| Valley forge | the site in Pennsylvania where the Continental army spent the winter of 1777–1778 under extremely harsh conditions. |
| Battle of Ney York | brothers: General William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe, joined forces on Staten Island. *They sailed into New York harbor in the summer of 1776 with the largest British expeditionary force ever assembled—32,000 soldiers. *Their force included thousands of German mercenarie, or soldiers who fight solely for money. |
| Hessians | soldiers who fight solely for money |
| Meanwhile for the colonists | *George Washington had begun to recruit and train a militia when tensions first arose with the British. *Washington rallied 23,000 men to New York’s defense, but he was vastly outnumbered. (Most of his troops were untrained recruits with poor equipment.) *The battle for New York ended in late August with an American retreat following heavy losses. Michael Graham, a Continental army volunteer, described the chaotic withdrawal on August 27, 1776. |
| Results of the Ney York war | Defeat for (colonists) By late fall, the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. *majority of Washington’s men had either deserted or had been killed or captured. Fewer than 8,000 men remained under Washington’s command * Washington desperately needed some kind of victory * |
| Battle of Trenton | Victory for colonists On Christmas night 1776 Washington led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River and marched to Trenton, New Jersey.*It was held by the Hessians but because they were drinking they were sleeping so the Americans took it by a surprise attack and killed 30 of the enemy and took 918 captives and six Hessian cannons. The Americans were rallied by another astonishing victory eight days later against 1,200 British stationed at Princeton and marched into winter camp near Morristown, in northern New Jersey. |
| Trenton | important battle site of the American Revolution where American forces killed 30 of the enemy and took 918 captives and 6 Hessian cannons in a surprise attack. |
| The fight for Philadelphia | In 1777 General Howe began his campaign to seize the American capital at Philadelphia.
*His troops sailed from New York to the head of Chesapeake Bay, and landed near the capital in late August.
*The Continental Congress fled the city but Washington’s troops unsuccessfully tried to block the redcoats at nearby Brandywine Creek.
*The British captured Philadelphia, and the pleasure-loving General Howe settled in to enjoy the hospitality of the city’s grateful Loyalists. |
| Battle of Saratoga | Meanwhile, John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne, convinced the London high command to allow him to to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany. *There he would meet Howe’s troops as they arrived from New York City. According to Burgoyne’s plan, the two generals would then join forces to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. *His food supplies ran low. *The Continental Congress had appointed General Horatio Gates to command the Northern Department of the Continental army. *Gates gathered militiamen and soldiers from all over New York and New England. *Burgoyne lost several hundred men every time his forces clashed with the Americans *Even worse, Burgoyne didn’t realize that Howe was preoccupied with conquering and occupying Philadelphia and wasn’t coming to meet him. |
| Saratoga | Massed American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates on October 17, 1777.
*The surrender at Saratoga dramatically changed Britain’s war strategy. From that time on, the British generally kept their troops along the coast, close to the big guns and supply bases of the British fleet. |
| The French join | Because the french were Britains worst enemy and were bitter by the French and Inian war they joined the Americans
*To begin the American–French alliance, the French had secretly sent weapons to the Patriots since early 1776.
*The Saratoga victory bolstered French trust in the American army. France now agreed to support the Revolution.
*The French recognized American independence and signed an alliance, or treaty of cooperation, with the Americans in February 1778. According to the terms, France agreed not to make peace with Britain unless Britain also recognized American independence. |
| Winter at valley Forge | While waiting for the French to arrive because Britain controlled new York and New england the Americans had to stay in Valley Forge
(Pennsylvania) where they struggled to stay alive amidst bitter cold and primitive conditions at winter camp
*The soldiers lived in makeshift huts and tents, which provided little protection from the cold. Soldiers suffered from exposure and frostbite.
*Surgeons like Albigense Waldo worked constantly but often unsuccessfully to save arms and legs from amputation. Of the 10,000 soldiers who braved wind, snow, and hunger at Valley Forge that winter, more than 2,000 died. |
| Financing the War | When the Congress ran out of hard currency—silver and gold—it borrowed money by selling bonds to American investors and foreign governments, especially France.
* It also printed paper money called Continentals. As Congress printed more and more money, its value plunged, causing rising prices, or inflation.
*The Congress also struggled to equip the beleaguered army. With few munitions factories and the British navy blockading the coast, the Americans had to smuggle arms from Europe.
*Some government officials engaged in profiteering, Corrupt merchants either hoarded goods or sold defective merchandise like spoiled meat, cheap shoes, and defective weapons. |
| Inflation | an increase in prices or decline in purchasing power caused by an increase in the supply of money. |
| Profiteering | the selling of goods in short supply at inflated prices. |
| Congress acts | *Congress appointed a rich Philadelphia merchant named Robert Morris as superintendent of finance. His associate was Haym Salomon, a Jewish political refugee from Poland. *Morris and Salomon begged and borrowed on their personal credit to raise money to provide salaries for the Continental army. *They raised funds from many sources, including Philadelphia’s Quakers and Jews. Due to the efforts of Morris and Salomon, on September 8, 1781, the troops were finally paid in specie, or gold coin. |
| Civilians at war | When men marched off to fight, many wives had to manage farms, shops, and businesses as well as households and families.
* Some women, such as Benjamin Franklin’s daughter, Sarah Franklin Bache of Philadelphia, organized volunteers to mend clothing for the soldiers.
*Many women made ammunition from their household silver. And hundreds of women followed their husbands to the battlefield, where they washed, mended, and cooked for the troops. |
| Women at war | Some women risked their lives in combat.
* A few, such as 21-year-old Deborah Sampson, disguised themselves as men and became soldiers in the Continental army.
*At Fort Washington, New York, Margaret Corbin replaced a gunner who was shot and then was shot herself.
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly took her husband’s place at a cannon when he was wounded at the Battle of Monmouth. Known for carrying pitchers of water to the soldiers, McCauly won the nickname “Molly Pitcher.” Afterward, General Washington made her a noncommissioned officer for her brave deeds. |
| Africans and natives | Thousands of African American slaves escaped to freedom. Some went to the cities, where they passed as free people. Others went to the frontier, where they sometimes joined Native American tribes.
*About 5,000 African Americans served in the Continental army, where their courage, loyalty, and talent impressed white Americans.
*Native Americans remained on the fringes of the Revolution. Some fought for the British, but most Native Americans remained apart from the conflict. |
