Timeline of the Revolutionary War
1754-1763 |
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|---|---|
| The French and Indian War | |
1754 |
|
| June 19-July 11 | The Albany Congress |
1763 |
|
| Oct. 7 | Proclamation of 1763 |
1764 |
|
| April 5 | The Sugar Act |
| September 1 | The Currency Act |
1765 |
|
| March 22 | The Stamp Act |
| March 24 | The Quartering Act of 1765 |
| May 29 | Patrick Henry‘s “If This Be Treason” speech |
| May 30 | The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions |
| Oct. 7-25 | The Stamp Act Congress |
1766 |
|
| March 18 | The Declaratory Act |
1767 |
|
| June 29 | The Townshend Revenue Act |
1768 |
|
| August 1 | Boston Non-Importation Agreement |
1770 |
|
| March 5 | The Boston Massacre |
1772 |
|
| June 9 | The Gaspee Affair |
1773 |
|
| May 10 | The Tea Act |
| Dec. 16 | The Boston Tea Party |
1774 |
|
| March 31 | Boston Port Act, one of the “Intolerable Acts“ |
| May 20 | Administration of Justice Act, one of the “Intolerable Acts“ |
| May 20 | Massachusetts Government Act, one of the “Intolerable Acts“ |
| June 2 | Quartering Act of 1774, one of the “Intolerable Acts“ |
| June 22 | Quebec Act, one of the “Intolerable Acts“ |
| Sept. 5-Oct. 26 | The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia and issues Declaration and Resolves |
| Oct. 10 | Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia (disputed as to whether it was a battle of the American Revolution or the culmination of Lord Dunmore’s War) |
| Oct. 20 | The Association (prohibition of trade with Great Britain) |
| Oct. 24 | Galloway’s Plan rejected |
1775 |
|
| Apr. 18 | The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes |
| Apr. 19 | Minutemen and redcoats clash at Lexington and Concord “The shot heard ’round the world.” |
| May 10 | Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga |
| May 10 | The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia |
| June 15 | George Washington named Commander in Chief |
| June 17 | Battle of Bunker Hill: The British drive the Americans from Breed’s Hill |
| July 3 | Washington assumes command of the Continental Army |
| Nov. 10-21 | Ninety Six, SC, Patriots sieged |
| Nov. 13 | The patriots under Montgomery occupy Montreal in Canada |
| Dec. 11 | Virginia and NC patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn Norfolk |
| Dec. 22 | Col. Thomson with 1,500 rangers and militia capture Loyalists at Great Canebrake, SC |
| Dec. 23-30 | Snow Campaign, in SC, so-called because patriots are impeded by 15″ of snow |
| Dec. 30-31 | American forces under Benedict Arnold fail to seize Quebec |
1776 |
|
| Jan. 1 | Daniel Morgan taken prisoner in attempt to take Quebec City |
| Jan. 15 | Paine’s “Common Sense” published |
| Feb. 27 | The patriots drive the Loyalists from Moore’s Creek Bridge, North Carolina |
| March 3 | The Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas |
| March 17 | The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada |
| June 8 | Patriots fail to take Three Rivers, Quebec |
| June 12 | The Virginia Declaration of Rights |
| June 28 | Sullivan’s Island, SC, failed British naval attack |
| June 29 | The First Virginia Constitution |
| June 28 | Patriots decisively defeat the British Navy at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina |
| July 1 | At the instigation of British agents, the Cherokee attack along the entire southern frontier |
| July 1-4 | Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence. See Chronology of the Declaration |
| July 4 | Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence; it’s sent to the printer |
| July 8 | The Declaration of Independence is read publicly |
| July 15 | Lyndley’s Fort, SC, Patriots fend off attack by Indians and Tories dressed as Indians |
| Aug. 1 | Ambushed by Cherokees, Patriots are saved by a mounted charge at Seneca, SC |
| Aug. 2 | Delegates begin to sign The Declaration of Independence |
| Aug. 10 | Tugaloo River, SC, Andrew Pickens defeats Cherokees |
| Aug. 12? | Andrew Pickens’ detachment surrounded by 185 Cherokee Indians, forms a ring and fires outward. It is known as the “Ring Fight.” |
| Aug. 12 | Col. Williamson and Andrew Pickens defeat Cherokee Indians and burn Tamassy, an Indian town |
| Aug. 27 | Redcoats defeat the George Washington’s army in the Battle of Long Island. Washington’s army escapes at night. |
| Sept. 15 | The British occupy New York City |
| Sept. 16 | Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam triumphantly hold their ground at the Battle of Harlem Heights |
| Sept. 19 | Col. Williamson’s patriots attacked by Cherokees at Coweecho River, NC |
| Oct. 11 | Benedict Arnold defeated at the Battle of Valcour Island (Lake Champlain), but delayed British advance |
| Oct. 28 | The Americans retreat from White Plains, New York. British casualties (~300) higher than American (~200). |
| Nov. 16 | The Hessians capture Fort Washington, NY |
| Nov. 20 | Lord Cornwallis captures Fort Lee from Nathanael Greene |
| Dec. 26 | Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton from Hessians |
1777 |
|
| Jan. 3 | Washington victorious at Princeton |
| Jan. 6-May 28 | Washington winters in Morristown, NJ |
| Apr. 27 | Benedict Arnold‘s troops force a British retreat at Ridgefield, Connecticut. |
| May 20 | Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner, SC: Cherokees lose most of their land east of the mountains |
| June 14 | Flag Resolution |
| July 5 | St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British |
| July 27 | Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia |
| Aug. 6 | The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back at Oriskany, NY, but then have to evacuate |
| Aug. 16 | American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle of Bennington, VT (actually fought in Walloomsac, New York, several miles to the west) |
| Aug. 23 | British withdraw from Fort Stanwix, NY, upon hearing of Benedict Arnold’s approach |
| Aug. 25 | British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland |
| Sept. 11 | The British win the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania |
| Sept. 16 | Rain-out at the Battle of the Clouds, Pennsylvania |
| Sept. 19 | Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman’s Farm, NY. This is part of the “Battles of Saratoga.” |
| Sept. 21 | Paoli Massacre, PA |
| Sept. 26 | British under Howe occupy Philadelphia |
| Oct. 4 | Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown |
| Oct. 7 | Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman’s Farm, NY (at Bemis Heights). This is part of the “Battles of Saratoga.” |
| Oct. 17 | Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga, NY |
| Oct. 22 | Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed |
| Nov. 16 | British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania |
| Dec. 5-7 | Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania |
| Dec. 19 | Washington’s army retires to winter quarters at Valley Forge |
1778 |
|
| Feb. 6 | The United States and France sign the French Alliance |
| March 7 | British General William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton |
| May 20 | Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania |
| June 18 | British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York |
| June 19 | Washington’s army leaves Valley Forge |
| June 28 | The Battle of Monmouth Court House ends in a draw |
| July 4 | George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia, a French village south of St. Louis |
| Aug. 8 | French and American forces besiege Newport, RI |
| Dec. 29 | The redcoats occupy Savannah |
1779 |
|
| Feb. 3 | Maj. Gen. Moultrie defeats British detachment at Port Royal Island, SC |
| Feb. 14 | Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke beat Loyalists at Kettle Creek, NC |
| Feb. 23-24 | American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (now Indiana) on the Wabash in the Western campaign |
| March 3 | British Lt. Col. Jacques Marcus Prevost defeats Americans under Gen. John Ashe at Brier Creek, GA |
| May 11-13 | Maj. General Augustin Prévost (brother of Jacques, see above) breaks his siege when American forces under Maj. Gen. Lincoln approaches |
| June 20 | Stono River, SC, Maj. Gen. Lincoln inflicts extensive British casualties in indecisive battle |
| June 21 | Spain declares war on Great Britain |
| July 8 | Fairfield, CT, burned by British |
| July 11 | Norwalk, CT, burned by British |
| July 15-16 | American “Mad” Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, NY |
| Aug. 19 | “Light Horse” Harry Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ |
| Aug. 29 | Newtown, NY, after two massacres, American forces burn Indian villages |
| Sept. 23 | John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures British man-of-war Serapis near English coast |
| Sept. 28 | The Tappan Massacre (“No Flint” Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet) |
| Oct. 9 | American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails |
| Nov.-June 23, 1780 | Washington’s 2nd winter at Morristown, NJ (the harshest winter of the 18th century) |
1780 |
|
| May 12 | British capture Charleston, SC |
| May 29 | British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC |
| June 20 | Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur’s Mill, NC |
| July 11 | French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American cause |
| Aug. 6 | Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC |
| Aug. 16 | British rout Americans at Camden, SC |
| Sept. 25 | Benedict Arnold’s plans to cede West Point to the British discovered |
| Oct. 7 | King’s Mountain, SC: battle lasts 65 minutes. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Maj. Patrick Ferguson and one-third of General Cornwallis’s army |
| Oct. 14 | Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army |
1781 |
|
| Jan. 1 | Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers |
| Jan. 17 | Patriot Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Col. Tarleton at Cowpens, SC |
| Feb. 1 | The Battle of Cowan’s Ford, Huntersville, NC |
| March 2 | Articles of Confederation adopted |
| March 15 | British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC |
| April 25 | Greene defeated at Hobkirk’s Hill, SC |
| May 15 | Corwallis clashes with Greene at Guilford Courthouse, NC |
| June 6 | Americans recapture Augusta, GA |
| June 18 | British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC |
| July 6 | “Mad” Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm, VA |
| Sept. 8 | Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC |
| Sept. 15 | French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay |
| Oct. 19 | Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA |
1782 |
|
| March 20 | Lord North resigns as British prime minister |
| July 11 | British evacuate Savannah, GA |
| Nov. 30 | British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace |
| Dec. 14 | British leave Charleston, SC |
1783 |
|
| April 19 | Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty |
| Sept. 3 | The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris |
| Nov. 25 | British troops leave New York City |
| Dec. 23 | Washington resigns as Commander |
1787 |
|
| Sept. 17 | U.S. Constitution signed |
1788 |
|
| June 21 | U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it |
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