the small island of, sovereignty in the West Indies was returned to the  in the 1783 peace treaty.

On the, Gálvez seized three British outposts in 1779: , , and. Gálvez then captured in 1780 and  of the British outpost at  in 1781. His actions led to Spain acquiring and  in the peace settlement.

India and the Netherlands
The military action in North America and the Caribbean helped spark a conflict between Britain and France over, in the form of the , starting in 1780. The two chief combatants were, ruler of the and a key French ally, and the British government of. The Second Mysore war came to an end by the Treaty of Mangalore. It is an important document in the history of India. It was the last occasion when a Native Indian power dictated terms to the British, who were made to play the role of humble supplicants for peace. Warren Hasting called it a humiliating pacification, and appealed to the king and Parliament to punish the Madras Government for "the faith and honor of the British nation have been equally violated."

In 1780, the British struck against the of the Netherlands in order to preempt Dutch involvement in the, a declaration of several European powers that they would conduct neutral trade during the war. Britain was not willing to allow the Netherlands to openly give aid to the American rebels. Agitation by Dutch radicals and a friendly attitude towards the United States by the Dutch government&mdash;both influenced by the American Revolution&mdash;also encouraged the British to attack. The lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch mercantile economy.

Southern theater
During the first three years of the American Revolutionary War, the primary military encounters were in the north. After French entry into the war, the British turned their attention to the southern colonies, where they hoped to regain control by recruiting Loyalists. This southern strategy also had the advantage of keeping the Royal Navy closer to the Caribbean, where the British needed to defend their possessions against the French and Spanish.



On, , an expeditionary corps from Clinton's army in New York captured. An attempt by French and American forces to failed on,. Clinton then, capturing it on ,. With relatively few casualties, Clinton had seized the South's biggest city and seaport, paving the way for what seemed like certain conquest of the South.

The remnants of the southern Continental Army began to withdraw to but were pursued by Lt. Colonel, who defeated them at the  on ,. With these events, organized American military activity in the region collapsed, though the war was carried on by partisans such as. Cornwallis took over British operations, while arrived to command the American effort. On, , Gates was defeated at the , setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade.

Cornwallis' victories quickly turned, however. One wing of his army was utterly defeated at the on,. Tarleton was decisively defeated at the on, , by American General.

General, Gates's replacement, proceeded to wear down the British in a series of battles, each of them tactically a victory for the British but giving no strategic advantage to the victors. Greene summed up his approach in a motto that would become famous: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Unable to capture or destroy Greene's army, Cornwallis moved north to.

In March 1781, General Washington dispatched to defend Virginia. The young Frenchman skirmished with Cornwallis, avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to, in July so the Royal Navy could return his army to New York.

Northern and western Frontier


West of the and along the Canadian border, the American Revolutionary War was an "." Most supported the British. Like the Confederacy, tribes such as the s and the s split into factions.

The British supplied their native allies with muskets and gunpowder and advised raids against civilian settlements, especially in New York, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks in the and at  in 1778 provoked Washington to send the  into western New York during the summer of 1779. There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed the Native American winter food supplies, forcing them to flee permanently to British bases in Canada and the Niagara Falls area.

In the and the, the Virginia frontiersman  attempted to neutralize British influence among the Ohio tribes by capturing the outposts of  and  in the summer of 1778. When General, the British commander at , retook Vincennes, Clark returned in a surprise march in February 1779 and captured Hamilton himself.

In 1782 came the, when Pennsylvania militiamen killed about a hundred neutral Native Americans. In August 1782, in one of the last major encounters of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was defeated at the.

Yorktown and the War's end


The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781 at. In early September, French naval forces defeated a British fleet at the, cutting off Cornwallis' escape. Washington hurriedly moved American and French troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000 men commenced the in early October. Cornwallis' position quickly became untenable, and he surrendered his army on.

With the surrender at Yorktown, King George lost control of Parliament to the peace party, and there were no further major military activities on land. The British had 30,000 garrison troops occupying New York City, Charleston, and Savannah. The war continued at sea between the British and the French fleets in the West Indies. The British might have sent more troops to attack the colonists if not for the numerous American ships attacking British shipping lanes worldwide. Due to the impact on British pocketbooks, the merchants put pressure on Parliament to end the war.

In London as political support for the war plummeted after Yorktown,  resigned in March 1782. In April 1782, the Commons voted to end the war in America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in Paris at the end of November, 1782; the formal end of the war did not occur until the was signed on, , and the United States Congress ratified the treaty on ,. The last British troops on,.

Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her Native American allies and ceded all Native American territory between the and the Mississippi River to the United States. Full of resentment, Native Americans reluctantly confirmed these land cessions with the United States in a series of treaties, but the fighting would be renewed in conflicts along the frontier in the coming years, the largest being the.

Casualties
The total loss of life resulting from the American Revolutionary War is unknown. As was typical in the wars of the era, disease claimed more lives than battle. Historian suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops inoculated against the  epidemic was one of his most important decisions.

An estimated 25,000 American Revolutionaries died during active military service. About 8,000 of these deaths were in battle; the other 17,000 deaths were from disease, including about 8,000 who died while. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total American military figure was therefore as high as 50,000.

About 171,000 seamen served for the British during the war; about 25 to 50 percent of them had been into service. About 1,240 were killed in battle, while 18,500 died from disease. The greatest killer was, a disease known at the time to be easily preventable by issuing lemon juice to sailors. About 42,000 British seamen during the war.

Approximately 1,200 Germans were killed in action and 6,354 died from illness or accident. About 16,000 of the remaining German troops returned home, but roughly 5,500 remained in the United States after the war for various reasons, many eventually becoming American citizens. No reliable statistics exist for the number of casualties among other groups, including Loyalists, British regulars, Native Americans, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.

Financial costs
The British spent about £80 million and ended with a national debt of £250 million, which it easily financed at about £9.5 million a year in interest. The French spent 1.3 billion livres (about £56 million). Their total national debt was £187 million, which they could not easily finance; over half the French national revenue went to debt service in the 1780s. The debt crisis became a major enabling factor of the as the government was unable to raise taxes without public approval. The United States spent $37 million at the national level plus $114 million by the states. This was mostly covered by loans from France and the Netherlands, loans from Americans, and issuance of more and more paper money (which became "not worth a continental.") The U.S. finally solved its debt problem in the 1790s.

Historical assessment
The war of American independence could be summed up as a civil war fought on foreign soil, as opposing forces comprised both nations' residents. That said, it is a war that America could not have survived without French assistance. In addition, Britain had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the. The British usually had problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and acclimated to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.

Suppressing a rebellion in America also posed other problems. Since the colonies covered a large area and had not been united before the war, there was no central area of strategic importance. In Europe, the capture of a capital often meant the end of a war; in America, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated. Furthermore, the large size of the colonies meant that the British lacked the manpower to control them by force. Once any area had been occupied, troops had to be kept there or the Revolutionaries would regain control, and these troops were thus unavailable for further offensive operations. The British had sufficient troops to defeat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies. This manpower shortage became critical after French and Spanish entry into the war, because British troops had to be dispersed in several, where previously they had been concentrated in America.

The British also had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously retaining the allegiance of Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep the colonies in the British Empire, but this imposed numerous military limitations. Early in the war, the Howe brothers served as peace commissioners while simultaneously conducting the war effort, a dual role which may have limited their effectiveness. Additionally, the British could have recruited more slaves and Native Americans to fight the war, but this would have alienated many Loyalists, even more so than the controversial hiring of German mercenaries. The need to retain Loyalist allegiance also meant that the British were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed in and. Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the war. This combination of factors led ultimately to the downfall of British rule in America and the rise of the revolutionaries' own independent nation, the United States of America.