Harsh Conditions of the Revolution Valley Forge

Battle of the Brandywine British generals, William Howe and Charles Cornwallis, attack George Washington and the continental army outpost at Brandywine Creek This outpost was on the road that linked Baltimore to Philadelphia making it a strategic location Howe and Cornwallis split their forces, one attacking the front while the other circled round to attack Washington from behind

Battle of the Brandywine The morning of the attack was foggy so George Washington did not know that the British had split their forces Taken by surprise and facing defeat, George Washington was forced to retreat The British were then able to take Philadelphia The American Congress had to flee to York

Valley Forge Once the British took Philadelphia, George Washington decided to regroup at Valley Forge rather than try to attack the British in Philadelphia Washington made a camp on a plateau only about 25 miles from Philadelphia and he and his troops spent the winter there

Valley Forge

Battle of Monmouth In June of 1778, George Washington ordered one of his generals, Charles Lee, to engage the British army at Monmouth Lee was supposed to fight the British until Washington arrived with the rest of the army from Valley Forge After a few hours, Lee decided to instead retreat Washington was furious and rallied the army to continue fighting

Charles Lee

Battle of Monmouth The heat was intense and the soldiers were exhausted A woman nicknamed Molly Pitcher who was the wife of one of the men ran back and forth between a spring and the army bringing pitchers of water When her husband working at a cannon collapsed, she took over As night fell Washington, seeing campfires burning on the British side, decided to call it a night The British pulled the same trick on Washington that he had pulled on them at Trenton

Molly Pitcher

John Paul Jones A Scott born man, John Paul Jones was apprenticed to work on ships and he started his life as a sailor Jones sailed on merchant ships and was doing well but then his crew turned mutinous Jones had to kill the leader to save his own life but fearing the criminal charges, he left for America This was right around the time that the war was starting up

John Paul Jones

The First U.S. Navy Jones being a Scott, knew how terrible the British had been to his own country so was eager to help the United States He quickly went from second in command to the commander of his own ship Jones was incredibly successful, even attacking a town in Britain itself Jones captured 16 British ships in one cruise

War Ships

John Paul Jones On September 23rd 1779, Jones knowing that the rich British merchant ships were returning from the Indies, waited to attack them There was a huge battle between Jones’ ship the Bonhomme Richard (named for Ben Franklin) and the British war ship Serapis The fighting went on for two hours and it wasn’t looking good for the Americans The British captain asked Jones if the Americans were ready to surrender Jones replied “I have not yet begun to fight!” In the end Jones won and the British surrendered