THE FIGHT
BATTLES, ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES, AND
FOREIGN AID
BATTLE OF QUEBEC
• some forces from Siege of Boston sent
through Maine to capture Quebec
• December 30-31, 1775, Blizzard
Conditions
• General Montgomery, Benedict
Arnold, & an inadequate force of
~1,675 Americans assaulted the
fortified city
• Met with complete defeat
• Colonists: Montgomery killed, 60 killed, 426
captured
• British: 5 killed, 13 wounded
• Significance: Attempt to win Canada
abandoned
BATTLE OF NEW YORK 1776
• Battle of Brooklyn
• August 22 - British land on
Long Island,
• Motive: New York City/control
of the Hudson would divide
the colonies in 1/2.
• August 27 - British ultimately
outflank Continental Army
• Howe failed to storm redoubts
• August 29 - GW ordered a
brilliant retreat to Manhattan
by boat
• Saved Army from Capture
• Americans: 1,000 casualties
• British loss of only 400 men.
BATTLE OF NEW YORK 1776
• Battle of Manhattan and White Plains
• Sept. 13 - Howe tried to trap GW from escaping
Manhattan, but GW was able to move North to
Harlem Heights.
• Sept 14 - brief skirmish at Harlem Heights - several
hundred British badly mauled by a CT regiment
• Oct. 12 – Tried again to attack GW, but caught
around Throgs Neck, GW escaped to White Plains
• Took Howe 10 days to arrive in White Plains.
• October 28th, British victory in White Plains, close
to capturing army
• Washington secretly withdrew to New Castle
• Significance: GW close to defeat, Soldiers:
enlistments up, tired, under fed/supplied
BATTLE OF TRENTON
• Video The Crossing
BATTLE OF PRINCETON 1777
• See Handout
BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE (ROAD TO
PHILLY)
• General Howe wanted to
capture Philly by attacking
North from Chesapeake
• Sept. 9th – outmaneuvered GW
due to better knowledge of
terrain
• GW and men not prepared,
fought until dusk
• Significance:
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Not an immediate moral loss
Straight road to Philly -> captured,
Congress abandoned Philly,
enlistments declined for time
being
ENCAMPMENT AT VALLEY FORGE
• Following British capture of Philly, GW selected camp located 18 miles
northwest of the city, a good choice
• Close enough to British to keep their raiding/foraging parties out of the interior PA
• far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks
• Mountains in area made easily defensible
• Problems at Valley Forge:
• Soldiers received irregular supplies of meat/bread, forced to look for food in
forests/farm fields too
• No support from Congress (dispersed)
• threats to his leadership - officers were unhappy
• Clothing destroyed/shortages
• Typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and pneumonia killed as many as 2,000
• "that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place... this
Army must inevitably... starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain
subsistence in the best manner they can." ~GW
BATTLE OF SARATOGA
• Despite recent victories, British were still
“winning”  wanted to finish off Colonists
• General Burgoyne concocted a plan to
invade New York from their base in Canada
and meet troops from NYC near Albany to
cut New England off
• Problems for British Plan:
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Untamed terrain – slowed advanced from
Canada greatly
Americans attacked supply mission in VT, cost
Britain 1000 men
Natives left British side
Main British Army not going to Join
• Despite this, Burgoyne refused to change his
plans
• Americans took advantage of delays to
establish positions along Hudson
• Late September - Early October 1777 –
colonists and British fought near Albany,
particularly in town of Saratoga
BATTLE OF SARATOGA CONT.
• Result: Burgoyne's army was broken. In mop-up operations 86
percent of Burgoyne's command was captured.
• Significance:
• Saratoga gave France the confidence in the American cause financial and military assistance to follow
• victory gave new life to the American cause at a critical time.
Americans had just suffered a major setback the Battle of the
Brandywine along with news of the fall of Philadelphia to the British.
• US not divided in 1/2
Colonial Strengths
Colonial Weaknesses
Familiar with home ground
Many soldiers untrained and not
disciplined
Leadership – GW and officers
Shortages of food and ammunition
Inspiring Cause - Independence
Inferior Navy
Help from foreign nations – France,
Spain
No Central Gov to enforce wartime
policies
Limited Funds
British Strengths
British Weaknesses
Strong well trained army & navy
Large distance from battles to Britain
Strong Central Gov. with available
funds
Troops unfamiliar with the Terrain
Support of Loyalists and Native
Americans
Weak military leaders
Reasons for French Interests in
Colonial Fight

Defeated British
would help restore
some of France’s
former prestige

Interested in ideas of
Liberty
French Participation

Early On - Secretly aided Colonists with firearms and
gun powder

After Saratoga – feared reconciliation and eventual
take over of French West Indies

France provided them with guns, $, equipment, forces,
and almost all of their navy

Britain could no longer easily blockade colonial coasts

France and Colonies signed Treaty of Alliance
– Promised Colonists independence
– Colonists wary of alliance with Catholic country
Other Support

Spain and Holland entered
against Britain
– Spain saw as opportunity to
regain after 1763
– Spain’s money helped secure
colonial money

Other “neutral” countries in
Europe who were sick of
Britain’s dominance of sea
created state of passive
hostility

Britain struggling to hold on to
other world possessions
BATTLE OF MONMOUTH
• Britain evacuating Philly, led by Sir Henry
Clinton , marched toward Sandy Hook
• June 27th 1778 - GW ordered Charles Lee
to advance attack the British rear  he
was surprised by arrival of British rear
guard who were left behind to cover the
rear
• Lee did not really sure what to do,
retreated, did not tell GW
• GW arrived surprised to find his forces
retreating disorderly
• He immediately rallied troops and
battled British
• Cornwallis ultimately fell back, withdrew
undetected at night, marched out to
surprise of Americans the next morning
BATTLE OF MONMOUTH CONT.
• Result:
• Washington proved he could fight against the regulars
w/out surprise
• British able to continue to Sandy Hook
• Both lost 350 men
• Last battle of 2 main armies, fighting shifts to South
Phase III: The Southern
Strategy [1780-1781]
British Motives for
Moving to South
Britain thought more Loyalists
in South, overestimated.
Southern resources were more
valuable/worth preserving.
BATTLE OF SAVANNAH
• Despite leaving North open to attack by GW, send 8,500 troops to
Savannah that arrive from NY at Tybee Island, GA – march with forces
there to Savannah
• As British forces attack the locals flee in Late December 1778
• American forces of only 700 men, under General Robert Howe make
feeble attempt to defend  Little Continentals can do, orderly retreat,
leaving Savannah to the British oppressors.
• Allies attempt to regain city with French allies, but ultimately fail and
abandon attempt on Oct 9, 1779
• Losses: American casualties - 83 men, 450 captured, all artillery ; British 9
men KIA, 4 wounded.
• Significance:
•
British entered the South to look for loyalist support. Many believe that this was the
biggest mistake that Cornwallis had made as a General.
Problems with Britain’s
“Southern Strategy”
The British won a #of victories, but
cannot pacify the countryside, increased
support for Patriots
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Slaves
VA
Unable to live off land like Patriots
Loyalists feared Patriot reprisals
Guerilla Warfare
Burnt Towns along way
Good US General: Nathanial Greene
• Used multiple small armies to attack