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American Revolutionary War

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Pre 1900 Military

   American Revolutionary War
   Clockwise from top left: Battle of Bunker Hill, Death of Montgomery at
   Quebec, Battle of Cowpens, "Moonlight Battle"

   Date 1775–1783
   Location Primarily eastern North America and at sea
   Result Treaty of Paris (1783)
   Casus belli Taxation without representation; threats to traditional
   rights; republican ideology.
   Territorial
   changes Britain recognizes independence of the United States, cedes
   East Florida, West Florida, and Minorca to Spain and Tobago to France
   Combatants
   American Revolutionaries
   France
   The Netherlands
   Spain
   American Indians Great Britain
   German mercenaries
   Loyalists
   American Indians
   Canadian Indians
   Commanders
   George Washington
   Marquis de Lafayette
   Comte de Rochambeau
   Nathanael Greene
   Bernardo de Gálvez Sir William Howe
   Sir Henry Clinton
   Lord Cornwallis

                             ( more commanders)

   Campaigns and theaters
   Boston – Canadian – New York and New Jersey – Saratoga – Philadelphia –
   Western – Sullivan Expedition – Southern – West Indies and Gulf Coast –
   Naval

   The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American
   War of Independence, was the military side of the American Revolution,
   a colonial struggle against political and economic policies of the
   British Empire.  From 1775 to 1778 it was a war between Great Britain
   and the thirteen British colonies, which declared their independence as
   the United States of America in 1776.  In 1778 the war became a global
   conflict, involving the British also fighting the French, Spanish and
   Dutch empires. The French government, army and navy played critical
   roles. Native Americans fought on both sides of the conflict but most
   supported Britain.  The main result was independence for the United
   States. The conflict stands as one of the few colonial wars that Great
   Britain has lost.

   Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval
   superiority to capture and occupy a few coastal cities, but control of
   the countryside (where most of the population lived) largely eluded
   them. General George Washington built a new American army from scratch
   and made effective use of short-term militia volunteers as well. After
   a decisive American victory at Saratoga that turned the tide in 1777,
   France, with Spain and the Netherlands as its allies, entered the war
   against Great Britain. A French naval victory in the Chesapeake allowed
   Washington to trap the main British army at Yorktown in 1781. Its
   surrender effectively ended the land war. The Treaty of Paris in 1783
   recognized the independence of the United States.

Combatants before 1778

Armies, militias, and mercenaries

Americans

   The Patriots (called also the "rebels", "Congress Men," "Whigs" or
   "Americans") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the
   population. About 15 to 20 percent supported the British Crown during
   the war and were known as Loyalists (known also as "King's Men" or
   "Tories"). Loyalists fielded perhaps 50,000 men during the war compared
   to 250,000 patriots.

   When the war began, the Americans did not have a regular army (also
   known as a " standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided
   for its own defenses through the use of local militia. Militiamen who
   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 occasionally effective against regular troops.
   American militia in the South were adept at partisan warfare and were
   particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British
   regulars were not in the area.
   German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler
   after Conrad Gessner, 1799)
   Enlarge
   German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler
   after Conrad Gessner, 1799)

   Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress
   established a regular army—the Continental Army—in June 1775, and
   appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The development of
   the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington
   reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the
   war. Although as many as 250,000 men may have served as regulars or as
   militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war,
   there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms for the
   Americans in any given year. Armies in North America 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.

British

   Early in 1775, the British Army 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
   German mercenaries, popularly known in the colonies as " Hessians"
   because many of them came from Hesse-Kassel. 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 over a vast area from Canada to
   Florida, and most were assigned to non-combat garrison duty, such as
   the 16,000 in New York City. Conway (1999) argues that in 1775 the
   British Royal Navy had less than 16,000 seamen and the army totaled
   about 36,000 troops. During the first three years of conflict, growth
   in these forces was slow because Lord North wanted to avoid provoking
   France and creating large increases in expenditures. With French
   intervention in 1778, serious expansion of the military began. By 1782,
   the navy had 100,000 seamen and marines. The creation of the new corps,
   which the king had previously opposed, expanded the army. The
   possibility of a French invasion led to rapid expansion of militia
   units in Britain. While exact figures are not available, it is possible
   that about 500,000 men were under arms during the course of the war.
   Though the aristocracy and gentry dominated the higher ranks in both
   army and navy, officers and men were drawn from a variety of social
   groups. In size and composition, this mobilization foreshadowed what
   was to come during the wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France.

Blacks and Native Americans

   This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows
   a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment.
   Enlarge
   This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows
   a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment.

   Blacks served on in the Patriot cause. Black soldiers served in
   northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South,
   where slave owners feared arming slaves. In November 1775, Lord
   Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation
   promising freedom to runaway slaves of Patriot owners who fought for
   the British; Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in New York in
   1779. Tens of thousands of blacks escaped to the British lines; fewer
   than 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies,
   mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides. More than half died
   in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces and many were
   driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's
   promises, the majority were not given their freedom.

   Because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black
   enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units
   were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; many were slaves
   promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from Haiti
   with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the
   Revolutionary cause.

   Most American Indians east of the Mississippi River were affected by
   the war; most joined the British side.  An estimated 13,000 warriors
   fought on the British side; the largest group, the Iroquois
   Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 men.

War in the north, 1775–1779

Massachusetts

   Before the war, Boston, Massachusetts, had been the scene of much
   revolutionary activity, leading to the effective abolition of the
   provincial government of Massachusetts by the British parliament 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 Thomas Gage, the British
   Commander-in-Chief, North America, 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.
   The British marching to Concord in April 1775
   Enlarge
   The British marching to Concord in April 1775

   On the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent 700 men to seize
   munitions stored by the colonial militia at Concord, Massachusetts.
   Riders alerted the countryside ( Paul Revere was one of them), and when
   the British troops entered Lexington on the morning of April 19, they
   found 77 minutemen formed up on the village common. Shots were
   exchanged, and the British moved on to Concord, where there was more
   fighting. By the time the British struggled to return, thousands of
   militiamen had arrived on the scene; a rescue mission finally escorted
   the survivors to Boston. The British suffered 39% casualties, the
   Americans 2%. The British had lost the Battles of Lexington and
   Concord, and the war had begun.

   From all over New England militia units converged on Boston, bottling
   up the British in the city. About 4,500 more British soldiers arrived
   by sea, and on June 17, 1775, British forces under General William Howe
   seized the Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  The
   British assumed the Americans would quickly break and run in the face
   of a determined attack. The British lost 42% of their assault troops,
   with 228 dead and 826 wounded, their heaviest losses of the war.  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. The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early
   March 1776, heavy cannon that the Patriots had captured at Fort
   Ticonderoga were placed on Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston
   harbour. With cannons directly aimed at his ships, Howe was checkmated
   , and the British evacuated the city on March 17, 1776, sailing for
   temporary refuge at the Royal Navy's base at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
   Washington then took most of the Continental Army to fortify New York
   City.

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 Long Island and Manhattan. While British
   troops were assembling on Staten Island for the campaign, Washington
   had the newly issued Declaration of American Independence read to his
   men. On August 27, 1776, after landing about 22,000 men on Long Island,
   the British drove the Americans back to Brooklyn Heights. Howe then
   laid siege to fortifications there, but Washington managed to evacuate
   his army to Manhattan.

   On September 15, Howe landed about 12,000 men on lower Manhattan,
   quickly taking control of New York City. The Americans withdrew to
   Harlem Heights, where they skirmished the next day but held their
   ground. When Howe moved to encircle Washington's army in October, the
   Americans again fell back, and a battle at White Plains was fought on
   October 28, 1776. Once more Washington retreated, and Howe returned to
   Manhattan and captured Fort Washington in mid November, taking about
   2,000 prisoners (with an additional 1,000 having been captured during
   the battle for Long Island).
   Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware
   (1851) is an iconic image
   Enlarge
   Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware
   (1851) is an iconic image

   General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through
   New Jersey, until the Americans withdrew across the Delaware River 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
   rebel army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 Americans and was in a
   good position to resume operations in the spring, with the rebel
   capital of Philadelphia in striking distance.

   The outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times
   that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, 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
   Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. Cornwallis marched to retake
   Trenton but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked
   the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777. Washington then
   entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, having given a
   morale boost to the American cause. New Jersey militia continued to
   harass British and Hessian forces throughout the winter.

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, Lord George Germain 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 John Burgoyne. The goal was to seize the Lake Champlain and
   Hudson River corridor, effectively isolating New England from the rest
   of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he
   would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards Albany, New
   York, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by Barry St. Leger,
   would move down the Mohawk River valley and link up with Burgoyne in
   [Albany.
   Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.
   Enlarge
   Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.

   Burgoyne set off in June, and recaptured Fort Ticonderoga in early
   July. Thereafter, his march was slowed by Americans who felled trees in
   his path. A Hessian detachment was sent to Vermont to seize cattle but
   was decisively defeated by American militia in August; Burgoyne lost
   nearly 1,000 men, and the Americans realized they could defeat the
   invaders, as thousands of New England militia joined the campaign.

   Meanwhile, St. Leger—half of his force American Indians led by Joseph
   Brant—had laid siege to Fort Stanwix. American militiamen and their
   Indian allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and
   scattered at the Battle of Oriskany on August 6. When a second relief
   expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, the
   pro-British Indians fled, St. Leger broke off the siege and returned to
   Canada.

   Burgoyne's army was now reduced to about 6,000 men. Instead of
   retreating to Canada he determined to push on towards Albany, assuming
   Howe's troops from New York City would meet him there. An American army
   of 8,000 men, commanded by the General Horatio Gates, had entrenched
   about 10 miles (16 km) south of Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne tried to
   outflank the Americans but was checked at the first battle of Saratoga
   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
   second battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17.

   Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Revolutionary confidence and
   determination was renewed. More importantly, the victory encouraged
   France to enter the war against Great Britain. For the British, the war
   had now become much more complicated.

Philadelphia campaign

   Meanwhile, having secured New York City in 1776, in 1777, General Howe
   concentrated on capturing Philadelphia, the seat of the Revolutionary
   government. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at
   the northern end of Chesapeake Bay. Washington positioned his 11,000
   men between Howe and Philadelphia but was driven back at the Battle of
   Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The Continental Congress once again
   abandoned Philadelphia, and on September 26, Howe finally outmaneuvered
   Washington and marched into the city unopposed. Washington
   unsuccessfully attacked the British encampment in nearby Germantown in
   early October and then retreated to watch and wait.
   Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge.
   Enlarge
   Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge.

   After repelling a British attack at White Marsh, Washington and his
   army encamped at Valley Forge 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 the elaborate training program run by Baron von
   Steuben, a former member of the Prussian general staff

   Meanwhile, there was a shakeup in the British command, with General
   Clinton replacing Howe as 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 battle at
   Monmouth on June 28, 1778, the last major battle in the north.
   Clinton's army escaped to New York City in July, just before a French
   fleet under Admiral d'Estaing arrived off the American coast.
   Washington's army returned to White Plains, New York. 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 colonial rebellion in North America became an
   international war. After learning of the American victory at Saratoga,
   France signed the Treaty of Alliance with the United States on February
   6, 1778. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in June 1779. The
   Netherlands also became a combatant in 1780. All three countries had
   quietly provided financial assistance to the American rebels since the
   beginning of the war, hoping to dilute British power.

Widening of the naval war

   When the war began, the British had overwhelming naval superiority over
   the American colonists. The Royal Navy had over 100 powerful ships of
   the line.  During the first three years of the war, the Royal Navy was
   primarily used to blockade the American coast, to transport troops and
   supplies, and to protect commercial shipping. The American colonists
   had no ships of the line, and relied extensively on privateering to
   harass British shipping. The Continental Congress authorized the
   creation of a small Continental Navy on October 13, 1775, which was
   primarily used for commerce raiding. John Paul Jones became the first
   well-known American naval hero, capturing HMS Drake on April 24, 1778,
   the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.
   "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John
   Singleton Copley.
   Enlarge
   "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John
   Singleton Copley.

   French entry into the war meant that British naval superiority was now
   contested. The Franco-American alliance began poorly, however, with
   failed operations at Rhode Island in 1778 and Savannah, Georgia, 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 West Indies 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 an expeditionary force led by the Comte de Rochambeau.

   Spain entered the war with the goal of invading England as well as
   recapturing Gibraltar and Minorca, which had been lost to the British
   in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Franco-Spanish
   invasion of England never materialized. Gibraltar was besieged for more
   than three years, but the British garrison there was resupplied after
   Admiral Sir George Rodney's victory in the "Moonlight Battle" on 16
   January 1780. Further Franco-Spanish efforts to capture Gibraltar were
   unsuccessful. On February 5, 1782, Spanish and French forces captured
   Minorca, 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 Lesser Antilles. Ultimately, at the Battle of
   the Saintes in April 1782, a decisive victory by Rodney's fleet over
   the French Admiral de Grasse dashed the hopes of France and Spain to
   take Jamaica and other colonies from the British. In May 1782, Spanish
   Count Bernardo de Gálvez captured the British naval base at New
   Providence in the Bahamas.

   On the Gulf Coast, Gálvez seized three British Mississippi River
   outposts in 1779: Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. Gálvez then
   captured Mobile in 1780 and forced the surrender of the British outpost
   at Pensacola in 1781. His actions led to Spain acquiring East and West
   Florida in the peace settlement.

India and the Netherlands

   The Franco-British war spilled over into India in 1780, in the form of
   the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The two chief combatants were Tipu Sultan,
   ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a key French ally, and the British
   government of Madras. The Anglo-Mysore conflict was bloody but
   inconclusive and ended in a draw in 1784.

   Also in 1780, the British struck against the United Provinces of the
   Netherlands in order to preempt Dutch involvement in the League of
   Armed Neutrality, a declaration of several European powers that they
   would conduct neutral trade during the war. Great 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—both influenced by the American
   Revolution—also encouraged the British to attack. The Fourth
   Anglo-Dutch War lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch
   mercantile economy.

Southern theatre

   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.
   The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry
   commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait
   was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782.
   Enlarge
   The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry
   commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait
   was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782.

   On December 29, 1778, an expeditionary corps from Clinton's army in New
   York captured Savannah, Georgia. An attempt by French and American
   forces to retake Savannah failed on October 9, 1779. Clinton then
   besieged Charleston, capturing it on May 12, 1780. The Americans,
   including the pride of the Southern Continental Army, the 2nd South
   Carolina Regiment, held on to the town, for a lond period, but
   eventually were outnumbered by the vastly large British/Hessian
   invasion force. The British would not allow the American garrison to
   honorably evacuate, and made them prisoners of war. The Americans were
   not allowed to withdraw with an American tune, so they played the
   British 'Turk's March.' In time around the battle, strong American
   resistance occured in the modern suburbs of Charleston: John's Island,
   and West Ashley. If the commanding General, Benjamin Lincoln, had not
   overlooked the vulneralble west flank of the Charles Town peninsula,
   the British may have been prevented from invading the southern port,
   thus ending the war by defeating the British hopes of capturing the
   south. 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
   North Carolina but were pursued by Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who
   defeated them at the Waxhaws on May 29, 1780. With these events,
   organized American military activity in the region collapsed, though
   the war was carried on by partisans such as Francis Marion, former
   commandant of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, previously mentioned.
   Cornwallis took over British operations, while Horatio Gates arrived to
   command the American effort. On August 16, 1780, Gates suffered one of
   the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the Battle of Camden,
   setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade North Carolina.

   Cornwallis' victories quickly turned, however. One wing of his army was
   utterly defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.
   Kings Mountain was noteworthy because it was not a battle between
   British redcoats and colonial troops; rather, it was a battle between
   Loyalist and Patriot militia. Tarleton’s troops were subsequently
   defeated at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, by American
   General Daniel Morgan.

   General Nathanael Greene, 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 Virginia.

   In March 1781, General Washington dispatched General Lafayette to
   defend Virginia. The young Frenchman skirmished with Cornwallis,
   avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. "The boy
   cannot escape me," Cornwallis is supposed to have said. However,
   Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to
   Yorktown, Virginia, in July in order to link up with the British navy.

West Floridan Theatre

   In the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, frontier battles were
   occuring with the local Tory, and Indian populations, as well as the
   British occupation force.

Northern and western theatre

   West of the Appalachian Mountains and along the Canadian border, the
   American Revolutionary War was an " Indian War." The British signed up
   most of the tribes as allies, although the Continental Congress warned
   them to stay neutral.

   The British had a shortage of regular troops after Burgoyne's surrender
   at Saratoga in 1777, and so a greater effort was made to recruit
   American Indians. The British supplied their native allies with muskets
   and gunpowder and advised raids against civilian villages, especially
   in New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania.  Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks
   in the Wyoming Valley and at Cherry Valley in 1778 provoked Washington
   to send the Sullivan Expedition into western New York during the summer
   of 1779. There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed
   the Indians' winter food supplies, forcing them to flee permanently to
   British bases in Canada and the Niagara Falls area.

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

   However, a decisive victory in the West eluded the United States even
   as their fortunes had risen in the East. The low point on the frontier
   came in 1782 with the Gnadenhütten massacre, when Pennsylvania
   militiamen killed about a hundred civilians. In August 1782, in the
   last major encounter of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was
   defeated at the Battle of Blue Licks.

Yorktown and the war's end

   Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right
   is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French
   monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness)
   was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the
   right background; because the British commander was absent, military
   protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case
   Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.
   Enlarge
   Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown ( John Trumbull, 1797). On the
   right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French
   monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness)
   was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the
   right background; because the British commander was absent, military
   protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case
   Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.

   The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781
   at Yorktown, Virginia. In early September, French naval forces defeated
   a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off
   Cornwallis's supplies and transport. Washington hurriedly moved his
   troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000
   men commenced the siege of Yorktown in early October. Cornwallis's
   position quickly became untenable, and he surrendered his army on
   October 19, 1781.

   The surrender at Yorktown was not the end of the war: the British still
   had 30,000 troops in North America and still occupied New York,
   Charleston, and Savannah. Both sides continued to plan upcoming
   operations, and fighting continued on the western front, in the south,
   and at sea.

   In London, however, political support for the war plummeted after
   Yorktown, causing Prime Minister Lord North to resign soon afterwards.
   In April 1782, the British House of Commons voted to end the war in
   America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in Paris on November
   30, 1782, though the formal end of the war did not occur until the
   Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, and the United States
   Congress ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784. The last British
   troops left New York City on November 25, 1783.

   Great Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her
   Indian allies and ceded all American Indian territory between the
   Appalachian Mountains 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 Northwest Indian War.

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. The war took place during a massive North American
   smallpox epidemic, which probably killed more than 130,000 people.
   Historian Joseph Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his
   troops inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important
   strategic decision.

   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
   prisoners of war. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or
   disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total
   American military casualty 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 pressed into service. About 1,240 were
   killed in battle, while 18,500 died from disease. The greatest killer
   was scurvy, a disease known at the time to be easily preventable by
   issuing lemon juice to sailors, a step not taken by the Admiralty
   because of what historian Piers Mackesy characterized as
   "administrative apathy". About 42,000 British seamen deserted 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, American
   Indians, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.

Historical assessment

   Historians have often sought to explain why Great Britain lost a war
   which few at the time expected them to lose. Britain had several
   military advantages at the outset: vastly superior naval power, a
   professional military by the standards of the day, and far greater
   financial resources. Furthermore, the Americans often faced shortages
   of military supplies and had a traditional distrust of central
   government and standing armies which made the maintenance of a national
   military force extremely difficult.

   On the other hand, the British had significant military disadvantages.
   Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be
   shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The British usually had logistical
   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 theaters, 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 American Indians 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 Ireland and Scotland.
   Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were
   nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the
   war.

Combatants before 1778

Armies, militias, and mercenaries

Americans

   The Patriots (called also the "rebels", "Congress Men," "Whigs" or
   "Americans") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the
   population. About 15 to 20 percent supported the British Crown during
   the war and were known as Loyalists (known also as "King's Men" or
   "Tories"). Loyalists fielded perhaps 50,000 men during the war compared
   to 250,000 patriots.

   When the war began, the Americans did not have a regular army (also
   known as a " standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided
   for its own defenses through the use of local militia. Militiamen who
   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 occasionally effective against regular troops.
   American militia in the South were adept at partisan warfare and were
   particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British
   regulars were not in the area.
   German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler
   after Conrad Gessner, 1799)
   Enlarge
   German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler
   after Conrad Gessner, 1799)

   Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress
   established a regular army—the Continental Army—in June 1775, and
   appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The development of
   the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington
   reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the
   war. Although as many as 250,000 men may have served as regulars or as
   militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war,
   there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms for the
   Americans in any given year. Armies in North America 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.

British

   Early in 1775, the British Army 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
   German mercenaries, popularly known in the colonies as " Hessians"
   because many of them came from Hesse-Kassel. 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 over a vast area from Canada to
   Florida, and most were assigned to non-combat garrison duty, such as
   the 16,000 in New York City. Conway (1999) argues that in 1775 the
   British Royal Navy had less than 16,000 seamen and the army totaled
   about 36,000 troops. During the first three years of conflict, growth
   in these forces was slow because Lord North wanted to avoid provoking
   France and creating large increases in expenditures. With French
   intervention in 1778, serious expansion of the military began. By 1782,
   the navy had 100,000 seamen and marines. The creation of the new corps,
   which the king had previously opposed, expanded the army. The
   possibility of a French invasion led to rapid expansion of militia
   units in Britain. While exact figures are not available, it is possible
   that about 500,000 men were under arms during the course of the war.
   Though the aristocracy and gentry dominated the higher ranks in both
   army and navy, officers and men were drawn from a variety of social
   groups. In size and composition, this mobilization foreshadowed what
   was to come during the wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France.

Blacks and Native Americans

   This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows
   a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment.
   Enlarge
   This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows
   a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment.

   Blacks served on in the Patriot cause. Black soldiers served in
   northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South,
   where slave owners feared arming slaves. In November 1775, Lord
   Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation
   promising freedom to runaway slaves of Patriot owners who fought for
   the British; Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in New York in
   1779. Tens of thousands of blacks escaped to the British lines; fewer
   than 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies,
   mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides. More than half died
   in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces and many were
   driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's
   promises, the majority were not given their freedom.

   Because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black
   enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units
   were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; many were slaves
   promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from Haiti
   with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the
   Revolutionary cause.

   Most American Indians east of the Mississippi River were affected by
   the war; most joined the British side.  An estimated 13,000 warriors
   fought on the British side; the largest group, the Iroquois
   Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 men.

War in the north, 1775–1779

Massachusetts

   Before the war, Boston, Massachusetts, had been the scene of much
   revolutionary activity, leading to the effective abolition of the
   provincial government of Massachusetts by the British parliament 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 Thomas Gage, the British
   Commander-in-Chief, North America, 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.
   The British marching to Concord in April 1775
   Enlarge
   The British marching to Concord in April 1775

   On the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent 700 men to seize
   munitions stored by the colonial militia at Concord, Massachusetts.
   Riders alerted the countryside ( Paul Revere was one of them), and when
   the British troops entered Lexington on the morning of April 19, they
   found 77 minutemen formed up on the village common. Shots were
   exchanged, and the British moved on to Concord, where there was more
   fighting. By the time the British struggled to return, thousands of
   militiamen had arrived on the scene; a rescue mission finally escorted
   the survivors to Boston. The British suffered 39% casualties, the
   Americans 2%. The British had lost the Battles of Lexington and
   Concord, and the war had begun.

   From all over New England militia units converged on Boston, bottling
   up the British in the city. About 4,500 more British soldiers arrived
   by sea, and on June 17, 1775, British forces under General William Howe
   seized the Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  The
   British assumed the Americans would quickly break and run in the face
   of a determined attack. The British lost 42% of their assault troops,
   with 228 dead and 826 wounded, their heaviest losses of the war.  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. The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early
   March 1776, heavy cannon that the Patriots had captured at Fort
   Ticonderoga were placed on Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston
   harbour. With cannons directly aimed at his ships, Howe was checkmated
   , and the British evacuated the city on March 17, 1776, sailing for
   temporary refuge at the Royal Navy's base at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
   Washington then took most of the Continental Army to fortify New York
   City.

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 Long Island and Manhattan. While British
   troops were assembling on Staten Island for the campaign, Washington
   had the newly issued Declaration of American Independence read to his
   men. On August 27, 1776, after landing about 22,000 men on Long Island,
   the British drove the Americans back to Brooklyn Heights. Howe then
   laid siege to fortifications there, but Washington managed to evacuate
   his army to Manhattan.

   On September 15, Howe landed about 12,000 men on lower Manhattan,
   quickly taking control of New York City. The Americans withdrew to
   Harlem Heights, where they skirmished the next day but held their
   ground. When Howe moved to encircle Washington's army in October, the
   Americans again fell back, and a battle at White Plains was fought on
   October 28, 1776. Once more Washington retreated, and Howe returned to
   Manhattan and captured Fort Washington in mid November, taking about
   2,000 prisoners (with an additional 1,000 having been captured during
   the battle for Long Island).
   Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware
   (1851) is an iconic image
   Enlarge
   Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware
   (1851) is an iconic image

   General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through
   New Jersey, until the Americans withdrew across the Delaware River 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
   rebel army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 Americans and was in a
   good position to resume operations in the spring, with the rebel
   capital of Philadelphia in striking distance.

   The outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times
   that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, 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
   Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. Cornwallis marched to retake
   Trenton but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked
   the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777. Washington then
   entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, having given a
   morale boost to the American cause. New Jersey militia continued to
   harass British and Hessian forces throughout the winter.

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, Lord George Germain 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 John Burgoyne. The goal was to seize the Lake Champlain and
   Hudson River corridor, effectively isolating New England from the rest
   of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he
   would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards Albany, New
   York, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by Barry St. Leger,
   would move down the Mohawk River valley and link up with Burgoyne in
   [Albany.
   Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.
   Enlarge
   Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.

   Burgoyne set off in June, and recaptured Fort Ticonderoga in early
   July. Thereafter, his march was slowed by Americans who felled trees in
   his path. A Hessian detachment was sent to Vermont to seize cattle but
   was decisively defeated by American militia in August; Burgoyne lost
   nearly 1,000 men, and the Americans realized they could defeat the
   invaders, as thousands of New England militia joined the campaign.

   Meanwhile, St. Leger—half of his force American Indians led by Joseph
   Brant—had laid siege to Fort Stanwix. American militiamen and their
   Indian allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and
   scattered at the Battle of Oriskany on August 6. When a second relief
   expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, the
   pro-British Indians fled, St. Leger broke off the siege and returned to
   Canada.

   Burgoyne's army was now reduced to about 6,000 men. Instead of
   retreating to Canada he determined to push on towards Albany, assuming
   Howe's troops from New York City would meet him there. An American army
   of 8,000 men, commanded by the General Horatio Gates, had entrenched
   about 10 miles (16 km) south of Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne tried to
   outflank the Americans but was checked at the first battle of Saratoga
   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
   second battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17.

   Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Revolutionary confidence and
   determination was renewed. More importantly, the victory encouraged
   France to enter the war against Great Britain. For the British, the war
   had now become much more complicated.

Philadelphia campaign

   Meanwhile, having secured New York City in 1776, in 1777, General Howe
   concentrated on capturing Philadelphia, the seat of the Revolutionary
   government. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at
   the northern end of Chesapeake Bay. Washington positioned his 11,000
   men between Howe and Philadelphia but was driven back at the Battle of
   Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The Continental Congress once again
   abandoned Philadelphia, and on September 26, Howe finally outmaneuvered
   Washington and marched into the city unopposed. Washington
   unsuccessfully attacked the British encampment in nearby Germantown in
   early October and then retreated to watch and wait.
   Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge.
   Enlarge
   Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge.

   After repelling a British attack at White Marsh, Washington and his
   army encamped at Valley Forge 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 the elaborate training program run by Baron von
   Steuben, a former member of the Prussian general staff

   Meanwhile, there was a shakeup in the British command, with General
   Clinton replacing Howe as 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 battle at
   Monmouth on June 28, 1778, the last major battle in the north.
   Clinton's army escaped to New York City in July, just before a French
   fleet under Admiral d'Estaing arrived off the American coast.
   Washington's army returned to White Plains, New York. 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 colonial rebellion in North America became an
   international war. After learning of the American victory at Saratoga,
   France signed the Treaty of Alliance with the United States on February
   6, 1778. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in June 1779. The
   Netherlands also became a combatant in 1780. All three countries had
   quietly provided financial assistance to the American rebels since the
   beginning of the war, hoping to dilute British power.

Widening of the naval war

   When the war began, the British had overwhelming naval superiority over
   the American colonists. The Royal Navy had over 100 powerful ships of
   the line.  During the first three years of the war, the Royal Navy was
   primarily used to blockade the American coast, to transport troops and
   supplies, and to protect commercial shipping. The American colonists
   had no ships of the line, and relied extensively on privateering to
   harass British shipping. The Continental Congress authorized the
   creation of a small Continental Navy on October 13, 1775, which was
   primarily used for commerce raiding. John Paul Jones became the first
   well-known American naval hero, capturing HMS Drake on April 24, 1778,
   the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.
   "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John
   Singleton Copley.
   Enlarge
   "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John
   Singleton Copley.

   French entry into the war meant that British naval superiority was now
   contested. The Franco-American alliance began poorly, however, with
   failed operations at Rhode Island in 1778 and Savannah, Georgia, 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 West Indies 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 an expeditionary force led by the Comte de Rochambeau.

   Spain entered the war with the goal of invading England as well as
   recapturing Gibraltar and Minorca, which had been lost to the British
   in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Franco-Spanish
   invasion of England never materialized. Gibraltar was besieged for more
   than three years, but the British garrison there was resupplied after
   Admiral Sir George Rodney's victory in the "Moonlight Battle" on 16
   January 1780. Further Franco-Spanish efforts to capture Gibraltar were
   unsuccessful. On February 5, 1782, Spanish and French forces captured
   Minorca, 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 Lesser Antilles. Ultimately, at the Battle of
   the Saintes in April 1782, a decisive victory by Rodney's fleet over
   the French Admiral de Grasse dashed the hopes of France and Spain to
   take Jamaica and other colonies from the British. In May 1782, Spanish
   Count Bernardo de Gálvez captured the British naval base at New
   Providence in the Bahamas.

   On the Gulf Coast, Gálvez seized three British Mississippi River
   outposts in 1779: Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. Gálvez then
   captured Mobile in 1780 and forced the surrender of the British outpost
   at Pensacola in 1781. His actions led to Spain acquiring East and West
   Florida in the peace settlement.

India and the Netherlands

   The Franco-British war spilled over into India in 1780, in the form of
   the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The two chief combatants were Tipu Sultan,
   ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a key French ally, and the British
   government of Madras. The Anglo-Mysore conflict was bloody but
   inconclusive and ended in a draw in 1784.

   Also in 1780, the British struck against the United Provinces of the
   Netherlands in order to preempt Dutch involvement in the League of
   Armed Neutrality, a declaration of several European powers that they
   would conduct neutral trade during the war. Great 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—both influenced by the American
   Revolution—also encouraged the British to attack. The Fourth
   Anglo-Dutch War lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch
   mercantile economy.

Southern theatre

   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.
   The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry
   commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait
   was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782.
   Enlarge
   The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry
   commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait
   was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782.

   On December 29, 1778, an expeditionary corps from Clinton's army in New
   York captured Savannah, Georgia. An attempt by French and American
   forces to retake Savannah failed on October 9, 1779. Clinton then
   besieged Charleston, capturing it on May 12, 1780. The Americans,
   including the pride of the Southern Continental Army, the 2nd South
   Carolina Regiment, held on to the town, for a lond period, but
   eventually were outnumbered by the vastly large British/Hessian
   invasion force. The British would not allow the American garrison to
   honorably evacuate, and made them prisoners of war. The Americans were
   not allowed to withdraw with an American tune, so they played the
   British 'Turk's March.' In time around the battle, strong American
   resistance occured in the modern suburbs of Charleston: John's Island,
   and West Ashley. If the commanding General, Benjamin Lincoln, had not
   overlooked the vulneralble west flank of the Charles Town peninsula,
   the British may have been prevented from invading the southern port,
   thus ending the war by defeating the British hopes of capturing the
   south. 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
   North Carolina but were pursued by Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who
   defeated them at the Waxhaws on May 29, 1780. With these events,
   organized American military activity in the region collapsed, though
   the war was carried on by partisans such as Francis Marion, former
   commandant of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, previously mentioned.
   Cornwallis took over British operations, while Horatio Gates arrived to
   command the American effort. On August 16, 1780, Gates suffered one of
   the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the Battle of Camden,
   setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade North Carolina.

   Cornwallis' victories quickly turned, however. One wing of his army was
   utterly defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.
   Kings Mountain was noteworthy because it was not a battle between
   British redcoats and colonial troops; rather, it was a battle between
   Loyalist and Patriot militia. Tarleton’s troops were subsequently
   defeated at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, by American
   General Daniel Morgan.

   General Nathanael Greene, 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 Virginia.

   In March 1781, General Washington dispatched General Lafayette to
   defend Virginia. The young Frenchman skirmished with Cornwallis,
   avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. "The boy
   cannot escape me," Cornwallis is supposed to have said. However,
   Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to
   Yorktown, Virginia, in July in order to link up with the British navy.

West Floridan Theatre

   In the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, frontier battles were
   occuring with the local Tory, and Indian populations, as well as the
   British occupation force.

Northern and western theatre

   West of the Appalachian Mountains and along the Canadian border, the
   American Revolutionary War was an " Indian War." The British signed up
   most of the tribes as allies, although the Continental Congress warned
   them to stay neutral.

   The British had a shortage of regular troops after Burgoyne's surrender
   at Saratoga in 1777, and so a greater effort was made to recruit
   American Indians. The British supplied their native allies with muskets
   and gunpowder and advised raids against civilian villages, especially
   in New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania.  Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks
   in the Wyoming Valley and at Cherry Valley in 1778 provoked Washington
   to send the Sullivan Expedition into western New York during the summer
   of 1779. There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed
   the Indians' winter food supplies, forcing them to flee permanently to
   British bases in Canada and the Niagara Falls area.

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

   However, a decisive victory in the West eluded the United States even
   as their fortunes had risen in the East. The low point on the frontier
   came in 1782 with the Gnadenhütten massacre, when Pennsylvania
   militiamen killed about a hundred civilians. In August 1782, in the
   last major encounter of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was
   defeated at the Battle of Blue Licks.

Yorktown and the war's end

   Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right
   is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French
   monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness)
   was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the
   right background; because the British commander was absent, military
   protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case
   Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.
   Enlarge
   Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown ( John Trumbull, 1797). On the
   right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French
   monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness)
   was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the
   right background; because the British commander was absent, military
   protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case
   Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.

   The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781
   at Yorktown, Virginia. In early September, French naval forces defeated
   a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off
   Cornwallis's supplies and transport. Washington hurriedly moved his
   troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000
   men commenced the siege of Yorktown in early October. Cornwallis's
   position quickly became untenable, and he surrendered his army on
   October 19, 1781.

   The surrender at Yorktown was not the end of the war: the British still
   had 30,000 troops in North America and still occupied New York,
   Charleston, and Savannah. Both sides continued to plan upcoming
   operations, and fighting continued on the western front, in the south,
   and at sea.

   In London, however, political support for the war plummeted after
   Yorktown, causing Prime Minister Lord North to resign soon afterwards.
   In April 1782, the British House of Commons voted to end the war in
   America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in Paris on November
   30, 1782, though the formal end of the war did not occur until the
   Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, and the United States
   Congress ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784. The last British
   troops left New York City on November 25, 1783.

   Great Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her
   Indian allies and ceded all American Indian territory between the
   Appalachian Mountains 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 Northwest Indian War.

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. The war took place during a massive North American
   smallpox epidemic, which probably killed more than 130,000 people.
   Historian Joseph Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his
   troops inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important
   strategic decision.

   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
   prisoners of war. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or
   disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total
   American military casualty 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 pressed into service. About 1,240 were
   killed in battle, while 18,500 died from disease. The greatest killer
   was scurvy, a disease known at the time to be easily preventable by
   issuing lemon juice to sailors, a step not taken by the Admiralty
   because of what historian Piers Mackesy characterized as
   "administrative apathy". About 42,000 British seamen deserted 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, American
   Indians, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.

Historical assessment

   Historians have often sought to explain why Great Britain lost a war
   which few at the time expected them to lose. Britain had several
   military advantages at the outset: vastly superior naval power, a
   professional military by the standards of the day, and far greater
   financial resources. Furthermore, the Americans often faced shortages
   of military supplies and had a traditional distrust of central
   government and standing armies which made the maintenance of a national
   military force extremely difficult.

   On the other hand, the British had significant military disadvantages.
   Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be
   shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The British usually had logistical
   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 theaters, 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 American Indians 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 Ireland and Scotland.
   Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were
   nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the
   war.

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