Revolutionary War 1776 Student News

Review: 1775 April 1775: Battle of Lexington and Concord- first shots fired June 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill- first major land battle- British victory, but many deaths Rev War animated-map After the battle, George Washington was made commander in chief of the Continental Army. He arrived in Boston and found an untrained, undisciplined, and poorly supplied group of men

Reading like a Historian Students are to read & complete the following: Declaration Parody American Declaration of Independence: Grievances (Last page of Packet/ This counts as a quiz grade)

Comparing the Armies Home-field Advantage Military Skills Supplies/Equipment Offensive/Defensive Fighting Spirit Population/Manpower

British Evacuate Boston British soldiers in Boston woke up on March 5, 1776 to find cannons pointed at their naval fleet Response: evacuate rather than fight

Brains of the Operation?

Canada British Plan: 1776 New York City

New York Campaign 1776-1777 British plan: take control of New York City and the Hudson River in order to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies

Washington’s Strategy Washington wanted to prolong the war, wear out the British, keep running away, and fight on the defensive- rather than fighting one decisive battle

Continental Army Retreats to NJ The Continental Army lost badly and retreated to New Jersey- Britain occupied NYC and began to make preparations for the winter

Results of the NY Campaign In 8 months, the Continental Army went from a high point (British evacuation of Boston) to a low point (losing control of NY)- low morale for the Continental Army

Winter 1776-1777 Both armies go to winter quarters- colonists in Pennsylvania, British in NJ. The NJ coast was guarded by German troops hired by the British called Hessians

Hessians Britain hired 30,000 German fighters to help fight in the war Mercenary: a paid soldier A group of Hessians were guarding Trenton during the winter of 1776-1777

Washington Plans a Sneak Attack Washington came up with a plan to unexpectedly attack British troops stationed in Trenton, New Jersey during the winter

Washington Crosses the Delaware Christmas eve, 1776: reports that Hessian troops in Trenton have let down their guard- 2400 Continental men and 18 guns cross the Delaware river and march 8 miles to Trenton

Battle of Trenton Lasted less than 1 hour, Washington killed or captured 1000 of 1500 Hessian soldiers Result: Washington rescued his reputation and won respect of his troops (a glimmer of hope after a rough year)

British Plan for 1777 Capture the city of Philadelphia, the center of the colonial government