What Are The Causes Of The Revolutionary War

The first battle that caused the Revolutionary War took place at lexington, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775. Which side fired first is unknown. It could have been british or colonist, but from what we know about the event, the most logical answer would be the colonist fired first. Even though there are evidence for both sides of the story, evidence that proves colonist shot first is most reasonable and understandable. There are even more personal opinions that could persuade most people that they fired first. Also they had every right to do so.

The observation and fields of fire favored the Franco-American forces. They were prepared to conduct reconnaissance on the British to gather intelligence that was useful in their attacks. They were able to destroy, neutralize, and suppress the enemy with effective artillery bombardments. The Franco-American troops were also able to occupy the abandoned redoubts, which helped establish fire superiority. The British were able to fire artillery in retaliation but fell short in accomplishing large amounts of damages. As the British crossed the river into Gloucester, they suffered a high number of casualties at the hands of the cannon batteries. At this point in the battle, Cornwallis did not have enough ammunition or supplies and

In 1775, Benedict Arnold had taken his first victory-Fort Ticonderoga. The Battle of the fort occured on May 10, 1775. Arnold and four-hundred soldiers stood opposite of the fort on Lake Champlain and waited for the scouting units to return (CIA). When they had returned, they told Benedict that the fort had only housed fourty-nine British

During the Battle, both sides used different tactics and strategies. Burgoyne decided to go with a risky strategy of dividing his army into three columns, two towards Bemis Heights and one to follow the road that paralleled the Hudson. The American forces (led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold) placed expert riflemen (led by Daniel Morgan) in charge of taking out the left flank of the British (led by Simon Frasier). This strategy worked well for the Americans, of course until they ran out of ammunition.

The importance of this raid lay in the fact that they captured much-needed cannons and gunpowder.

Shortly after George Washington becoming chief, Britain's General Gage a discreet plan to send out British soldiers to Lexington April 19th, 1775, where their goal was to capture Colonial leaders such as John Hancock and leader Samuel Adams, then to concord, where they would have to seize all gunpowder. Fortunately friends of the Americans leaked Gage’s plan to the people. Two

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem, “Concord Hymn” supports that the first shot was fired at the North bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. The first stanza of the Concord Hymn is, “By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.” Although, Emerson suggest that it was in Concord where the “shot heard around the world” was fired, desendents of the towns Lexington and Concord still debate this fact today. On Wednesday, April 19, 1775 at the village green in the village of Lexington in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay. Captain John Parker and around 60 militia men, many of the men being related to Parker faced off against 240 redcoats under General Gage’s comand. John Parker was a farmer and had previously fought along side the british. The militia men were not near as well trained or well equipt as the british regulars. There were over one hundred onlookers at the battle of Lexington. Both John Parker’s milita men and Gage’s redcoats were under orders to hold their fire. Nobody is exactly sure who fired the first shot at Lexington, some people believe that it could have been a spectator. Regardless of who fired the first shot.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The Battle started the making of our independence from Great Britain. The battle was the first site of rebelliousness as it was created due to colonial Patriots coming together with their military supplies to fight the British. General Gage couldn’t have this so he and his troops needed to destroy military supplies, therefore they couldn't rebel and fight againsts the British. The Battle of Lexington and Concord

Then later on he became commander of the Virginia Militia. Commander George Washington helped defeat the French and capture Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt. After Washington’s years of service he resigned because he grew to dislike their attitudes.  He then returned to Mount. Vermont,(“French and Indian War”).

One of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War took place on September 28, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia. The Siege of Yorktown was the last battle in the war against Great Britain. Fought between General George Washington with French aid from General Comte de Rochambeau. With a fleet of over 17,000 French and Continental men against General Lord Charles Cornwallis and his 9,000 British men (The Battle of Yorktown).

The Battle of Yorktown gave General Washington the advantage he needed to win. General Washington, with the help of the French saw the opportunity to end the war by cornering General Cornwallis at Yorktown. (The History Channel Website, n.d.) Prior to the surrender of General Cornwallis to General Washington at Yorktown, the British were winning several battles. General Washington needed to do something before he had no other options left. General Washington’s forces were low in numbers and strength but knew the land to give them an edge in being rooted out by the British. (Lanning, 2005) General Washington used time and heavy militia to replenish his losses but did not have the troops to capture British Garrisons. (Lanning, 2005) The British in turn, could not pass the militia aiding General Washington. (Lanning, 2005)The militia, fighting alongside continental troops, had the land and the support of the people who aided their cause during the battle. The stalemate continued with no sign of either side budging. Guerilla-style operations were used to win many fights and battles that General Washington’s own troops could not. (Lanning, 2005) General Cornwallis, saw Yorktown in Virginia as a viable location to gather resources for future encounters with the Americans. General Cornwallis moved northward from the Carolinas toward Virginia and occupied Yorktown with an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 British troops. (Lanning, 2005) (The History

As Sir Washington was heading back from delivering the message, he saw a point of land at an intersection of Allegheny and the Monongahela form the Ohio, where he thought would be a brilliant idea to build a fort. Dinwiddie agreed to his suggestion therefore building Fort Prince George, but ended with the French coming and taking over changing the name to Fort Duquesne. Washington ended up moving to the Great Meadows where he and his troops decided in building a fort that would be called, Fort Necessity. Three days within encampment, Washington and 40 men went looking for a group of French that were seen about seven miles away from Chestnut Ridge. When finding the French they were made prisoners, killed the commander Joseph Coulon de Villiers, and several others were killed as well, especially since it was a surprise attack they surrendered. George Washington won that encounter but the French weren’t about to give up yet. Not to long after, French troops were sent out from Fort Duquesne and defeated the British which left the French in charge of the west Allegheny Mountains. In 1755, General Edward Braddock came from Britain to America as commander in chief I order to help Britain gain Fort Duquesne back. Again the British had failed, loosing men as well as General Braddock who passed away four days after the

Leading up the battle of Yorktown, in February, 1781, Major General Marquis de Lafayette was ordered to take his Continental troops to Virginia. About a month later General Cornwallis and his army had entered Virginia believing that if the American forces had resistance, he would have victory against the Americans and the French. Later that year in August on 1-2, 1781 Cornwallis and his army set up at Gloucester point, hoping to use it as a base for supply and weapons. Couple of weeks later, Washington heard about the base and sent a large army to destroy Cornwallis base. A month later on September 14, 1781, French General Rochambeau and General Washington arrived, and sent 400 French soldiers and 400 American soldiers to storm the British redoubt. On October 19, 1781, being taken under heavy from the Americans and the French, Major General Cornwallis realized that he was short of troops and decided to escape Yorktown before surrendering. Making the move to escape, a sudden storm from the Americans and French ruined his evacuation plan and Cornwallis was forced to surrender, due to the lack troops and supplies.

During the two battles the American Colonies had 9000 Soldiers during the first battle and 12000 the second. While the British forces had 7200 the first and 6600 for the second battle. Leading up to the battle, British General Burgoyne had come up with a plan to defeat the American colonies. General Burgoyne went to Lord Germaine, Security of Defense in London to propose his strategy. His plan was to split up the colonies by attacking from the north and south along the Hudson River.

On June 27, 1775 the Continental Congress decided to invade Quebec. They gave the command to General Schuyler, once again Arnold felt slighted. But General Washington knew Arnold to be a genius soldier. He selected Arnold to lead troops through a wilderness route for the second part of the Quebec campaign. This mission was delayed from the start by terrain and weather, but Arnold got most of his troops through. Unfortunately, in their delay the city had been reinforced. He could not wait had had to attack on December 31, 1775 , since many of his men’s enlistments expired on New Year’s day. Although, Arnold suffered a severe leg wound in battle , he never gave up his post. The Americans fought on and were forced to retreat. It was a