THE AMERICAN WAR OF

INDEPENDENCE, 1775-83

(Right) The 2nd South Carolina Regiment holds Fort Moultrie in the

face of a British naval attack on Charleston, South Carolina, June

28, 1776.

THE AMERICAN WAR OF

INDEPENDENCE: THE THEATER

OF WAR

A BRITISH SHOW OF FORCE, 1774-75In 1774, the British attempted to intimidate malcontents in Massachusetts by placing the colony under martial law and stationing 4,000 Redcoats in Boston. The British garrison

included these light infantry officers from the 4th Regiment of Foot (left) and the 10th Regiment of Foot (right).

A TAX PROTEST TURNS TO REBELLIONMassachusetts militia and British light infantry exchange shots on Lexington Green at

dawn, April 19, 1775.

THE AMERICAN WAR OF

INDEPENDENCE: THE THEATER

OF WAR

A REBELLION TURNS INTO A WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE

In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress (below) adopted a declaration that proclaimed the Thirteen Colonies were now free and independent states.

(Right) The Declaration of Independence is read to an enthusiastic crowd in a

colonial city.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: THE ROYAL NAVYThe British Navy began the Revolutionary War with 270 warships, including

many ships of the line (18th century battleships), like the 104-gun HMS Victory.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: THE ROYAL NAVY

(Below) The gun deck on the HMS Victory.(Right) A British gun crew in action.

Nothing that the Patriots could put to sea could match the firepower of a British ship of the line. Consequently, the Continental Navy had to resort to commerce raiding rather than challenge the Royal Navy for control of the seas.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: THE ROYAL NAVYNaval supremacy allowed the British to land their troops anywhere along the American

coast at will, while the Patriots, forced to rely on America’s inadequate road network, could not move Continental forces fast enough to check these invasions.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: THE

ROYAL NAVY

The long American coastline was vulnerable

to British amphibious operations.

BRITISH HANDICAP:A DIVIDED POPULACE

• The unpopularity of the War of Independence at home inhibited the British Army’s recruiting efforts.

• Consequently, the British hired 30,000 troops from various German princes to serve in North America.

• The Patriots labeled these “Hessians” as barbarous mercenaries, and their use turned many colonists against the British cause.

• The soldier at right is a private from the Hesse Hanau Regiment Erbprinz, circa 1777.

BRITISH ERROR: MISHANDLING THE LOYALISTSTwo British officers who overcame their anti-American prejudices and formed two highly

efficient Loyalist military units were Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe of the Queen’s Rangers (left) and Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton of the British Legion

(right).

BRITISH ERROR: MISHANDLING THE LOYALISTSContemporary views of personnel from the Queen’s Rangers. Under John Graves Simcoe, these green-garbed troops delighted in setting ambushes for their Rebel foes. The British

Army erred in not raising as many Loyalist units as it could when the Revolution started.

BRITISH ERROR:MISHANDLING THE

LOYALISTS

• A rifleman of the Queen’s Rangers. The Patriots were not the only ones to employ these long-range weapons to harass their enemies.

• The Queen’s Rangers was one of the few Loyalist units that the British Army allowed to engage in extensive combat.

• Most other Loyalist units were consigned to garrison duty, which made them feel mistrusted and sapped their morale.

BRITISH HANDICAP:

GEOGRAPHY -- AMERICA’S SIZE

AND DEMOGRAPHICS

This map of the Thirteen Colonies shows the

distribution of America’s population in 1775. A

rural people, the colonists were able to continue

resistance even after the British seized some of their most important

cities.

BRITISH HANDICAP: FRENCH INTERVENTIONYearning for revenge for previous defeats, France funneled military aid to the Patriots

beginning early in the Revolution. With the Patriot victory at Saratoga, the ministers of King Louis XVI (left) decided France should enter the war as an ally of the young United

States and send French regulars (right) to fight in North America.

BRITISH ERROR: DIVIDED COMMANDIn 1777, General William Howe (left) decided to capture Philadelphia, rather than

cooperate with General John Burgoyne (right), who was leading a British army south from Canada along the Hudson River. Consequently, the Patriots were able

to trap Burgoyne at Saratoga and compel his surrender.

BRITISH ERROR: DIVIDED COMMANDGeneral Sir Henry Clinton (left) tried to micro-manage the campaigns that Lord Charles Cornwallis (right) conducted in Virginia in 1781. Eventually, Clinton ordered Cornwallis, who was conducting effective mobile operations, to take

refuge at Yorktown, where the latter was trapped by a French fleet and Franco-American army.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: A STANDING ARMYThe British started the Revolution with a small but well-trained regular army. British

Redcoats were the fastest musketmen in Europe, able to fire three to four shots in a minute.

BRITISH ADVANTAGE: A

STANDING ARMY

• From the start of the Revolution to the end, Great Britain’s superbly disciplined infantry took pride in its willingness to close with the enemy with the bayonet.

• Washington’s Continentals did not master the bayonet until they came under the tutelage of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78.

• WASHINGTON’S CONTINETALS, 1781: AN IDEALIZED VIEW

• A recent U.S. Army print showing General George Washington’s 1779 uniform regulations. A lieutenant from New York or New Jersey (foreground) strides past an artilleryman. Infantry from New England stand in the left background, and infantry from Pennsylvania, Maryland, or Virginia stand to the right.

• WASHINGTON’S CONTINENTALS, 1783: AN IDEALIZED VIEW

• General George Washington bestows the newly created “Badge of Merit” on a New England infantryman. A light dragoon from New England (at right) proudly wears the same award.

• In the background are musicians from a regiment from New York or New Jersey.

WASHINGTON’S CONTINENTALS: THE REALITY

As seen in this view of the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, June 28, 1778, Washington’s regulars often wore fringed hunting shirts and civilian garments in place of European-style uniforms.

WASHINGTON’S CONTINENTALS: THE REALITYAn eyewitness sketch by a French officer who fought at Yorktown shows (left to right) a

black private of the Rhode Island Regiment, a white soldier from an unidentified regiment, a rifleman in his fringed hunting shirt, and an artilleryman.

CONTINENTAL UNIFORMS,

1777-80(Left to right) Private,

2nd South Carolina Regiment, 1777-80;

Private, 5th Pennsylvania Regiment, 1780;

Sergeant, 2nd Connecticut Regiment, 1777; Private, George Rogers Clark’s Illinois

Regiment, 1780

CONTINENTAL ELITES:

RIFLEMEN AND LIGHT

INFANTRY(Left to right) Private, Morgan’s Rifle Corps,

1777; Private, Light Infantry Company, 2nd

Virginia Regiment, 1779; Sergeant, Corps of Light

Infantry (Lafayette’s Light Division), 1781

A RESPECTABLE ARMY AT LAST

Continental light infantry and pioneers storm a British redoubt at

Yorktown, October 14, 1781.

After the Valley Forge encampment, 1777-78, Washington’s Continentals took pride in their ability to successfully engage their foes with the bayonet.

PATRIOT MILITIA IN ACTION:LEXINGTON GREEN, APRIL 19, 1775

Contrary to this National Guard print, the Lexington militia broke and fled at the first British volley.

PATRIOT MILITIA IN ACTION: BREED’S HILL, JUNE 17, 1775

Fighting from behind stout field works, New England militiamen stood their ground and held off two British assaults, retreating before a third only after their ammunition gave out.

PATRIOT MILITIA IN ACTION: BREED’S HILLPoorly trained and often unequipped with bayonets, militiamen could rarely hold their own

against British regulars at close quarters.

GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON:

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY’S

INDISPENSABLE COMMANDER-IN-

CHIEF, 1775-83Washington is seen here in his

customary blue and buff uniform shortly after taking command of the Continental Army outside of Boston in July 1775. To

the left stands an aid in a brown coat and to the right stands Major General Artemas Ward, former commander of

the New England Army.

GEORGE WASHINGTON:

A PORTRAIT FROM LIFE

This 1780 portrait by John Trumbull shows Washington in

his prime as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The African American at right is

William Lee, Washington’s slave, who served as his servant faithful companion throughout the war.

A BRITISH HOST DESCENDS ON NEW YORK

Some of the officers and men of the huge army of 32,000 Redcoats and Hessians that General William Howe assembled to take New York in the summer of

1776.

DISASTER ON LONG ISLAND, AUGUST 27, 1776The Delaware Regiment, one of the few Continental units to give a good account of itself in

the New York Campaign, attempts to delay the advancing Redcoats and Hessians in the battle that began four months of defeat and retreat for George Washington’s Main Army.

A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN STRATEGY

Thwarted in his efforts to save New York City from the British, Washington

adopted a strategy of harassment that would make it impossible for his

opponents to disperse their troops sufficiently to control the American

countryside.

WASHINGTON’S TARGETS AT TRENTON

(Left) A soldiers of the Grenadier Regiment Rall and a fusilier from the

Regiment von Lossberg. (Below) Feld Jaegers, elite Hessian riflemen.

WASHINGTON CROSSES THE DELAWARE, DECEMBER 25-26, 1776

Emanuel Leutze’s 19th century painting is not very accurate, but it certainly captures the indomitable spirit that George Washington displayed during the campaign.

TRENTON, DECEMBER 26, 1776General George Washington and his ragged Continentals overrun a Hessian gun.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, DECEMBER 26, 1776Captain Alexander Hamilton’s Company of New York Artillery fires down a street

crowded with confused Hessians during General George Washington’s surprise attack.

PATRIOT MILITIA IN ACTION:BENNINGTON, AUGUST 17, 1777

With stealth, deceit, and raw courage, 2,000 New England militia overran a foraging expedition of 800 Hessians, Redcoats, Loyalists, and Indians in a battle that helped turn the

tide in the decisive Saratoga Campaign.

VICTORY AT SARATOGAContinental infantry and riflemen maul the British at the Battle of Freeman’s Farm,

October 7, 1777. The Continentals succeeded in this campaign because of the support they received from Patriot militia.

MAKING THE BEST USE OF THE

PATRIOT MILITIA:THREE BATTLES IN THE SOUTH,

1780-81

THE OPPOSING COMMANDERS AT CAMDEN(Left) Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis.

(Right) Major General Horatio Gates.

BRITISH LIGHT INFANTRYMAN, 1777-81By 1777, British troops in America had discarded the spit and polish fashions of the

European parade ground and adapted both their clothing and their tactics to conditions in North America.

BRITISH ARMY COMBAT DRESS,

1776-83• A contemporary portrait of

Lieutenant Thomas Dowdeswell, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, who served in the Thirteen Colonies from the summer of 1776 until July 1777.

• Dowdeswell’s coat is stripped of the extravagant gold lace prescribed for officers of his regiment, and he trusts to a fusil (musket) to protect himself in North America’s wooded terrain rather than the British line officer’s traditional spontoon (short pike) and sword.

• MAJOR GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE

• Washington’s most trusted lieutenant.

• Took command of the Southern Department following the Camden disaster.

• A poor tactician, but a brilliant and resilient strategist

THE OPPOSING COMMANDERS AT

COWPENS(Left) Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton,

young, aggressive, and impulsive.(Below) Brigadier General Daniel Morgan in

the frontier uniform he wore commanding Continental riflemen earlier in the war.

COWPENS, JANUARY 17, 1781

(Left) A map of the battlefield.

(Below) A company officer from a British fusilier regiment, like Tarleton’s 7th Regiment of Foot.

TARLETON PREPARES FOR THE KILLTarleton’s troops reached the Cowpens battlefield hungry and exhausted, but they were

confident of victory. (Below) Highlanders of the 71st Regiment of Foot deployed for battle.

COWPENS, JANUARY 17, 1781The 3rd Continental Light Dragoons and militia cavalrymen rout the British 17th Light

Dragoons and Loyalist troopers of the British Legion.

COWPENS, JANUARY 17, 1781Morgan’s counterattacking militia overrun the 71st Fraser’s Highlanders on Tarleton’s left

flank. Last-minute militia reinforcements probably raised Morgan’s numbers closer to 2,000, a fact he concealed for propaganda purposes to increase the impact of his victory.

COWPENS, JANUARY 17, 1781Colonel John Eager Howard’s Maryland Continentals overrun Lieutenant Colonel

Banastre Tarleton’s 7th Regiment of Foot.

GUILFORD COURTHOUSE, MARCH 15, 1781Major General Nathanael Greene deploys the North Carolina militia in the first of

his three lines.

GUILFORD COURTHOUSE, MARCH 15, 1781Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis commits his outnumbered army

against Greene’s first line.

GUILFORD COURTHOUSE, MARCH

15, 1781

Maryland Continentals in Greene’s third line check advancing British infantry while the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons counterattack.

BAYONET TO BAYONET AT GUILFORD COURTHOUSE, MARCH 15, 1781

Maryland Continentals and a crack battalion of British Foot Guards engage in a savage hand-to-hand melee that marked the climax in the fight along Greene’s third line.

Although the Redcoats were beaten back, Greene withdrew his troops from the field, leaving Cornwallis to claim an empty victory.

BAYONET TO

BAYONET

British Foot Guards and Maryland Continentals melee in the final phase of the Battle of Guilford Court House.

VICTORY AT YORKTOWN

This 1784 Charles Willson Peale portrait captures Washington at the scene of his greatest triumph – the siege that broke the British will to continue the war against American independence. In the background, soldiers of the combined Franco-American army parade with their

colors – the Stars and Stripes of the young United States and the white banner with golden fleur-de-lis of

Bourbon France.

THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH AIDIt took the assistance of a French army under the Comte de Rochambeau (left) and a

French fleet to allow George Washington to trap Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.