Summary
Chapter 3 focuses on the origins of the American Revolution and the subsequent war between American Patriots and Great Britain. While many people regarded Great Britain as the most powerful country in the world in 1763, the British government struggled to cope with the enormous debt created during the Seven Years’ War, and also faced challenges in the American backcountry. Native peoples had had no say in the deliberations that ended the conflict, and their territories and traditional lifestyles faced growing pressure from settlers migrating westward as demonstrated by Pontiac’s War. Officials in London argued for the need for security in the colonies after tensions with natives erupted into conflict. Their heavy-handed policies contravened the traditional light touch applied to Britain America prior to the Seven Years’ War, resulting in an imperial crisis that ultimately produced a new, independent country. Over the course of the imperial crisis from 1763 to 1774, American Patriots became well organized and new-found groups created a foundation that allowed rebels to exert political control in many areas and strengthen colonial militia establishments. Given the prominent role of New England these political confrontations, British authorities viewed their task as suppressing revolt in that region when the war began.
The resulting War of the American Revolution was one of the longest in U.S. history, lasting eight years from Lexington and Concord to the ratification of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain had advantages in men, weapons, and money but its military was designed to fight conventional Western forces, not a “people in arms” rebelling over much of a continent. Although strong in militia, Patriots recognized the need for regular forces to maintain long-term resistance. The War of the American Revolution, though, was not just about Americans. The legacy of the Saratoga campaign was France’s entry into the conflict, which fundamentally changed the war. Thereafter the British had to fight around the world, and had to change strategy in America to conserve manpower. Washington’s victory at Yorktown, following the frustration of the southern campaigns, marked the clear failure of that policy, and drove Britain to seek peace.
In this chapter, students will learn about the different types of combatants and how they fought in the War of the American Revolution. Of particular importance are the differences between British and American strategy during the war. Not only will major campaigns, battles, and commanders outlined but also discussions of how diplomatic, political, and logistical factors affected military operations, and were in turn impacted by the outcome of battles and campaigns.
Glossary
Pontiac’s War – A conflict named for an Ottawa chief who helped lead a loose coalition of Native American groups that captured many British forts and besieged others in 1763. The war stemmed from expanding British settlement and changes in that followed the surrender of French Canada during the French and Indian war.
Boston Massacre – A violent confrontation in 1770 in Boston between locals and a group of British soldiers. Though tensions were diffused in the short term, the incident generated more support for the Patriot cause.
First Continental Congress – A gathering in 1774 of representatives from most of Britain’s America colonies that identified and presented their arguments against the British government relating to trade and taxation in the Declaration of Rights of Grievances.
Lexington & Concord- Massachusetts towns and the location of suspected American militia arms stores that precipitated British Army searches on April 19, 1775. The resultant confrontations between militia and British regulars constituted the first military clashes of the American Revolutionary War.
redcoats- Nickname for British Army regulars during the American Revolutionary War due to their red uniforms.
Hessians- German mercenaries hired by the British to fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Second Continental Congress- The American political institution during the American Revolutionary War that acted as the government during the war, setting and enforcing policies.
Loyalists, Tories- Colonists during the American Revolutionary War who remained loyal to the British Crown.
John Burgoyne- (1722-1792), British general during the American Revolutionary War and best known for surrendering his entire army to the Americans in October 1777 during the Saratoga Campaign. The defeat changed the nature of the war, going from a rebellion to an international conflict after France was convinced to join.
Henry Clinton- (1730-1795), A British officer during the American Revolutionary War, taking over as commander of all British forces in the war in 1778 until the end of the war.
William Howe- (1729-1814), A British officer during the American Revolutionary War, and commander of all British forces until 1778 when he resigned.
Battle of Breed’s Hill (Bunker Hill)- June 17, 1775 battle during the American Revolutionary War overlooking Boston, Massachusetts. Fighting took place mostly on Breed’s Hill, next to Bunker Hill. Though a tactical victory for the British, the ability of the American colonial militia to stand up against the British rallied more to the nascent rebellion’s cause.
Continental Army- The American regular army during the American Revolutionary War under the command of George Washington.
George Washington- (1732-1799), First president of the United States. Beginning his military career during the French and Indian War, Washington went on to command the Continental Army, of which he built from scratch, during the American Revolutionary War.
Benedict Arnold- (1741-1801) An American field commander during the American Revolutionary War and a key figure in the defeat of the British at Saratoga. Arnold is best known for defecting to the British in 1780.
King George III- (1738-1820), The British monarch during the American Revolutionary War against whom the Americans rebelled.
George Germain- (1716-1785), A British military officer and King George III’s colonial secretary during the American Revolutionary War.
“war of posts”- George Washington’s use of prepared positions and fortifications early in the American Revolutionary War. Part of his defensive strategy of avoiding risks and confronting the British only when necessary, Washington used posts to protect the army’s movements, reflecting the Continental Army’s weak state and limited capabilities in the early era of the revolution.
Battle of Long Island- A Revolutionary War battle at Long Island, New York on August 27, 1776. A defeat for the Americans, George Washington’s young Continental Army along with militia faced British General William Howe’s force of regulars augmented by Hessians.
Guy Carleton- (1724-1808), An officer in the British Army and governor of British Canada during the American Revolutionary War.
Battles of Trenton & Princeton- Battles during the American Revolutionary War (December 26, 1776 and January 3, 1777, respectively) in New Jersey. American victory over the British in each engagement helped renew the patriotic fervor that had ebbed throughout 1776 after a string of American defeats.
Battle of Brandywine Creek- A September 11, 1777 battle during the American Revolutionary War between American General George Washington’s Continental Army and the British regulars commanded by General William Howe near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The American defeat allowed Howe to take Philadelphia.
Battle of Germantown- An October 4, 1777 battle during the American Revolutionary War between the Americans and British near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The defeat of George Washington’s Continental forces allowed the British to secure the capital of Philadelphia.
Horatio Gates- (1727-1806), An American general during the Revolutionary War and commander of a field army in the Continental Army during the Saratoga Campaign, replaced by Nathaniel Greene after the defeat of Gates at Camden on August 16, 1780.
Freeman’s Farm (First Battle of Saratoga)- The first engagement of the Battle of Saratoga in New York on September 19, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. A tactical victory for British General Burgoyne, it was an operational success for the American and Benedict Arnold.
Bemis Heights (Second Battle of Saratoga)- The second engagement of the Saratoga Campaign on October 7, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. A tactical and strategic victory for the Americans it forced the surrender of British General Burgoyne’s army and convinced the French to join the war as American allies, changing the nature of the war from a rebellion to an international conflict.
George Rogers Clark- (1752-1818), American military officer during the American Revolutionary War, famous for leading frontiersmen on a long trek in 1778-79 through the Illinois territory and capturing the ethnically French but British-ruled towns of Kaskaskia and Vincennes.
Oriskany- An August 6, 1777 battle in New York during the Saratoga Campaign during the American Revolutionary War.
Wyoming Valley, German Flats & Cherry Valley- Frontier settlements in Pennsylvania and New York that were the target of large raids throughout the summer and fall of 1778 by British Loyalists and Iroquois warriors during the American Revolutionary War.
Sullivan Expedition- Named after its commander, American John Sullivan, the expedition invaded and destroyed Seneca towns and fields in 1779 in what is today western New York State as a reprisal against the Seneca for Indian raids the year prior during the American Revolutionary War.
Valley Forge- The location in Pennsylvania where George Washington’s Continental Army weathered the harsh winter of 1777-1778 and received crucial professional training from Prussian officer Baron de Steuben during the American Revolutionary War.
Monmouth Courthouse- An American Revolutionary War battle on June 28, 1778 in New Jersey. While there was no clear victor, George Washington’s Continental Army acquitted themselves well using conventional tactics, the result of training by Baron de Steuben during time spent at Valley Forge.
John Paul Jones- (1747-1792), An American naval officer during the American Revolutionary War and the most famous commerce raider during the conflict.
Savannah- A large city in Georgia, and also the location of British garrisons during the American Revolutionary War after their forces had failed to wrest the southern countryside from the Americans.
Siege of Charleston- The British siege and eventual capture on May 11, 1780 of the South Carolina city during the American Revolutionary War as part of a British campaign in the south to win the war.
Banastre Tarleton- (1754-1833), A British officer during the American Revolutionary War and the commander of a Loyalist cavalry unit that defeated a Continental Army unit at the Battle of Waxhaws in South Carolina in May 1780. During the fighting a group of Americans attempted to surrender but were cut down by Tarleton’s men, and thereafter Tarleton’s name became synonymous among Americans with British-sanctioned massacre.
Charles, Lord Cornwallis- (1738-1805), A British officer during the American Revolutionary War and in command of the defeated British forces at Yorktown. His surrender on October 19, 1781 and the poor chances of victory in the war convinced the Crown to seek peace with the Americans.
Andrew Pickens- (1739-1817), An American South Carolina militia leader during the American Revolutionary War and a noted practitioner of guerrilla warfare against the British.
Francis Marion- (1732-1795), An American military leader during the American Revolutionary War, nicknamed the “Swamp Fox” for his use of irregular warfare against the British in the swamps of South Carolina.
Thomas Sumter- (1734-1832), A military officer in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War, nicknamed the “Carolina Gamecock” for his supposedly intense style of fighting.
Battle of King’s Mountain- An American Revolutionary War battle on October 7, 1780 in South Carolina. In retaliation for the purported Loyalist massacre of surrendering Continental troops at the Battle of Waxhaws, the Americans showed similar disregard for mercy when surrounded Tories attempting to surrender.
Nathanael Greene- (1742-1786), An American officer during the American Revolutionary War and the commander of the southern campaign beginning in 1780 after the British defeat of General Gates at Camden. Greene’s ability to utilize regular and irregular troops and methods harried the British in the south and frustrated their attempts to defeat the Continental Army.
Battle of Cowpens- An American Revolutionary War battle in South Carolina on January 17, 1781 in which Continental Army forces led by Daniel Morgan defeated the British under Banestre Tarleton. With a clever use of militia, Morgan was able to fool the British attackers into a trap and secure victory for the Americans, contributing greatly to the defeat of the British southern campaign.
“Race to the Dan”- The pursuit of American General Nathanael Greene’s forces by British General Cornwallis in the southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. A clever gambit by Greene, he led the British over hundreds of miles of hilly, forested country with poor roads during the rainy season that produced swollen rivers. By February 15, 1781, though, Greene had crossed his destination of the Dan River into Virginia, with an exhausted British far from their supplies.
Battle of Guilford Courthouse- An American Revolutionary War battle on March 15, 1781 between Nathanael Greene’s American forces and Lord Cornwallis’s British in the aftermath of the “Race to the Dan.” A tactical loss for the Americans, operationally and strategically they had caused more British casualties and helped put an end to the British strategy of controlling the southern states.
Siege of Yorktown- An American siege of the British-controlled Yorktown, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War from September 28 to October 19, 1781. An American victory over British Lord Cornwallis’s forces with the aid of the French marked the last major battle of the war and eventually led to a negotiated end to the conflict.
Comte de Rochambeau- (1725-1807), French general in command of French forces during the American Revolutionary War and notably the defeat of the British at Yorktown.
Battle of the Virginia Capes- A naval battle during the American Revolutionary War on September 5, 1781. Fought between the French and British, a French victory disallowed the evacuation of Lord Cornwallis’s surrounded British army at Yorktown, Virginia.
Treaty of Paris, 1783- The treaty between the United States and Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War.
Flashcards
Annotated Bibliography
Dowd, Gregory Evans. War under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, and the British Empire. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
In this work Gregory Dowd follows attempts to create an intertribal Indian identity, one based on Indian concepts of spirituality and stressing independence – and at times opposition to – from white or European influences. Examining the period from the mid-eighteenth century to 1815, he focuses on efforts involving the Shawnees, Delawares, Cherokee, and Creeks, as well as on the leadership of Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa.
Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Almost a Miracle is a one-volume overview of the military history of the War of the American Revolution. It examines the major campaigns, battles, and commanders, while also addressing questions of strategy and topics such as the naval war.
Fischer, David Hackett. Washington’s Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
One of the best treatments of George Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware River and attacks on Trenton and Princeton. Dispelling many long-standing myths about the campaign, David Hackett Fischer explains the developments that set the context for the campaign, as well as detailing events and Washington’s decisions.
Gross, Robert A. The Minutemen and their World. New York: Hill and Wang, 1976.
This book is a social history of the men and women who lived in Concord in the spring of 1775. It examines the community and its reaction and participation in the events that led up to the Revolution, as well as the battle itself.
Gruber, Ira D. The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution. New York: Atheneum, 1972.
Ira Gruber looks at General Sir William Howe and Admiral Lord Richard Howe. Commanders of British army and naval forces, respectively, in the early years of the American Revolution. The book scrutinizes their attitudes, perspectives, and their used of armed forces to consider why and how the failed to defeat the rebellion.
Ketchum, Richard M. Saratoga: The Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
Saratoga is a narrative history of the northern campaigns of 1776-77 during the American Revolution, which ended with the defeat and capture of General John Burgoyne’s British army.
Kwasny, Mark V. Washington’s Partisan War, 1775-1783. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1998.
Most military histories of the American Revolution emphasize conventional campaigns involving the Continental Army. Moreover, many authors claim that George Washington disliked militia. Concentrating on New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, Mark Kwasny demonstrates the militia units played a crucial role in the war. The book also illustrates how Washington came to appreciate militia units, learning their limitations, strengths, and how best to employ them in his operations.
Mayer, Holly A. Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
Holly Mayer examines the motivations, experiences, and contributions of the merchants, officials, spouses and family members who followed the American forces on campaigns and provided services for the troops. She concentrates on the role of women in the communities that developed among camp followers and soldiers.
Pancake, John S. This Destructive War: The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1782. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1985.
John Pancake details the southern campaigns of the American Revolution, from the siege of Charlestown to the British defeat at Yorktown. The book emphasizes British decisions and failures, while examining both regular and partisan operations, as well as questions of strategy, politics, and the issue of American Loyalists.
Piecuch, Jim. Three Peoples, One King: Loyalists, Indians, and Slaves in the American Revolutionary South, 1775– 1782. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008.
Jim Piecuch argues that the British failed to understand the interests and tensions among their erstwhile Indian allies, as well as the agency of slaves. As a result the Crown relied primarily on white Loyalists in the American South, while failing to develop a policy that could better utilize the efforts of Indians and slaves in the British war effort.
Shy, John. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. Revised edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990.
A People Numerous and Armed is a collection of essays written by John Shy on the American Revolution. A blend of military, political and social history, Shy scrutinizes a number of topics that examine the Revolution’s impact upon the people and, conversely, popular participation in the war.
Taylor, Alan. The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution. New York: Random House, 2006.
This book contrasts the experiences of Mohawk chief Joseph Brandt and British missionary Samuel Kirkland during and after the American Revolution to discern the its effects on the various peoples inhabiting what became upstate New York, and surrounding areas.
Wood, Gordon S. The American Revolution: A History. New York: The Modern Library, 2002.
Arguably the best short overview of the broader phenomenon of the American Revolution, addressing both the imperial crisis that preceded the war and efforts to establish a new government thereafter. Wood also discusses the impact Republican ideology and other changes wrought by the Revolution on American society.
Expanded Bibliography
Babits, Lawrence E. A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Billias, George Athan, ed. George Washington's Generals and Opponents: Their Exploits and Leadership. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1994.
Bodle, Wayne K. Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.
Bowler, Arthur. Logistics and the Failure of the British Army in America, 1775–1783. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975.
Breen, T. H. American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People. New York: Hill and Wang, 2010.
Buel, Richard. Dear Liberty: Connecticut’s Mobilization for the Revolutionary War. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1980.
Callo, Joseph. John Paul Jones: America's First Sea Warrior. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006.
Carp, E. Wayne. To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.
Fowler, William M. Rebels Under Sail: The American Navy During the Revolution. New York: Scribner, 1976.
Frey, Sylvia R. Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Frey, Sylvia R. The British Soldier in America: A Social History of Military Life in the Revolutionary Period. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.
Higginbotham, Don. War and Society in Revolutionary America: The Wider Dimensions of Conflict. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988.
The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
Higginbotham, Don, ed. Reconsiderations on the Revolutionary War: Selected Essays. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978.
Huston, James A. Logistics of Liberty: American Services of Supply in the Revolutionary War and After. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1991.
Kennett, Lee B. The French Forces in America, 1780–1783. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977.
Lee, Wayne E. Crowds and Soldiers in Revolutionary North Carolina: The Culture of Violence in Riot and War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.
Lockhart, Paul. The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army. New York: Harper, 2010.
The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington. New York: Harper, 2011.
Logusz, Michael O. With Musket and Tomahawk: The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777, Vol. I.Oxford: Casemate Publishers, 2012.
Martin, James Kirby. A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789. Arlington Heights, IL: H. Davidson, 1982.
Mayer, Holly A. Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
Neimeyer, Charles Patrick. America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Nelson, James L. George Washington's Secret Navy: How the American Revolution Went to Sea. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Palmer, Dave Richard. The Way of the Fox: American Strategy in the War for America, 1775–1783. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975.
Patton, Robert H. Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution. New York: Pantheon, 2008.
Resch, John Phillips. Suffering Soldiers: Revolutionary War Veterans, Moral Sentiment, and Political Culture in the Early Republic. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.
Royster, Charles. A Revolutionary People at War: the Continental Army and American Character, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Shy, John W. Toward Lexington: The Role of the British Army in the Coming of the American Revolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.
Sosin, Jack M. The Revolutionary Frontier, 1763–1783. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967.
Spring, Matthew H. With Zeal and with Bayonets Only: The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775–1783. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008.
Taafe, Stephen R. The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777–1778. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
Thomas, Evan.John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Van Buskirk, Judith L. Generous Enemies: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Wright, Robert K. The Continental Army. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1983.
Annotated Weblinks
Site: Museum of the American Revolution
URL: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/
Description: A privately-funded website, the Museum of the American Revolution is unique in that it offers vignettes into people’s everyday lives before, during, and after the Revolution, complete with pictures of the objects that people used in their day-to-day routines. This website surveys the museum’s exhibits.
Site: Library of Congress, Maps and Charts of North American and West Indies, 1750-1789
URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/armhtml/armhome.html
Description: Contained on this website are links to the Library of Congress’s holdings of maps and charts pertaining to North America from 1750 to 1789. Some maps are digitized and can be accessed from this link.
Site: Archiving Early America’s Maps of Early America
URL: http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/maps/
Description: A site with images of historic maps, mostly pertaining to the American Revolution.
Site: Library of Congress, The Rochambeau Map Collection
URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rochambeau-maps/index.html
Description: This is a digitized map collection that Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau used when he served as commander in chief of the French expeditionary army between 1780-82. Housed in the Library of Congress, the maps show mostly Revolutionary-era military actions.
Site: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Military Journals of Two Private
Soldiers, 1758-1775
URL: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20636/20636-h/20636-h.htm
Description: In 1854, a man from Poughkeepsie, New York named Abraham Tomlinson published two journals that had come into his possession. The journals were from two soldiers, one who fought in the French and Indian War and the other in the American Revolution. On this site, you will find an e-book version of the journals. The Revolutionary War soldier’s journal pertains to the siege of Boston in 1775-76.
Site: University of Michigan’s Clements Library Online Exhibit, Spy Letters of the American Revolution
URL: https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/
Description: Spy craft is something attributed more to the twentieth century than the eighteenth, but visit the University of Michigan’s extremely detailed online exhibit Spy Letters of the American Revolution to see letters with invisible ink from the likes of George Washington (and how they did it).
Site: Massachusetts Historical Society
URL: http://www.masshist.org/revolution/index.html
Description: The Massachusetts Historical Society website offers a detailed look at the origins of the American Revolution. Divided topically, the website blends narrative history with a host of original documents.
Site: Fort Ticonderoga – Center for Digital History
URL: https://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn-and-explore/center-for-digital-history/
Description: This web page contains a wealth of resources for historical, archival, archeological, genealogical, and educational research on the fort that played critical roles in North American history from the 1600s to 1800s.