In the Ruins of Philadelphia
I will fight on! Even if its in the Ruins of Philadelphia!
Benedict Arnold -1782 After news of the US surrender
Since the French and Indian Wars the Crown raised taxes to defend its American Colonies, the colonists didn't approve. The Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians and dumped shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor after the British taxed it. That was the last straw and the Crown declared the Continental Congress traitors by royal decree who responded by drafting the Declaration of Independence and formed the United States of America on July 4th, 1776.
On the night of April 18th, 2 months BEFORE Independence Day British General Gage sent 700 men to take the colonial munitions in Concord. Paul Revere, a silversmith by trade, rode to Concord and warned the militia before Gage arrived and when the British walked into Lexington, on the way to Concord, they were met by 77 minutemen. Shots were fired killing several minutemen but it gave the Americans in Concord time to form up with 500 men. When the British marched into Concord they were routed by American gunfire and harassed all the way back to Boston.
The Militia then surrounded Boston, the war was underway. Three weeks after Boston was surrounded American forces under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga and and raided Fort St. Johns. They started talking with the Iroquois and other natives to aid in a invasion. After that Congress agreed to a invasion of Quebec. General Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold led 1,700 and captured Fort St. Jean and then captured Montreal. General Charlton escaped the advancing Americans and arrived in Quebec to prepared the city for attack. Arnold and Montgomery set out to take Quebec with 1100 men. Due to the harsh climate of northern Maine Arnold and Montgomery attacked Quebec with only 600 men. The battle was a disaster which killed Montgomery, wounded Arnold and left 400 Americans captured. The Americans continued to siege until spring of 1776 when Captain Charles Douglas led a squadron of ships to relive Quebec. The Americans were pushed back steadily until they stopped at Fort Ticonderoga, where this all began.
Back in America the British evacuated Boston to the Rebels and instead opted to take New York City. After many skirmishes between Washington and General Howe Washington fled to New Jersey and NYC was in British hands. Howe was preparing to make a move against Washington when a Loyalist from Philadelphia arrived in Howe's camp with valuable information. Howe was told that the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia and vulnerable with Washington trapped in New Jersey. Howe was skeptical, he knew that the US had its share of Loyalists but how did they know of the Congress's location. Howe decided to take the chance and split his forces and sent one North to assist Burgoyne and the other to beat Washington, which he did at the Battle of Brandywine and marched into Philadelphia but was met by Benedict Arnold and 30,000 men. Howe was surprised because Arnold was supposed to be up North but he quickly attacked Arnold and his men. Arnold held the line and tried to get the Continental Congress out of harms way. Arnolds line started to buckle around 3:00PM(ish) and soon broke. The soldiers tried to reform outside Independence Hall but were unable due to continued British attacks. The Congress was able to mostly evacuate but Thomas Jefferson, the delegate from Virginia and New York were captured. The rest of the delegates went home where most were turned over to British authorities.
The Battle of Philadelphia was disastrous for the Americans because the Congress was all but dissolved and the Declaration of Independence was burned by British forces. It was demoralizing for Washington's forces in Valley Forge and they started to desert en masse. Washington made a last ditch effort to save the country and attacked the British at Trenton. A British scout saw Washington's forces and raised the alarm so when he attacked, the Hessians were ready and the attack was repulsed. Washington barely got out with his life, when asked what this meant for the Revolution Washington reportedly said
"It means our cause is lost; retire to your homes and look after your families." With that Washington's army was destroyed and Howe turned his attention north to Saratoga where Burgoyne and Howe's forces were still fighting, but not that greatly. Howe rushed north to assist them. While attacking the British camp Howe and his forces rushed in behind the American camp and forced General Gates to split his forces. The American attack on the British camp was repealed and the American camp was captured by the British.
After Saratoga France, who was waiting for an excuse to join the Americans, denied Ben Franklin and sent him back to America. Ben moved to Charleston SC where he was captured by General Henry Clinton. Cornwallis took control of the British forces in the Southern Colonies and began to clean up Francis Marion and his raiders who were terrorizing the Loyalists in South Carolina. Cornwallis led 3000 men into the countryside and lured him into attacking near Willington. Marion and his raiders were decimated, Marion himself was captured by the British; after the capture of the "Swamp Fox" the raiding subsided and marched into Virginia late 1782.
American General Greene was assigned to defend Virginia but did a pretty poor job. The Americans scored some wins at Appomattox and Richmond but also suffered some losses at Jamestown and Petersburg. The British went to town on Greene after Petersburg and chased Greene into Yorktown. Almost immediately both Greene and Howe realized that this would be the deciding factor in who won the war, even though it seemed obvious that the Brits were on the path to victory. General Greene gave a last call to arms and called this battle "the deciding factor of human history and civilization." The men took the speech as a desperate plea for men and morale plummeted until a notable figure appeared on a dingy.
George Washington arrived behind American lines and took command of Greene's forces. When Greene tried to protest the soldiers threatened to revolt if he wasn't given command, Greene consented and it seemed like there would be a glimmer of hope after all. Howe didn't care that Washington was now a General, he defeated him multiple times and he can again. Howe brought in the Royal Navy to shell US lines for hours, confusion took over as communication routs were put out of action and units began to act independently of one another. Washington eventually managed to bring his army back together but not before the 3rd and 4th brigades were destroyed. Howe attacked again and smashed Washingtons left flank and began to strain Washington's center, the army was again near collapse. Washington and his army pulled back and reformed some distance behind the previous line and, with bullets whizzing by his head, gave a speech called the Yorktown Plea and called for a last huzzah against the British. Early the next day calls of "For America!" carried across the field and into Howe's drowsy ears. They were soon met with the low rumble of hooves as Washington's army charged across the field; Howe hurried to prepare his men but it wasn't enough. Washington and his men overwhelmed the small guard's station and charged into the British camp, shooting, punching and burning everything that was red. The Union Jack, once flying high on a flagpole was knocked to the ground by Washington, demoralizing the redcoats and reinvigorating the Americans. Howe struggled to get a hold of his forces and was evacuated to the HMS
Guadeloupe and it seemed the Americans would win until Howe made a fateful decision to bombard his own camp, after some hesitation the canons of the Royal Navy barked and bucked, lobbing cannonballs into the battle killing just as many Brits as Americans. The barrage seemed to be doing nothing until a huge explosion ripped through the US line, the ammo tent had caught.
The Americans were stunned by the huge fireball and were cut down by British musket fire. The American momentum had been frozen and now the Brits were making a comeback. Washington watched as his army crumbled around him and rose his hands in defeat, he rode to Howe's tent and demanded a end to the fighting. Howe looked up from what he was writing (a offer for Washington to surrender coincidentally) and agreed that to much blood had been shed, the two men halted their forces and they marched out to the middle of the field and stood facing one another as Washington gave Howe his sword. Under terms of the surrender Washington surrendered his army to Howe as POW's and Washington retired from the military. The Battle of Yorktown is regarded as the end of Adam's Revolution. Although the end of the battle did not end hostilities it did bring about the Treaty of New York in which the US surrendered to Great Britain, the Continental Congress was disbanded and its members were ordered to report to London for trial, the US Army is to forfeit its weapons to British forces, and the King would once again take control of the American Colonies. Since George III respected the ferocity of the US resistance he allowed it to be turned into a dominion of Britain. It had its own government but the King was still the law maker, so George Washington was appointed King of the Empire of North America (Canada voted to join in the Empires dominion status despite the attempted invasion.).
Top of Page: General Washington handing Cornwallis his sword