“Almost a Miracle” The Evolution of Warfare During the American Revolution

“Almost a Miracle”The Evolution of Warfare During the American Revolution

1775-1783American Studies- Wohlgster

Learning Objectives

• Discuss British and American military strategies and objectives, and note how they changed during the course of the American Revolution

• Contrast the Continental Army with the professional armies of the 18th century and discuss how this difference dictated Washington’s strategy

• Explain how French intervention tipped the balance in favor of America in the War for Independence

• Identify the Top 10 Events of the American Revolution at the end!

Essential Questions

• Why does John Ferling refer to the colonial victory in the American Revolution as “Almost a Miracle?”

• In what ways was the American Revolution a civil war?

• Were the American revolutionaries Patriots or terrorists?

The Road to Revolution

Big Idea:A series of increasingly restrictive laws angered many American colonists, leading to rebellion against Britain.

• Why did Great Britain pass new laws in America?• How did the colonists respond to the new laws? How did

their response lead to even stricter measures?• Why did the First Continental Congress meet?• What was the significance of the battles at Lexington and

Concord?

Britain Passes New Laws

The Stamp Act brings protests• Parliament passed the Stamp Act as another way to bring in money from the

colonies.• Required a government tax stamp on certain documents: contracts and

licenses, newspapers, almanacs, printed sermons, and playing cards• Colonists protested openly.• Stamp Act Congress organized by the Massachusetts Assembly to send a

petition to the king and Parliament • Sons of Liberty, made up of unskilled workers, artisans, small farmers,

merchants, and lawyers, organized boycott of British goods and put pressure on merchants who did not join the boycott.

• Stamp Act repealed after British merchants saw sales drop because of the boycotts

Britain Passes New Laws

Townshend Acts• Taxed lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea that were imported from Britain• Brought back writs of assistance, which were written orders that

allowed customs officers the right to search colonial homes for smuggled goods

• Quartering Act

The Colonists Respond

The Boston Massacre• Boston merchants joined with merchants in Philadelphia and New York, along

with some southern merchants and planters, in non-importation agreements• Most of the Townshend Acts were repealed in March 1770, except for tea tax.

• In Boston, where tensions were already high, colonists began throwing snowballs at a British sentry guarding the customs house. After British solders arrived to help, they fired into the crowd, killing five.

• Samuel Adams introduced the idea of Committees of Correspondence to spread the news of British injustices from colony to colony.

• Became basis of a political network to unify the colonies

Paul Revere’s Engraving

Exports & Imports 1768-1783

• Colonial boycotts left a British tea company with millions of pounds of unsold tea. The Tea Act (1773) enabled the company to sell tea directly to colonists.

• Many colonists did not buy the tea.

• In December 1773 about 70 colonists boarded British ships loaded with the tea and dumped it into Boston Harbor.

• Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the rebellious colonists. They were known by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts.

• Closed the port of Boston

• Gave the royal governor more control over Massachusetts

• Imposed more rules for quartering soldiers

The Colonists Respond• The Quebec Act

expanded the province of Quebec southward to the Ohio river and west to the Mississippi.

• The Roman Catholic Church would be legal.

• French Catholics were guaranteed their rights.

• American colonists thought the act limited their chances to live on the western frontier.

The Real Causes

• Real causes– Colonists had intellectual differences with British

government (king vs. parliament)– Colonists had spirit of self-independence brought about

by frontier life– Colonists believed in “democratic” form of government

The Real Causes

• Colonist goals distinct from mother country• British victory in French/Indian War freed colonists

of need for protection from French• 1763 - British move to tighten imperial control

(station 10,000 soldiers along American frontier @ colonist expense)

The First Continental Congress

September 1774 • Brought colonists together as Americans• All delegates agreed that Parliament was exerting too much control.• It issued a Declaration of Rights protesting Great Britain’s actions.• Agreed not to import or use British goods• Agreed to stop exports to Britain• Formed a force of minutemen, colonial soldiers who would be ready

to resist a British attack with short notice

1. The Battles of Lexington and Concord

• Minutemen in Massachusetts were drilling on their village commons and stockpiling gunpowder and weapons.

• British General Gage knew colonial militias were preparing for a conflict.

• In April 1775 King George III ordered Gage to arrest colonial leaders, especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and to capture the colonists’ gunpowder.

• Colonists’ gunpowder was stockpiled in Concord, a town west of Boston.

• On the night of April 17, 1775, 700 British troops left Boston for Concord.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

• Secret system of alarm riders was in place to warn of any unusual activity of British troops.

• Paul Revere and William Dawes set off for Lexington to warn Adams and Hancock.

• After warning the leaders, they headed to Concord. Samuel Prescott, another alarm rider, met them on the road. Then the British surrounded them and tried to arrest all of them.

• Prescott escaped to warn the minutemen at Concord. Dawes also escaped.

• Revere was captured. When they heard the militia guns, the soldiers let Revere go, but without his horse.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

• About 700 armed British soldiers reached Lexington to face 70 minutemen.

• British captain ordered them to leave, then the militia was charged.

• Minutemen fled, eight Americans were killed.

• The British went on to Concord where hundreds of minutemen awaited.

• After gunfire was exchanged, the British retreated toward Boston.

• Along the way, the militia fired at the British from under cover.

• At the end of the day, British casualties far outnumbered colonial casualties.

Lexington and ConcordRalph Waldo Emerson wrote,

“Shot heard around the World” Paul Revere rode off to warn the colonists of the British that were marching the countryside.

The British were forced to retreat and move back to Boston.

2. Fort Ticonderoga, NY ( May 1775)

• Benedict Arnold & Ethan Allen with the Green Mountain Boys led a surprise attack on British fort. Americans took the fort along with ammunition.

The Second Continental Congress Takes Action

• Formed the Continental Army• Appointed George Washington commander in chief• Issued a Continental (national) currency

• Wrote A Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

• Proposed reconciliation with King George III in the Olive Branch Petition

• King George III declared colonies to be in rebellion• Parliament passed law banning colonial trade outside

the British Empire.

More Violence in Boston

The siege of Boston• After the battles at Lexington and Concord, British troops withdrew

back into Boston.• Several thousand British troops occupied the town.• The Americans had a larger army of about 15,000 militia from all

over New England.

More Violence in Boston

• First major battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775

• British General Gage was planning to occupy the hills overlooking Boston when his reinforcements arrived.

• Colonial force quickly built a fort on Breed’s Hill.

• Some 2,500 British troops stormed the hill twice. • The colonists were short of ammunition; they waited

until the enemy was a few yards away, then fired with deadly aim.

• On the third British attempt, the colonists ran out of gunpowder. They retreated to nearby Bunker Hill.

• The British won, but the defense at the Battle of Bunker Hill encouraged the colonists’ resistance.

• Huge casualties on both sides

3. Battle at Bunker (Breed’s)Hill, MA ( June 1775)

• British rush the hill and the colonists are forced to retreat due to lack of supplies. “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” –Colonel Prescott.

• First major battle of the Revolution.

Israel Putnam

More Violence in Boston

George Washington

• Commanded the Continental Army in Boston after the Battle of Bunker Hill.– By March 1776, he was ready to

recapture Boston. – Forced the British to evacuate

the city

• British sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with about 1,100 Loyalists; colonists sided with the king and Britain.

Other battles• Winter 1775–1776, Benedict

Arnold led an unsuccessful attack on the city of Quebec.

• February 1776, Scottish Loyalists attacked a colonial force at Moores Creek, North Carolina.

– Well-armed colonists were waiting, and their victory ended British control in North Carolina.

• In June, British ships attacked a fort near Charleston, South Carolina, but the fort’s commander held them off.

Phase I: The Northern Campaign

[1775-1776]

British Strategy

• Cut off the head of the snake (New England) by taking control of rivers and coast

American Strategyand Objectives

• Population - 1/3 rebel, 1/3 loyalist, 1/3 indifferent. • Loyalists provided more support to England than

rebels provided to Continental Army• Two wars - foreign war against major European

power & civil war• Strategic defensive for most of war- use guerilla

tactics and engage in a war of attrition

Definition of Terms

• Attrition - gradual weakening• Guerilla warfare - “irregular” troops fighting small-

scale, limited actions against larger orthodox military forces

The Declaration of Independence

More colonists supporting independence• Were angry at the king’s reaction to the Olive Branch Petition• They learned that the British were recruiting Native Americans

and African Americans to fight against them.• They heard that the king was hiring mercenary soldiers from

the German state of Hesse.• When the Continental Congress met again, it opened seaports

to foreign trade except with Britain.

Revolutionary ideology• The colonists still thought of themselves as British.• They believed they were entitled to all the rights that

British citizens had claimed over the years.• John Locke’s idea of natural rights was part of their

revolutionary ideology.

The Declaration of Independence

A matter of Common Sense• Early in 1776 Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense.• Condemned monarchy and particularly the rule of George III• Called for an American declaration of independence, not just a protest

against taxes• The pamphlet sold more than 100,000 copies. It was one of the first

American bestsellers.

The Declaration of Independence

Virginia calls for independence• In May 1776 the Virginia Convention of Delegates issued the Virginia

Declaration of Rights, the first official call for American independence. • Influenced the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and many

state constitutions• Richard Henry Lee of Virginia then presented three resolutions to the

Continental Congress.– The colonies should be independent.– Americans needed to form foreign alliances for support.– The colonies needed to form a plan for unification.

Writing the Declaration • The Continental Congress organized a committee to

write a draft of a declaration of independence. – John Adams, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman,

Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson was chosen to write the draft.

• On July 2, 1776, Congress approved final document and voted to declare independence.

• On July 4, they approved the entire document.

The Declaration of Independence

• Colonists living on the western frontier not a part of the political quarrels

• A fight for independence would expose them to Indian attack since fighting would draw men away from the defense of the frontier.

• Many frontier settlers did not support the fight for independence.

• A quarter of the colonists remained loyal to Great Britain and the king; Patriots called them Loyalists.

• Loyalists were strong in

southern colonies. • Loyalist sympathies

were strong among people who had been government officials or belonged to the Anglican Church.

• Patriots harassed Loyalists.

Reactions to Independence

• Loyalists fought with the British.

• Others left the country for other British lands.

• Some simply lived quietly and avoided politics.

• After the American Revolution ended, perhaps 100,000 Loyalists left the United States, mainly to settle in Canada.

The People behind the American Revolution

Continental Army

Strengths• Strong military leadership• Fighting on home territory• Alliance with France

Weaknesses• Small, untrained military• Shortages of resources• Weak central government

British Army

Strengths• Well-trained military• Ample resources• Alliances with Loyalists

Weaknesses• Fighting in unfamiliar territory• Fighting far from home

British Strategyand Objectives

• British Ministry Plan:– Occupy territory to break up union of patriots– Blockade coast to prevent re-supply from sea– Destroy organized armies– Suppress Guerilla warfare– Rely on colonial loyalists for aid

British Strategyand Objectives

• South of NY the line was Chesapeake Bay• Strong positions in Maryland and Virginia.• Attempt to isolate the middle from the south and

prevent communication.• Controlling the south: Occupy Charleston and 2 or 3

points along the Santee River in SC.

British Strategy and Objectives

• Plan actually carried out:– Make N.Y. City headquarters (occupy)– Secure from NYC to Hudson Valley to Canada– Cut off New England - hotbed of sedition and source of

supplies, ideas, encouragement & reinforcements• Actually only held one port (Newport) in New

England

British Strategyand Objectives

• Advantage: Royal Navy - freedom of maneuver along coastal strip

• Disadvantage: no critical point to maneuver against along coast, unable to physically control all the territory

British Strategyand Objectives

• Economic warfare– Blockade– Counterfeiting• ruining value of continental money• making own purchases with Gold

British Force

• Classic 18th century European Army– Linear tactics– Well-trained soldiers

• Loyalty & dedication suspect in England– Sympathy for colonists– Hessians (mercenaries) employed

American Force

• Most forces @ home for local defense – few forces for continental army• Prior to von Steuben - little discipline– Steuben served under Frederick– Made I.G. of Washington’s Army– Streamlined musket loading & uniformity– Standardized training - speed and tactics– Discipline instilled

American Force

• Used rifle more than British– Most useful in Guerilla actions– Of great value in wooded areas– slow rate of fire– lack of bayonet– inferior to musket for open-field fighting

LoyalistStronghol

ds

Weapons of the War

.

Flintlock musket and pistol

Weapons of the War

• Rifles were used more in the south and during guerilla type operations for accuracy.

• Took too long to reload for the battle field.• Could not use bayonet

American long Rifle

Weapons of the War

• Musket balls were undersized for quick reloading• Bayonets were mounted on them• Paper cartridges• Used volleys to compensate for the inaccurate

muskets• French provided most of them

Weapons of the War

Artillery

Weapons of the War

• Cannons were smoothbore muzzle loaded• 3, 4, 6 pounders mounted on wooded

carriages• Up to 800 yards. range

Weapons of the War

Saber

Phase II:NY & PA[1777-1778]

Revolutionary Battles in the North

• After his defeat in Boston, Howe returned to New York in August 1776 with a force of more than 300 ships and approximately 30,000 British soldiers.

• Rebels were offered a pardon if they would give in and promise loyalty. Washington refused.

• Howe captured Long Island and took many Americans prisoner.• In the fall, Howe’s army forced Washington to retreat from Manhattan to

New Jersey.

• In European warfare, armies did not fight in the winter. • Howe’s men were in Princeton while the Hessians were in Trenton. • Washington did not follow European warfare. • On Christmas night 1776 he and his men crossed the Delaware River to

Trenton and took the Hessians, capturing weapons and ammunition. • They drove the British out of Princeton.

General Howe

4. Battle of Trenton, NJ (Dec, 1776)

• George Washington crossed the freezing Delaware River to create a surprise attack on the Hessian soldiers. The Americans did surprise the soldiers in the early morning, and the Hessians were forced to surrender. Victory for Americans!

General Washington

• After Bunker Hill he was forced to change to more guerilla tactics by avoiding battle whenever he could.

Revolutionary Battles in the North

• Spring 1777—Britain’s plan was to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies.

• Howe attacked Philadelphia with an army of 15,000. In September he met Washington and his army of 11,000 in southeastern Pennsylvania. The British won the Battle of Brandywine Creek, but the Americans escaped without serious casualties.

• Howe captured Philadelphia, where he and his troops settled comfortably for the winter.

• The Continental Congress fled the city. • Washington and his exhausted troops settled

into quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for the winter of 1777–1778.

A British Setback at Saratoga

• Burgoyne’s army recaptured Fort Ticonderoga on July 5, 1777, a serious loss for the Americans.

• In early August, British attacked Fort Stanwix in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. An American force arrived to hold the fort.

• Burgoyne’s force was now short of supplies. • In early October, Burgoyne and his 5,000 men were at

Saratoga, New York, surrounded by an American force of 17,000 under General Gates.

• After trying to break through Continental lines, he surrendered on October 17, 1777.

• The Battle of Saratoga is considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War.

5. Valley Forge, PA (Sept, 1777)• British took

Philadelphia, which forced Washington to make a winter camp at Valley Forge. Miserable winter for the troops. Many soldiers died. Lafayette & Von Steuben joined the Continental Army at this point!!

Washington’s Leadership at Valley Forge

Washington’s Leadership• His firm character and common sense helped hold the

troops together. He always managed to keep a national army in the field.

• His men admired him.

• The winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge was the low point of the Revolution for the Continental Army.

• Bitter winter weather with inadequate housing • Food was scarce. • Soldiers in worn, ragged uniforms• Many of the men became ill, and hundreds died. • The winter at Valley Forge was a tough test of

Washington’s leadership.

Washington’s Leadership at Valley Forge

• Some farmers and merchants chose to trade with the British, who had gold and silver coin.

• Resulted in the food shortages at Valley Forge

MoneyProblems

• Congress did not have the power to tax people.• Congress and the states printed paper money with little

to back it up. As a result, it was worthless, and prices soared. This situation is known as inflation.

• Several European officers joined the American cause. • Baron von Steuben of the Prussian army drilled

Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. • Marquis de Lafayette was an aide to Washington.

Help

6. Battle of Saratoga, NY (Oct,1777)

• Americans side= General Horatio Gates & Benedict Arnold

• British side=General Burgoyne

• This was a victory for the Americans. They now had a chance of winning the war-turning point.

Saratoga

• Turning point in revolution• British now held only N.Y. City, Part of R.I., &

Philadelphia• France recognized U.S. & signed treaty of

alliance (1778)• France & colonies now more aggressive

Impact of French

• French anxious to regain international position

• Helped in three other significant ways:– Loans– Use of French ports for American privateers– Protected American vessels near French

Waters

Impact

“well regulated” militia• Trained and organized under a uniform system in all states and

could be called into national service– balanced rights with obligated military service– impact of “peoples army” fighting for cause vice

professional army– new concept of total war for total victory

(conscription/draft)

Impact

• Changed tactics– Rifle• increased range • improved accuracy• made linear tactics difficult

– British adopted American tactics• skirmishes• cover• concealment

America’s European Allies

• European nations could also provide the Americans with money and supplies to fight the war.

• Americans wanted recognition as a sovereign nation from Europe.

• France became America’s strongest ally, but help also came from Spain and the Netherlands.

• France liked seeing its old enemy losing part of its empire.• It also hoped that a British defeat in America would help

restore French power in Europe. • Initially France sent gunpowder, artillery, and muskets to the

Patriots.• In 1776 Benjamin Franklin went to Paris to seek more help

from France.

America’s European Allies

• Because of Saratoga victory and Franklin’s diplomacy, France signed two treaties.

• One formally recognized the United States as a nation. • The other treaty promised military help.

– In 1780 the French government sent a

– 6,000-soldier army to help the Americans. They were led by a French general, the Count de Rochambeau.

Help from Spain • Spain joined the war in 1779 as an ally of France.• Bernardo de Gálvez was the Spanish governor of Louisiana.

– Attacked British forts on the Mississippi and along the Gulf Coast in West Florida, which had once belonged to Spain

– Defeated the British in Baton Rouge, Natchez, Mobile, and Pensacola

America’s European Allies

• January 1781—Washington and Rochambeau received word that Benedict Arnold had become a traitor. – Arnold was leading British troops in raids on Patriot warehouses in

Virginia. – Washington sent Lafayette to stop him.

• After giving up his Carolina campaign, General Cornwallis moved into Virginia.

• Lafayette’s forces forced the British to the coast. • July 1781—Cornwallis took his army to the Yorktown Peninsula in

Chesapeake Bay, built a fort, and waited for British ships to take them to Charleston or New York.

An American Victory

Main IdeaA strengthened Continental Army, along with European allies,

helped the colonists achieve a victory at Yorktown.

Reading Focus• What Revolutionary War battles took place in the West and

South?• Why did France and other European nations assist the

Americans?• What led to the British surrender at Yorktown?• How did the Revolution affect American culture?

Phase III: The Southern Strategy [1780-1781]

Revolutionary Battles in the West and South

1778 — British shifted their strategy

• Because the British believed that Loyalist sympathies were strongest in the South, they planned a campaign there.

• They discovered that Patriots were as strong and determined in Virginia as in New England.

• Though many Loyalists lived in the Carolinas and Georgia, they were often reluctant to help.

• The British also faced frequent surprise raids by small bands of Patriots. • In March 1781 colonial troops met British commander Charles Cornwallis

and his army in a battle at Guilford Court House, North Carolina. Cornwallis won, but British losses were so great that he stopped the campaign.

7. Battle of Yorktown, VA (Aug-Oct, 1781)

• Final major battle in Revolutionary War. American and French troops surround Cornwallis and the British are forced to surrender.

The People behind the American Revolution

Women’s Roles• Active in boycotts and other protests• Cared for wounded in their homes• Raised money to supply the army with

food and clothing • At home, women knit wool stockings and

made bandages for the troops. • Some melted down their pewter pots and

pitchers to make bullets. • As in all wars, women kept their homes,

farms, and shops running while the men were at war.

African American Roles• Free and enslaved fought on both sides

of the war.• Some offers of freedom in exchange for

military service came from both sides. • Continental Army’s need for soldiers

overcame prejudice. • New England regiments had the most

African Americans.

• African American soldiers generally received the same pay, clothing, and rations as whites.

• Most had menial duties, were kept at low ranks, and were not encouraged to re-enlist.

The People behind the American Revolution

The Role of Native Americans • Four of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League helped the British. • Oneidas and Tuscaroras sided with the Americans. • On the frontiers, Loyalists and Native Americans sometimes fought

together. – In the mountains of Virginia and the Carolinas, the Cherokees

attacked some settlements. – Patriot militias fought back fiercely and tried to force the Cherokees

to move west.

Treaty of Paris is signed!! Britain recognizes

independence of America.

North America After theTreaty of Paris, 1783

Indian Land Cessions:1768-1799

Disputed Territorial ClaimsBetween Spain & the U. S.:

1783-1796

WholesalePriceIndex:1770-1789

American Exports, To & From Britain: 1783-1789

State Claims to Western Lands

Northwest Ordinance of 1785

The United States in 1787

New Government

• Articles of Confederation

• Movement towards a Federal Constitution

Federalist vs. Anti-FederalistStrongholds at the End of the

War

Occupational Composition of Several State Assemblies

in the 1780s

Ratification of the Constitution