Revolutionary War Battles and Leaders

1
Revolutionary War Battles and Leaders

• Patriot Generals

George Washington Commander of the Continental
Army Marquis de Lafayette Commander of the
French forces
2
British Generals

• General Howe
• General Cornwallis
• General Burgoyne

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Key Battles New England

• Early fighting in Massachusetts (First shots were
  fired at Lexington Concord)
• British leave New England in 1776
• British then attack the middle colonies
• Can you name the two key cities in the middle
  colonies?

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Key Battles Middle Colonies

• British capture Philadelphia and New York City
• December 26, 1776 General Washington crosses
  the Delaware River and wins the Battle of Trenton

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Crossing the Delaware

• What effect did this victory have for the
  Patriots?
• What event in your life was like Crossing the
  Delaware? (Your spirits were down and then
  improved)

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Middle Colonies - continued

• April 1777 Patriots win the Battle of Saratoga
  (in upstate New York)
• Turning point of the war
• France decides to join the war

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Who convinces the French to join?

• Ben Franklin

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Valley Forge (Pennsylvania)

• Winter of 1777-1778
• British warm and in the city
• Washingtons army endures difficult conditions
  in the country (lack of shoes, blankets, food)
  but does not quit!

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Valley Forge not quitting

• Why were the Patriots able to make it through the
  difficult times?
• What event in your life would you consider a
  Valley Forge?

10
Are the teams a little more even?

• British vs Patriots and the French
• 1779 Spain joins the war as a French ally

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Key Battles Southern Colonies

• British leave the Middle Colonies and invade the
  South
• Win battles in Georgia and South Carolina
• General Cornwallis then invades Virginia and
  camps on the Yorktown peninsula

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Battle of Yorktown

• October 1781
• What role is geography going to play?

13
Battle of Yorktown

• General Washington and the French led by Marquis
  de Lafayette trap General Cornwallis at Yorktown
• Cornwallis calls on the British Navy to rescue
• However, the French Navy has blocked the path to
  Yorktown
• Cornwallis must surrender!

14
Treaty of Paris of 1783

• Ends the Revolutionary War
• America gains independence from Britain
• What an upset victory!!!!