Preface In this special field, I do not want to especially explain the American Revolution but the
American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, which affects the America of today and
furthermore the whole world. As well, I will write about the foreplay and the aftermath, like
the circumstances, the war started at and the consequences it had to the United Kingdom. I
personally chose this topic because it is an outstanding achievement to win a war with
“untrained” soldiers in comparison to the strong, professional army of the British, which was,
to that time, the best in the whole world. This text provides information about the greatest
Battles and the Generals behind them.
In order to become an expert of the American Revolutionary War I read following books:
1. “Valley Forge” by Newt Gingritch and William Fostchen
This book describes how von Steuben disciplined the continental army to withstand
the battle of Monmouth
2. “War For America: The Fight for Independence 1751-1783” by Jeremy Black
gives an all-around view from the sides of the British
3. “1781: The Decisive Year of the Revolutionary War” by Robert L. Tonsetic
This book follows the events of 1781, a year that saw the British southern strategy fall
apart as they lost control of the countryside.
Also, I want to announce three battles, I want to describe closer.
1. The Battle of Trenton
2. The Battle of Monmouth (“Valley Forge”)
3. The Siege of Yorktown (“1781- [...]”)
Those were all battles, in which General Washington commanded the Continental Army.
Trenton has surprisingly been a success, whereas Monmouth has been a stand-off and
Yorktown ended the war once and for all. I considered these battles to be the most interesting
due to the circumstances they were fought in.
A small introduction The Revolutionary War has been fought from 1775 and 1783 between the United Kingdom
and auxiliaries such as the Hessians, and the Thirteen Colonies of America. Later it became a
World War due to the fact that Spain and France entered the battles. In America, there were
two sides: the Loyalists also called the Tories, and the Revolutionists. The war began with the
battles of Concord and Lexington and the signing of the declaration of independence and
peace came with the treaty of Paris.
Causes of the American Revolutionary War As always, there are multiple reasons for starting a war. In this case, it was a mixture of taxes,
prohibitions and oppression.
Taxes
Many problems were faced by the Colonists such as the high taxes they had to pay the British,
who were overburden by the costs of the Anglo-French wars. The highest taxes were the
Townshend Act 1767 and the Stamp Act 1765. The Stamp Act prescribed the necessity of
paying a stamp tax on every official document, the papers and even playing cards. It was
released in 1766 through the British Parliament because they feared economical deterioration.
The Townshend Act regulated the taxes on tea, glass, mercury, colours, paper and leather. As
an effect, the East-India Trading Company was not able to sell their tea because of the
smuggling from tea from the Netherlands. The Parliament reacted with the Tea Act in 1773,
which allowed the trading company the direct selling of tea without paying customs duty. As
a result, many enraged citizens of Boston dropped the English tea in the port basin. The
Boston Tea Party originated.
Prohibitions
As the iron and steel industry in the colonies has been prohibited by the parliament and as a
result it was indispensable to buy goods from the motherland. In this way Britain wanted to
tighten the bindings between America and Europe, as well through the proscription of
treading in continental money. This was concealed by the Currency Act 1751 and 1764.
Taken Actions
The colonies had many economical interests and in order to achieve the goals of establishing
the “Continental Dollar” representatives of all parts of the country met in 1774 and founded
the Continental Congress. Also the inhabitants were discontent about not being represented in
parliament. Hereby a slogan named “No taxation without representation” was used in the
1750s and 60s to express their opinion about the Stamp Act and others. In addition, a shadow
government was formed in every province to support the newly formed Continental Congress.
Combatants
British Army
The British Army probably obtained the best trained and equipped armed forces in the world
to that time. Early in 1775, the British Army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide and
grew due to recruitment in wartime. It consisted of riflemen, light infantry, mounted troops,
dragoons and other subdirectories. Head leaders were General William Howe, General
Thomas Gage, who served alongside Washington in the French and Indian War, and General
Henry Clinton. They served the Crown alternately: Gage from 1763 to 1775, Howe from 1775
to 1778 and Clinton from 1778 to 1782. Each of them succeeded and failed in the large
amount of battles from 1775 to 1782.
Auxiliaries of the British Army
Over the course of the war, Great Britain signed treaties with various German states, which
supplied about 30,000 soldiers. Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength
in North America. The Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, reined by Friedrich II., contributed
more soldiers than any other state, and German soldiers became known as "Hessians" to the
Americans. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America
was over 60,000.
Loyalists
The Loyalists, also called the Tories, had just a little impact on the war although up to 20% of
the American population remained loyal to the King. The reason for the poor possible
application of the Loyalists was the fact, that they “[...] required the presence of British
forces1”. Also, it was complicated not to accidentally plunder goods of farmers, which
remained loyal to the king. Even dispersing a large amount of troops in order to defend
loyalist areas was a difficult target, which has been achieved with great efforts.
Continental Army
When the war began, the American Colonists did neither have a standing army, nor well
trained men. Each colony had provided for its defences through the use of militia, which were
stated in the local areas and had their own command hierarchy. Commander-in-Chief has
been Lieutenant General George Washington. At the end of the war, nearly 250.00 men
served for the revolutionary cause, but there were never more than 90.000 men under arms at
one time. In order to coordinate military efforts rather than lead a partisan war, the
Continental Congress established a regular army in June 1775 with General Washington as
commander-in-chief. After the debacle of Brandywine and the suffering at Valley Forge, the
Congress and the Board of War, a committee established to maintain stability of the army,
wanted to replace him and doubted his competence. Due to severe intervention by allied
politicians George Washington was able to stay commander-in-chief and was able to
withstand the British Army at the battle of Monmouth.
1 Jeremy Black: War for America: The Fight for Independence 1775-1783 p.12
The War Begins – a chronological listing of campaigns and battles
1775 – Weapons are being gathered
After Thomas Gage was set Governor of Massachusetts by the British Parliament, ending the
self-government 1773, the Congress approved the gathering of weapons at Lexington and
Concord. It became the first direct conflict in the American Revolutionary War. The first shot
fired was known as the “shot that was heard around the world”. In those battles, the
Revolutionaries succeeded in driving the British back to Boston, where General Thomas Gage
was in command of the troops. He was immediately replaced by Major General William
Howe after the following Siege of Boston, where the British were able to drive back the
colonial troops out of Boston under severe losses at the side of the British in the Battle of
Bunker Hill. At the beginning, the continental army suffered from insufficient supplies and
bad training. Most of them were minutemen and militiamen, which were hired for less than 6
months and had only little discipline. On July the third, George Washington formally took
command over the troops at Boston and immediately took care of the shortage of supplies. A
little later, he was able to regain control over Boston, Howe fleeing with 9.000 men to
Halifax.
1775/76 – The Invasion of Canada
1775, the Congress granted military actions against Canada due to the fact, that the
Commander of the British was gathering troops near Québec. Congress hoped to annex
Canada with help of the French, who were claiming
Canadian territories. Brigadier General Richard
Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold were not able
to gain control over Quebec, due to the fact that the
treaties of the minutemen ran out on the 31st of
December.
1776 – The Declaration of Independence
In the same year, John Adams proposed the thoughts of
the American Declaration of Independence to Congress,
which has in the end been written by Thomas Jefferson
and accepted on July 4, 1776. With “The Unanimous
Declaration of the Thirteen States of America” the
thirteen colonies declared their independence and the
detachment of Great Britain. The Declaration of
Independence became one of the most important charters
of the democratic philosophy of the freshly founded
United States of America.
1776 –The New York Campaign
After the British vacated Boston, Washington
immediately went with his decimated troops to New
Map of the retreat of the
continental army from New York
and New Jersey
York because he was expecting an assault on a strategically important point. During July and
August 1776, General Howe ordered his troops, with help of his brother Admiral Richard
Howe, to land on Staten Island, New York. 32.000 British soldiers arrived unaware of their
enemy: 20.000 untrained Soldiers of Congress and militiamen. Additional, Washington
ordered to mount heavy defensive fortifications to welcome the soldiers of the crown.
Between the 20th
and 25th
of August, 20.000 men landed under command of General Howe on
Long Island and attacked the continental troops from behind. The American lines soon broke
and the continental army retreated to Brooklyn and later Manhattan. The losses of the
Americans came up to 400 dead and 1000 in captivity, at the sides of the British only 367
dead men. 6 months later, Washington decided to evacuate Manhattan due to the fact, that
Howe reinforced his army and occupied Fort Lee and Fort Washington. In December,
Washington withdrew to Pennsylvania and left New York to the British.
1776 – Trenton, December 26
The battle of Trenton happened to be the first
victorious head-to-head fight of the continental
army and is a part of the New York Campaign.
After gaining control over New York and wide
parts of New Jersey, Howe prepared winter quarters
and fortified the biggest cities. Washington decided
to launch an attack on Trenton, where over 1.400
hessian soldiers were stationed, which laid their
trust in the Christmas Truce. This was still usual in
the First World War in the western front,
especially between Mesen and Nieuwkapelle2.
First Battle of Trenton
Due to the defeat in New York, the fighting
morale of the troops was down because the Continental Army had yet to secure a victory on
the battlefield against British Army regulars. Even Washington doubted that achieving a
victory was possible. Howsoever, on the 25th
of December, Washington stealthily crossed the
Delaware River alongside 2.400 reservists. In order to surround the Hessians, Washington
split his forces under the command of him and General Nathanael Greene. In the morning of
December 26th
the completely unprepared Hessians under command of Oberst Johann Rall
capitulated after 2 hours of fighting for reasons of drunkenness because of Christmas and bold
generalship. From 1.400 Hessians, 400 were able to flee to Bordentown; the rest (900)
surrendered, Oberst Rall one of the 25 dead3. Also, the Americans were able to capture more
than 1000 rifles and 6 cannons which were transported across the Delaware to Pennsylvania,
where the American encampment had been situated. The great success of this relatively small
battle fully restored the morale of the Continental Army and antagonised the war fatigue.
2 http://www.historicaleye.com/xmastruce.html 28.01.2014
3 Jeremy Black – War for America: The Fight for Independence 1775-1783 (p. 111)
Washington crossing the frozen
Delaware River (Emanuel Leutze –
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Battle of the Assunpink Creek and Princeton January, 2nd 177
American High Command was awaiting a massive counterattack from the British and decided
to face the upcoming battle near Trenton. Unfortunately, the Continental Army was about to
dissolve due to the fact of expiring enlistments. Howsoever, Washington decided to return and
fortify southern parts of Trenton. Meanwhile Lord Cornwallis unified his troops to regain
Trenton and managed to surround great parts of the city, while failing to occupy the strategic
important position of Assunpink Creek, where Washington was defending his last way of
retreat. After long concealing, Cornwallis decided to wait overnight to assure his soldiers
some rest instead of annihilating Washington immediately. Cornwallis has later been accused
of having decided completely wrong. Meanwhile, the Americans bluffed, that they would
keep the battle alive, like lighting campfires and sporadic firing of artilleries, while retreating
safely via a secondary road. After that, he managed due to the great speed of movements of
his troops, to evade the most of the enemy troops and was able to win several minor battles in
Princeton. He managed to face in each battle just 1.800 of the altogether 6.000 British. Most
of these battles never took place on an open field and were so called skirmishes, due to the
enormous lack in training of the Continental Army.
1777 – The Saratoga Campaign
The year of 1777 has been a time of mismanagement and defeat for the British. The Saratoga
Campaign would have been in their eyes an ingenious plan of cutting off New England from
the rest of the 13 colonies in order to ensure, that no supplies would reach the majority of the
Continental Army. Afterwards, Philadelphia, the capital of the newly established United
States had to be captured, which had been the only British success in 1777. The British Army
has been divided into three parts under command of General John Burgoyne, General Barry
Leger and General William Howe. The campaign began with the movement of Burgoyne’s
part from New York in northern direction to Lake Champlain with around 7000 soldiers and
400 Indians, who participated voluntarily, around them. The Continental Army with around
2500 men had to move back, able to slow the British down due to harsh terrain, which made a
chase nearly impossible. Also, General Benedict Arnold managed on August, 2nd
to stop
General Leger in joining Burgoyne’s forces, annihilating 700 Canadian professional soldiers
and nearly 1000 Indians. Burgoyne, now weakened from General Horatio Gates, who inflicted
sever damage to the British troops, was resolute to reach Albany before winter would set.
However, Gates managed to raise altogether 8.000 men and faced Burgoyne in the Battle of
Bemis Heights on October, 7th
in which Burgoyne’s army has been surrounded and forced to
surrender. Gates has been celebrated as a hero and the British captured.
The Battle of Brandywine – September, 11th 1777
Meanwhile, George Washington had to suffer a serious defeat at Philadelphia as previously
written and was the second part of the Saratoga Campaign. In July, 15.000 men under
command of General Howe left New York by water and landed in Elkton, Maryland.
Meanwhile, Washington fortified with 11.000 men Brandywine Creek in order to prevent
Howe from invading Pennsylvania. Washington has been attacked on September 11th
by
General Cornwallis. Parts of the Continental Army under General Nathanael Greene were
able to repulse the British for a short period of time but then were forced to orderly retreat to
Chester, losing 1500 men.
The Battle of Germantown – October, 4th 1777
After succeeding in the Battle of Brandywine the British patrolled in the area, annihilating an
American unit under General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne at Paoli, which was stationed to
surveillance the next British movements. After peaceful capturing Philadelphia, Howe
stationed 9.000 soldiers in Germantown, 3 miles away from the capital. Washington, fearing
further fortifications of the British, decided to attack Germantown coordinated in the night
from October 3, to 4. Due to heavy mist in the morning, Americans initially started to fire at
each other and retreated uncoordinated later because of low ammunition and a lack of
supplies. However, Howe did not consequently take the advantage of his victory although
chasing them for a few miles. He was able to capture 400 Americans despite his 521 losses
and 673 casualties at the American side.
Valley Forge – winter of 1777
The fighting morale of the Continental Army and the recognition of Washington disappeared
after losing Philadelphia to the British and the debacle of Paoli. Severely weakened and with a
few thousands of deserters, the Continental Army retreated to Valley Forge in order to stay
there for the rest of the winter. Unfortunately, not even houses or firewood had been prepared
for the barely 8.000 men due to a major failing of congress, now located in York. Washington
had been left alone to deal with the severe burden of building an encampment and managing
supplies such as cattle and flour in order to keep his army alive throughout winter. Congress
had not even been able to inform Washington of this precarious situation. During the first 2
weeks, soldiers had to sleep in the snow, suffering from low temperatures, lack of supplies
and the defeat at Brandywine and Germantown. 3.000 of them walking home due to expiring
enlistments and more than 1.000 dying because of diseases and hypothermia. Apart from
dying, the army had another big problem: the lack of training and the lack of logistics. Nearly
all ranks disappeared, the last few officers struggling for discipline. But these were not the
only problems: General Gates, Inspector General Conway and the majority of congress
claimed, that Washington was to hold responsible for this disaster and wanted to replace him.
However, this ‘conspiracy’, called Conway-cabal, failed to relieve Washington of duty.
Meanwhile, the British spent the winter in Philadelphia in warmth, hoping the Continentals
would simply melt away. In ‘Valley Forge’ by Newt Gingritch, it is mentioned, that
Parliament ordered, to hold their position until further notice due to the negotiations of
Benjamin Franklin in Paris, who was able to move the French to join the War in 1777. Now,
the British were forced to split up their troops in three parts again; one part to fortify the
sugar-colonies in the Caribbean areas, one part to hold New York and one part staying in
Philadelphia. Also, General William Howe was relieved of duty due to his mismanagement of
the Saratoga Campaign, General Henry Clinton now appointed as Commander-in-Chief.
In order to re-establish discipline in Valley Forge, Washington needed a veteran drillmaster to
train soldiers in executing proper orders and fighting a battle in an open field. Right to this
time, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian staff captain, offered his military
knowledge to Washington and joined the Continental Army as drillmaster and Inspector
General. With his abilities, he was able to train the Revolutionaries in less than two months to
face the British in the Battle of Monmouth where they were able to achieve a victory, gaining
back their fighting morale.
4
The Battle of Monmouth – June, 28th 1778
In May of 1778, General Henry Clinton decided to relocate his troops in order to hold contact
to the British naval forces. He also was ordered, as previously written, to split his forces due
to the American-French alliance. While he retreated back to New York5, the Continental
Army chased the vulnerable British, who where weakened due to the evacuation and transport
of countless Loyalists out of Philadelphia, travelling in a long-stretched convoy. Washington
sent 1.500 men to harass them in order to evaluate, whether they choose a route via Freehold
or via Hightstown. The Americans decided to attack the British at Freehold. General Charles
Lee advanced to gain a surprise effect but failing terribly due to poor evaluation of the
strategic situation. He later was accused in front of a court martial and had been suspended
from the American Army. Due to his failure, the British were able to build a line of defence,
annihilating Lee’s troops. With the arrival of General Washington, General Lafayette ( a
French volunteer) and General von Steuben the Continental Army was able to reorganize and
faced the British till dawn, when General Clinton decided to retreat in the dark of the night;
marching to Sandy Hook and sailing back to New York. In many sources, the Battle of
Monmouth is being described as a standoff, even partly as a victory for the British. However,
in ‘Valley Forge’ it is described, that the Americans gained a victory because of capturing a
huge amount of supplies and regained their fighting morale. Also, General Washington and
4 Newt Gingritch and William R. Forstchen – Valley Forge , p 345
5 Newt Gingritch and William R. Forstchen – Valley Forge, p.309
General von Steuben were seen as heroes. Steuben had been especially honoured by building
a statue, located at Lafayette Park in front of the White House in Washington D.C.
The French entering the war – February, 6th 1778
With help of Benjamin Franklin, on February, 6th
1778, France agreed on an American-
French alliance, forcing the British to divide their forces in order to defend their borders and
colonies from the French navy. Also, the American Revolution turned into a global war,
followed by battles in Europe, America, India and the Caribbean area. These circumstances
together with drilling of the Continental Army made it an American victory possible. The
French themselves only had supportive impact on important battles, such as The Siege of
Savannah and the Siege of Yorktown. Later, also Spain and the Netherlands joined the war,
seeing a chance to gain back some of their former colonies.
Savannah – December 1778 to October 1779
In the battle and the Siege of Savannah, the British had been victorious. An expedition-force
of 3.000 professional soldiers in command of General Archibald Campbell captured
Savannah, situated at the Savannah River. Nearly a year later, General Benjamin Lincoln
besieged with help of General D’Estaing and 6500 men the city. Because of the meanwhile
defenceless fleet of D’Estaing, the Revolutionaries attacked hastily and had been defeated,
losing over 800 men, 100 at the sides of the British.
Siege of Charleston – March, 29th 1780
Charleston had been the only planned operation by the British in the year of 1780, severely
defeating the Continental Army, which had been the most devastating defeat in the entire war.
Because of local militia, harassing outposts in a devastative manner and destroying the entire
communication-systems, the British were not able to take advantage of their victory.
Camden – August, 16th 1780
In august 1780, 4.100 freshly enlisted men under Baron de Kalb came to help the American
forces in Charleston and encountered 2.200 British-Hessian soldiers commanded by General
Cornwallis due to mismanagement of Gates, who foolishly ordered to directly advance
through Camden. Already at the first engagement, the middle and the left flank of militiamen
fled, leaving the right flank behind. Around 1.000 Americans had been captured and nearly
850 got killed, inclusively De Kalb.
The Revolutionary offensive – 1781
The year of 1781 marked the beginning of the Revolutionary offensive as well as the end of
the American Revolutionary War, starting with the Battle of Cowpens and the Siege of
Yorktown. Since January, General Greene managed to drive the British out of the southern
area in the so-called ‘Operations in the South’. Only in the battle of Guilford Court House he
had been beaten by General Cornwallis, losing 1.500 Revolutionaries. Again, Cornwallis had
not been able to take an advantage of his victory, because of 500 causalities in his ranks. Also,
he had been cut off near Yorktown, forced to face a decisive battle – The Siege of Yorktown.
The Yorktown Campaign – September, 28th to October, 19th 1781
The Yorktown Campaign had been the last operation in the American Revolutionary War,
followed by the capitulation of the entire British Army in the Northern hemisphere of
America. In June 1781, Cornwallis was sent by Clinton on a campaign to stop American
operations in Wilmington. Lafayette and von Steuben managed to intervene, forcing
Cornwallis and 7.500 of his men to retreat to Yorktown in order to ensure to hold contact with
Clinton in New York. Meanwhile, Washington made plans on attacking New York, but
quickly discarded them as Admiral de Grasse provided him with 3.000 men, now
commanding an army of 15.500 trained soldiers. Also, de Grasse fought the sea battle of
Chesapeake Bay in which he managed to stop the Royal Navy to provide Yorktown with
supplies of any kind. Under these circumstances, Washington now could initiate the Siege of
Yorktown, beginning on September, 28th
. The British gave up their outer defence
fortifications to concentrate on the city. On October, 13th
the Allies were able to tighten the
outer ring of defences so close, that an attack was possible. On October, 14th
Lafayette was
able to capture together
with the French the
two most important
fortifications.
Cornwallis realized
that he had to retreat
and started to cross
York River but did not
manage to proceed
because of bad
weather. Now he was
forced to surrender and
signed the document
of capitulation on
October, 9th
.
6
The Peace Agreement
With the surrender of Cornwallis and Clinton, on November, 30th
an early peace treaty was
signed between Great Britain and the United States of America, declaring the retirement of
the USA from the war, whereas the fighting between Britain and France, Spain and the
Netherlands continued till the peace treaty of Paris on 3rd
of September 1783, containing 10
key points:
6 Jeremy Black – War for America, p. 231
1. Acknowledging the United States (viz. the Colonies) to be free, sovereign and
independent states, and that the British Crown and all heirs and successors relinquish
claims to the Government, property, and territorial rights of the same, and every part
thereof;
2. Establishing the boundaries between the United States and British North America;
3. Granting fishing rights to United States fishermen in the Grand Banks, off the coast of
Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence;
4. Recognizing the lawful contracted debts to be paid to creditors on either side;
5. The Congress of the Confederation will "earnestly recommend" to state legislatures to
recognize the rightful owners of all confiscated lands "provide for the restitution of all
estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British
subjects [Loyalists]";
6. United States will prevent future confiscations of the property of Loyalists;
7. Prisoners of war on both sides are to be released and all property left by the British
army in the United States unmolested (including slaves);
8. Great Britain and the United States were each to be given perpetual access to the
Mississippi River;
9. Territories captured by Americans subsequent to treaty will be returned without
compensation;
10. Ratification of the treaty was to occur within six months from the signing by the
contracting parties.7
After the War
After 8 years of fighting, the Americans were proud of their freshly founded country. But
there were further problems to solve. The most important was to ensure, that no separatist
movement would come to life, as it was the case at the American Civil War 1861. The first
president of the United States became George Washington himself due to his balancing
manner towards the political parties and his services during the American Revolutionary War.
Epilogue
The American Revolution is today seen as a source of inspiration for many Americans today,
what explains their patriotism and pride towards their country. What indeed was very
interesting for me is the thought of fighting for your personal and national freedom. Many
people in Europe are seeing their freedom as completely natural, not considering that the
establishment of democracy in some countries only lies 100 years in the past. Also, a large
part is not aware, that we are losing a bit of freedom every day; namely the freedom of
privacy due to the monitoring of digital devices, which becomes a bigger problem every day.
7 http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=6&page=transcript
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