Illustration of George Rogers Clark's march to Vincennes, 1779

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Battles during the Revolution

• Lexington and Concord (1775)
• Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)
• Saratoga (1777)
• Valley Forge (1777-1778)
• Yorktown (1781)

Cross-Link: African Americans During the American Revolution

 Cross-Link: Women during the American Revolution

• Sybil Ludington
• Margaret Corbin
• Betsy Dowdy

 Women in the American Revolution: On the Homefront and on the Battlefield from the American Battlefield Trust details roles women played that contributed to the success of the Continental Army's success in ways that were not on the battlefield.

Focus Question: How did major battles impact the course of the war for American and British troops?

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis 1781 (French Engraving, 1784)

Revolutionary War timeline from the National Park Service.

• American Revolution Interactives (1775 to 1783) from teachinghistory.org at Ashland University.

• Major Battles of the American Revolution.

 Lesson Plan on Emanuel Leutze's famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware, with a podcast narration from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Mission US: A Revolutionary Way to Learn History from Channel 13 and PBS is a multimedia project featuring free interactive adventure games set in different eras of U.S. history.

• The first game, Mission 1: "For Crown or Colony?," puts the player in the shoes of Nat Wheeler, a 14-year-old printer's apprentice in 1770 Boston.

 Images of the Revolutionary War, from the National Archives. Includes a lot of great images of prelude to war, victory in the south, important figures, and shots from both perspectives.

Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775)

The battles of Lexington and were the first major battles of the Revolutionary War and were known as "the shot heard round the world." This was the first time American and British troops met in battle. The British had planned to move into Concord to seize American troops' military supplies.

Battles of Lexington and Concord | Britannica 

Watch a Reenactment of the Battle of Lexington! 

Patriots' Day 2022 - The Battle of Lexington Reenactment (April 18th, 2022)

Primary Source: Concord Hymn 

By Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept;

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,

To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

The shaft we raise to them and thee.

• This poem, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, is about the first shots of the revolution fired during the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
• The poem seeks to capture the volatile period leading up to the revolution and the mood surrounding the first battles against the British.
• It is from this poem that we get the famous line referring to the shot that began the revolution- “the shot heard around the world”.  

5 Myths about the Start of the Revolutionary War, National Constitution Center

However, the American troops were expecting the British after having been warned by Paul Revere and other riders (see Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). It was a decisive, yet unexpected victory for the American troops.

Biography of Isaac Davis

Isaac Davis was a Puritan Gunsmith and the elected Captain of Acton's Company of Minutemen during the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Due to his trade, his company was the best equipped unit among the American forces and were therefore placed at the front lines. Davis was among the first to die in the battle.

Battle of Bunker Hill: June 17, 1775

The Battle of Bunker Hill was another Massachusetts battle. It was in the village of Charlestown on June 17, 1775.

• The battle wasn't fought on Bunker Hill but on Breed's Hill which was a neighboring hill.

 Here for a lesson plan on the Battle of Bunker Hill from the National Park Service.

Short clip summarizing the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Valley Forge

Valley Forge was a decisive battle in the war that took place in the Pennsylvania area know as Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78.

• General George Washington and his troops had to camp at the site for the whole winter. That winter was very harsh with little food or shelter for all the troops.

• The British gave up trying to advance into the camp and returned to Philadelphia.

• To learn more, see Valley Forge Encampment: A Winter of Suffering from the National Park Service.

History Channel Special on Valley Forge

Excerpts from the Diary of a Surgeon at Valley Forge

Conditions at Valley Forge

Yorktown

• Yorktown was the last major battle in the American war for freedom. The battle started in August of 1781. General Cornwallis of Britain wanted to make the village of Yorktown, VA a navel base.

• On Oct. 19th 1781 General Cornwallis surrendered to the American forces at Yorktown.

Liberty! The Road to Revolution is an interactive game for students to test their knowledge of the Revolution from PBS.

Other Key Revolutionary War Battles

• The Battle of Saratoga took place in upstate New York in 1777.

• During the battle the British tried to take over three locations that had American troops. This however failed causing one major branch of the British army to give up.

Image IDs from left to right

1. Battle at the North Bridge Wikimedia Commons, "North Bridge Fight".
2. Battle of Bunker Hill Wikimedia Commons, "Battle of bunker hill by percy moran".
3. Valley Forge Wikimedia Commons, "Washington and Lafayette".