The Battles of the American Revolution

Presenter:Dr. Kevin Gannon

Grand View University

War is the continuati

on of politics by

other means.

Carl von Clausewitz(1780-1831)

The Military Context• Styles of Warfare: European and

American–Myth of “Indian style” and the militia– Ideological fears of a “standing army”

• The Structure of the Army– “Regulars” and militia– The problems of recruitment and supply

The Balance Sheet• British Advantages– largest army and navy in the western

world– professional, trained, experienced forces– funding and logistics– the Loyalists

• American Advantages– ideological cohesion–motivating factors– home-field advantage– ability to play defense

Phase 1: Before Independence

• An improvised war• Boston & the insurgent countryside,

1774-1775• Lexington & Concord, April 19

Turning Point: Bunker (Breed’s) Hill, June 17, 1775

Phase 1: Before Independence

• Washington takes command– The difficulties of the army– Boston under siege–Henry Knox’s cannons

• The Evacuation of Boston

• On to New York–Howe’s logic

Phase 2: The British Dictate Terms

• Independence and the Importance of the Continental Army

• The New York Campaign, August-November 1776

• Retreat and Survive

Turning Point: Trenton and Princeton(Dec. 26 and Jan. 3)

Washington crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze, 1851

Phase 2: The British Dictate Terms

• “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne and his strategy

• William Howe’s Freelancing• Philadelphia Falls– Brandywine Creek, Sept. 11, 1777– Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777

General John

Burgoyne

General Horatio Gates

Phase 2: The British Dictate Terms

• The Saratoga Campaign– Burgoyne’s mistakes– Jane McCrea, the Colonists, and the

Iroquois

Turning Point: Surrender at Saratoga– “Granny” Horatio Gates and Benedict

Arnold– Political and Diplomatic Ramifications

Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold at Bemis Heights [Saratoga Campaign]

The Northern Theater after Saratoga

• Shaking up the British Command: Sir Henry Clinton replaces Howe

• The Continentals at Valley Forge–Washington’s real accomplishment• “To starve the army at pleasure”• Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster

General– Von Steuben’s professionalization

campaign• Monmouth Courthouse, June 28,

1778• Dancing around New York City

Phase 3: Britain Moves South

• The British Southern Strategy–Why the Carolinas?

• Early successes– Savannah captured, Dec. 1778

• The overseas interregnum

Phase 3: Britain Moves South

• American Nadir: The Siege and Fall of Charleston– Lincoln’s surrender, May 12, 1780– Banastre “Bloody” Tarleton

• The Waxhaws massacre• Cornwallis and the counterinsurgency:

Civil War in Carolina• The disastrous command of Horatio

Gates– The debacle at Camden, August 16, 1780

Charles, Lord Cornwallis

Phase 3: Britain Moves South

• Partisan Warfare– Loyalist militia vs. Patriot militia and

the “over-the-mountain-men”– Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion

• Nathanael Greene takes command

Turning Point: King’s Mountain, October 17, 1780

General Nathanael

Greene

Phase 3: Britain Moves South

• Cowpens, January 17, 1781– Greene defies conventional wisdom– Daniel Morgan solves the militia

problem

• The Race to the Dan– Thaddeus Kosciuszko– Cornwallis burns his chances

General DanielMorgan

Phase 4: Endgame• Guilford Court House, March 15,

1781• Cornwallis moves to Yorktown-and

waits

• Washington moves South-reluctantly– Rochambeau and Lafayette

• Eutaw Springs (SC), September 8, 1781– The final collapse of the southern

strategy

Washington & Rochambeau

Phase 4: Endgame• The siege and battle of Yorktown– Cornwallis surrenders, October 19,

1781

• The last battles of the Revolutionary War–Would you believe Cuddalore?

Cuddalore

The Revolution’slast battle

Conclusions• The Revolutionary War as a civil war– Remembering the losers

• The importance of international assistance

• Britain’s Vietnam?– Assessing the tactical outcome

• The legacy of the battlefield: the Revolutionary War and the American Revolution