Timeline of American Revolutionary War Battles Quiz

On April 19, 1775, British troops from Boston set out to destroy colonial supplies and capture their leaders. They were met by American militia units and, at Lexington, the first shots were fired. The shooting war had now begun.

At the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on June 17, 1775 during the Siege of Boston, British troops assaulted on American redoubt on the Charlestown Peninsula, which overlooked Boston Harbor. The British suffered heavy casualties, but ultimately drove the American forces off of the hill.

After the British left Boston, General Washington placed his army to defend New York City. On August 27, 1776, British troops under General Howe outflanked and routed the Americans, who retreated to Manhattan Island. This was the largest battle of the war.

On Christmas night 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River and attacked the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey, the next morning. Achieving almost complete surprise, the Americans overwhelmed the Hessians, who then surrendered. The victory boosted the patriot cause after a string of defeats.

After victory at Trenton, General Washington crossed back into New Jersey and attacked an outlying British garrison at Princeton on January 3, 1777. After defeating the British troops defending the town, Washington evaded pursuit and crossed back into Pennsylvania and went into winter camp.

During the Siege of Fort Stanwix (August 2-23, 1777), which was the western arm of the Saratoga campaign, a force of American militia was ambushed at Oriskany Creek on August 6, 1777, by a mixed force of Native Americans and Loyalists. The Americans retreated after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Seeking to end the war by cutting New England off from the other colonies, British General John Burgoyne led an army south from Canada to capture Albany, New York. Defeats at Bennington on August 16, 1777, and Bemis Heights on October 7, 1777, led to Burgoyne's surrender on October 17, 1777.

General Washington deployed his army along Brandywine Creek, southwest of the American capital, Philadelphia. On September 11, 1777, British General Howe sent a force to attack Washington's front line, then outflanked the Americans and attacked their rear. The Americans retreated, and Howe occupied Philadelphia.

After occupying Philadelphia, British General Howe garrisoned most of his troops in the outlying area called Germantown. On October 4, 1777, the Americans attacked at four separate points, hoping to outflank the British position. The attacks were uncoordinated, fog hindered the troops, and the Americans were defeated.

With the news of France entering the war on the American side, the British decided to abandon Philadelphia. While marching to the coast to be evacuated by the Royal Navy, the British were attacked by the Americans at Monmouth, New Jersey, on June 28, 1778. Fought in extreme heat, the battle was a draw, and the British Army retreated to New York.

A British force, landing near Savannah, Georgia on December 23, 1778, attacked the weakly defended city on December 29 and routed the American defenders. This operation was the beginning of British efforts to recover the southern colonies, which were thought to be more loyal to the Crown. A Franco-American attack on the city in 1779 was unsuccessful.

A British force of some 13,000 men laid siege to Charleston, South Carolina, beginning on April 1, 1780. Methodically cutting the city off from any hope of relief or escape, British General Clinton rejected a request for terms from American General Lincoln on April 21. Lincoln surrendered almost 5,000 men unconditionally on May 12, 1780, one of the largest American defeats of the war.

General Horatio Gates, the newly appointed commander of the Southern Continental Army, resolved to retake the town of Camden, South Carolina. The British commander, Lord Cornwallis, met Gates outside of the town on August 16, 1780. American militia units broke and ran in the face of a bayonet attack, and the Continental regulars were forced to retreat.

On January 17, 1781, a small force of Americans under General Daniel Morgan was attacked by a pursuing British force commanded by Colonel Banastre Tarleton near Cowpens, in northwestern South Carolina. Tarleton's men charged the American center, which gave way, but then the American flanks enveloped and surrounded the British, destroying Tarleton's force.

In the last major battle of the war, a combined French and American force of some 18,000 troops surrounded a British army of 9,000 men in the Virginia coastal town of Yorktown. Beginning on September 28, 1781, and with the French fleet preventing escape or reinforcement, the allied troops wore down the British defenses, forcing Cornwallis to surrender on October 19, 1781.

The battle convinced the British to negotiate an end to the war.