Battles in the American
Revolution
Want to join the army? Want to be a
help to your empire or country? Then pick a side! This is the American
Revolution. You’re deciding if you should enlist in the Continental army,or the
British army. What’s the purpose of this war,you ask? Well,you’ll learn about
that later. How many battles? A lot. These battles constantly consisted between
the British Redcoats,and The American Rebels. Many perished,or died,in these
battles. These sides were simply called Pro-British and Pro-American. Though
they sounded simple,It deeply affected how the war took place. This war was a
long series of battles (lasting a course of 8 years) that led up to how America
won its freedom from the United Kingdom. Still haven’t made up your mind,have
you? Keep reading,and see for yourself.
“The Shot Heard Around the World”
Before we get into the first of these
many battles,you’ll need to know the very cause of why such battles even occurred.
In the 1770s, King George III, Ruler of Britain, at the time, constantly taxed the
colonists with the help of Parliament,the law-making body of Britain. Colonists
grew angry about these taxes. Sides were chosen (Pro-American,Pro-British,or
Neutralist,which didn’t take part in the war).
Now that you,hopefully,understand
the concept of why the battles happened,you can learn about the battle of
Lexington and Concord. General Thomas Gage, of the British redcoats,found out
that the Patriots,or the Rebels, as the British called them,had a store of
cannons,food,and gunpowder in Lexington,which was 20 miles Northwest of
Boston. Gage made the decision to steal
the supplies. He had orders from Britain to arrest the leading members of the
Patriots. He believed that these people were Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
These were some reasons that he, General Gage, thought they were some of the
most powerful patriots.
Samuel Adams:
●
Organizer of many protests against Britain
●
Cousin of John Adams,another leading Patriot
John Hancock:
●
Son of a wealthy
Bostonian Merchant
●
Prominent son of Liberty
Anyways,Adams and Hancock
were recently elected as delegates to the Continental Congress. They knew that
they were wanted,and would be arrested if caught,so they were hiding in
Hancocks relatives (Reverend Jonas Clarke) house in
Lexington,Massachusetts,where the supply for the rebels was stored. Lexington
is 5 miles away from a location called Concord,Massachusetts. Gage decided to
send 7-8 hundred British redcoats up to Lexington from Boston to arrest Hancock
and Adams for treason of the British Government (Parliament) and then seize the
arms at Concord. The British would be under the control of Lieutenant Colonel
Francis Smith. In case of any serious outbreaks in the battle,another
commander,Hugh Percy,would be following the British up to Lexington with 1,000
more redcoats.
To keep the attack secret, Gage only
told his Commanders. He ordered the
redcoats to leave at night (this was probably so that no Rebels or Patriots
would see them heading to Lexington).
When the plan seemed to be going perfectly for the British,it was really
falling downhill. Rebel spies had found out about the surprise raid of the
supply. Joseph Warren,a patriot leader,sent Paul Revere to Concord with a
message to hide the weapons from the British. Revere also went with two other
patriot messengers, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. Paul Revere and William
Dawes are captured along the route and Prescott escapes,spreading the word to
the remaining patriots on the route, including John Hancock and Samuel Adams,who
still remained fortified at Clarke's house (They escaped Concord once the news
reached them).
Finally,the
British reach Lexington. Minutemen gathered around in the town,waiting for
their foes,the British,to arrive. Captain John Parker said these quotes to the
Minutemen in the Battle of Lexington.
Quotes of Captain John Parker:
“Stand your ground!”
“Don’t fire unless fired upon! But if they mean to have a war,let it
begin here.”
At roughly 5:00
A.M.,Major Pitcairn led the British troops into Lexington. Pitcairn wasn’t looking
for a fight,just like the Minutemen. Pitcairn ordered his soldiers to not fire
unless he himself had personally ordered the troop to do so. A British officer
(Unknown identification) shouted this at the minutemen. “Ye villains, ye rebels
disperse! Lay down your arms!” The
colonists were heavily outnumbered. Some colonists began to leave the
battlefield. Nobody knows who fired first,both the British and Patriots blamed
the other side for the first shot. After this shot,the British started firing
at the Rebels. In retaliation,the Minutemen fired back,as Pitcairn,in
vain,shouted for his men to stop shooting. Within moments, Colonel Smith arrived
and ordered to cease-fire. The Redcoats reformed their ranks and stopped
shooting. Just one British Redcoat had been injured,and the troops set out for
Concord. The battle left a scene of blood,chaos,and a shocked town. The
Redcoats had killed eight Minutemen and wounded ten others. The Redcoats even
managed to kill a colonist, Jonathan Harrington!
As
families mourned in Lexington,the Redcoats made their way to Concord. The
troops were split up and the store was being guarded and hid by the Patriots.
Militia members were gathering from nearby areas surrounding the North and
South Bridges. Hundreds of Patriots had been assembled around Concord, waiting
for the British. Seeing smoke from burning equipment,roughly four hundred men
(from the militia) descended around North Bridge. The British troops fired some
warning shots (most likely noticing the Militia men), but the minutemen kept
coming. A volley was fired from the British
side,which caused the death of two rebels. The Patriots soon fired back,and
within minutes (yet again) three Redcoats were killed and nine were wounded.
The British evacuated (retreated) into the town.
The Revolution Had Begun
The Battle on the Hill
After Lexington and Concord,the revolutionary war had
officially begun. Only 2 days after George Washington had been appointed
commander in chief of the Continental Congress,before Boston knew he was
general,the Redcoats and Patriots were killing each other.
They were fighting the First Major Battle In the American Revolution. This Battle was called “The
Battle of Bunker Hill” because it was fought at Bunker Hill (and Breed’s
Hill).
This hill lay right across the Charles River from Boston.
The British were resting that night, March 4, 1775, while the Massachusetts
soldiers began to dig fortifications on Breed’s hill. The troops worked all
night. The Redcoats couldn’t believe it. They’d been trying to get the
colonists to work for them for months. They needed barracks, but
no other construction needed to be done. Britain thought the Americans were
lazy. But it changed when they saw the amazing fleet they had built,just in a
single night. Breed’s hill was covered with men and incredible earthworks. Most
of the men were the British-specifically the four British Generals-William
Howe, John Burgoyne, and Henry Clinton.
Why were the British there, exactly? They feared that the
patriots would take over the area,and stock guns there.
On June 17,1775, another battle occurred. Howe sent his
troops to the bay (west of Breed’s Hill),while more troops were sent east
through Morton’s hill and to the stone wall and Rail fence,Southwest of Bunker
Hill. The secondary plan was to go straight up the bay into Breed’s Hill,and
get past the earthwork reinforcements that the rebels had created overnight.
And in the third attack,they would go east from the British reinforcements
(first division) and go north to Breed’s Hill,turning into the redoubt,while
the other troop would go straight into Morton’s hill and split up,heading West
and East around the reinforcements.
Fun fact!
William Prescott is famous for saying “Don’t
fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” at the Battle of Bunker Hill,but
actually,he was saying the words of Israel Putnam, the army general of
Connecticut.
By 3pm (Eastern time), British reinforcements including the
47th foot and the 1st marines had arrived. Meanwhile,General Pigot’s troops
were suffering casualties from sniper fire. As Howe and Stark’s troops each
reached the shore,one American soldier, John Simpson, fired very prematurely at
the British regulars (redcoats),only to be returned by the parading thunder of
volleys erupting from the British muskets and bayonets. The sound of gunfire
pierced the hills as soldiers of each side charged at each other,the ground
growing dirty with blood. An important general perished in that battle, John
Stark, an American General. Gunpowder supply began running low on the American
side,which eventually caused the Americans to retreat. Even though this was yet
another defeat for the Americans,the British suffered major casualties from the
battle.
Continentals and
Hessians
This is not the last battle in the American revolution,nor
is it the last battle in this war that you’ll ever hear about. Though,this is
the last battle that you’ll hear about in this report. After all the reading
that you’ve done,you might have made up your mind about this war. Whether it’s
wrong or right,whether you’re overthrowing or supporting the British, or if it’s
none of your business after all. Hopefully, you’ve chosen one of the sides that
were mentioned earlier in this report.
Without further ado, you shall now learn about the battle of Trenton. This battle is famous for this
event…
Ever heard of George Washington’s troops crossing the
Delaware River? This occurred at this very battle,the battle of Trenton and
Princeton. Not only is this battle one of the most famous, but it also brings a
new side into the war. These troops are Hessians,German soldiers, who sided with
the British. Washington’s troops were bedraggled and worn out from the harsh
winters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Washington guided his soldiers towards
Trenton,where the Hessians were guarding the town,as his soldiers rowed the
cramped rowboat towards the destination. The Hessians weren’t expecting the
continental army,and had no idea of what was coming their way. Finally, on the
26 of December, the continentals arrived. They walked 9 whole miles to reach
Trenton. The assault troops that Washington had organized split up once
arriving at the destination. One group headed West while the other headed up to
the North side of town with the cannon that Washington had brought across the
river. When the Hessians discovered that an attack was upon them,they returned
the American musket volleys and formed ranks in the streets. One commander was
mortally wounded in house to house fighting. The Hessians raced to a nearby
orchard as massive numbers and accurate artillery fire shot at them. Once at
the orchard,the Germans made a brief,short-lived stand before fleeing and or
surrendering the battlefield. The hour-long-battle had left Washington
plentiful with resources. These resources included roughly 918 hessian
prisoners,muskets,swords, cannons,and bayonets. Though he achieved these
resources,his troops were weak and exhausted. Therefore,Washington made the
decision to not pursue the army and to take hold of Trenton, but to go back to
Pennsylvania.
Washington had earned a small yet strategic victory, along
with lifting the army’s flagging morale, it spurred much needed
re-enlistments, and he maybe even regained a bit of his reputation with
Congress.
Epilogue
Hopefully by now you’ve picked a side. The war will
eventually be over,but not anytime near these battles that you’ve just learned
about. It doesn’t matter what side you’ve chosen,nor does it matter why you’ve
chosen that side. What matters is that you just learned important facts about
your country’s history. If you’ve noticed that some words in this report are
highlighted in the color “Red berry” then
those are keywords in which you may have or may have not known of.
Here is a brief summary of these words.
Volley: The firing of muskets which were
rifles used in the American Revolution
Barracks: A building or buildings used to
house soldiers
In addition,here is a timeline of when the battles in this
report happened.
1.
Lexington and Concord,May 19,1776
2.
The Battle of Bunker (and Breed’s) Hill,June 17,1776
3.
The Battle of Trenton and Princeton,December 26,1777
Thank
you for enlisting,you’ve been a great help to your side. But now,your
enlistment has expired. The Continental Army has disbanded. The Americans have
won their freedom.
Credits:
Books:
Lexington and Concord
(early battles in the U.S. Revolution)
The Battle of Bunker Hill and Lexington and
Concord
Perspectives of the Revolution: Bunker Hill
Websites:
Encyclopedia Britannica
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