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'{{short description|American War of Independence 1775–1783}} {{about|military actions primarily|origins and aftermath|American Revolution}} {{pp-protected|expiry=indefinite|small=yes}} {{use American English|date=June 2019}} {{use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = American Revolutionary War | image = EL Lami - Storming of redoubt 10 during the Siege of Yorktown (1840).jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = [[Alexander Hamilton]] leading [[The Light Infantry Division at Yorktown (1781)|Continental light infantry]] at Redoubt No. 10, [[Siege of Yorktown]] | date = April 19, 1775{{snds}}September 3, 1783 <br />({{Age in years, months and days|1775|04|19|1783|09|03}}){{efn|Peace process: <u>March 1782</u>-Parliament recommends George III make peace. <u>December 1782</u>-George III Speech from the Throne for US independence. <u>April 1783</u>-Congress accepts British proposal that meets its four demands. <u>September 1783</u>-conclusive treaty of peace by Britain and US. <u>May 1784</u>-Diplomats in Paris exchange the subsequent ratifications by Parliament and Congress.<ref>[[#clements2007|Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1556-40, 2007]]</ref>}} | place = Eastern North America, North Atlantic Ocean, the West Indies | result = <!--DO NOT ALTER WITHOUT CONSENSUS --> {{Collapsible list|title='''American-Allied victory:'''|titlestyle=font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left;| * [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]] * British recognition of American independence * End of the First British Empire<ref>[[#simms|Simms, 2009]], pp. 615–618</ref> }} | territory = Great Britain cedes the US east of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi R.]]; south of the [[Great Lakes]] & [[St. Lawrence River|St. Lawrence R.]] to Spanish Florida <!--PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT CONSENSUS-->| combatant1 = {{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[United States]]<br /> {{Collapsible list |title={{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Thirteen Colonies|Thirteen States]]: |1= [[New Hampshire in the American Revolution|New Hampshire]]<br />[[Massachusetts in the American Revolution|Massachusetts]]<br />[[Rhode Island in the American Revolution|Rhode Island]]<br />[[Connecticut in the American Revolution|Connecticut]]<br /> [[New York in the American Revolution|New York]]<br />[[New Jersey in the American Revolution|New Jersey]]<br />[[Pennsylvania in the American Revolution|Pennsylvania]]<br />[[Delaware in the American Revolution|Delaware]]<br />[[Maryland in the American Revolution|Maryland]]<br />[[Virginia in the American Revolution|Virginia]]<br />[[North Carolina in the American Revolution|North Carolina]]<br />[[South Carolina in the American Revolution|South Carolina]]<br />[[Georgia in the American Revolution|Georgia]]<br />[[File:Flag of the Vermont Republic.svg|20px]] [[Vermont Republic]]}} {{flagcountry|Kingdom of France}} <center>'''Co-belligerents'''</center> {{flagicon|Spain|1748}} [[History of Spain (1700–1810)|Bourbon Spain]]<br /> {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic|1765}} [[Dutch Republic]] <center>'''Combatants'''</center> {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%; |framestyle=border:none; padding:0; <!--Hides borders and improves row spacing--> |title=[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]<ref name=jar2015>[[#jareditors2025|Bell, 2015]], Eassy</ref> |1= [[Oneida tribe|Oneida]]<br />[[Tuscarora (tribe)|Tuscarora]]<br />[[Catawba (tribe)|Catawba]]<br />[[Lenape]]<br />[[Chickasaw]]<br />[[Choctaw]]<br />[[Mahican]]<br />[[Mi'kmaq]]{{efn|(until 1779)}}<br />[[Abenaki]]<br />[[Cheraw (tribe)|Cheraw]]<br />[[Seminole]]<br />[[Pee Dee people|Pee Dee]]<br />[[Lumbee]]}} <!--DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT CONSENSUS-->| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}<br /> {{flagcountry|Loyalist (American Revolution)}}<!--Agreed by consensus, do not revert--> <br /> <center>'''Combatants'''</center> {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%; |framestyle=border:none; padding:0; <!--Hides borders and improves row spacing--> |title=[[Germans in the American Revolution#Allies of Great Britain|Germans Mercenaries/Auxiliaries]] <ref>[[#atwood2002|Atwood, 2000]], pp. 1, 23</ref><ref>[[#zellerfrederick|Zeller-Frederick]]</ref>{{efn|German regiments of infantry, cavalry and artillery of principalities in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] were hired by George III by Treaties of Subsidy. Beginning in 1775 they served in America to put down the colonial rebellion there; the last units evacuated in 1782.<ref>[[#davenport|Davenport 1937]], vol. IV, p. 118, Treaty of Subsidy between Britain and Hesse-Cassel</ref> Contemporaries, commentators and historians have referred to the Hessians as both mercenaries and auxiliaries, terms that are sometimes used interchangeably.<ref>[[#atwood2002|Atwood 2002]], pp. 1, 23</ref>}}<!--Consensus agrees mercenaries is unnecessary; see Talk--> |1= [[File:Wappen-HK (1736-1804).svg|17px]] [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hesse-Kassel]]<br />[[File:Wappen-HK (1736-1804).svg|17px]] [[Hesse-Hanau]]<br />[[File:Coat of Arms of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont.svg|19px]] [[Waldeck (state)|Waldeck]]<!--black, yellow and red colors not officially used by the military until 1814: see http://www.fotw.info/flags/de-wp_hi.html--><br />[[File:Coat of Arms of Brunswick-Lüneburg.svg|19px]] [[Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Brunswick]]<br />[[File:Wappen Brandenburg-Ansbach.svg|19px|link=]] [[Ansbach-Bayreuth|Ansbach]]<br />[[File:Blason Principaut%C3%A9 d%27Anhalt-Zerbst (XVIIIe si%C3%A8cle).svg|19px|link=]] [[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Anhalt-Zerbst]] }} {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%; |framestyle=border:none; padding:0; <!--Hides borders and improves row spacing--> |title=[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]<ref name=jar2015/> |1= [[Onondaga people|Onondaga]]<br />[[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]]<br />[[Cayuga people|Cayuga]]<br />[[Seneca people|Seneca]]<br />[[Mi'kmaq]]{{efn|(from 1779)}}<br />[[Cherokee]]<br />[[Odawa]]<br />[[Muscogee]]<br />[[Susquehannock]]<br />[[Shawnee]] }} | commander1 = <!--MAJOR LEADERS ONLY. DO NOT ADD/REMOVE WITHOUT CONSENSUS --> {{flagdeco|United States|1776}} [[Peyton Randolph]]<br /> {{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[John Hancock]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Benjamin Franklin]] ---- {{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[George Washington]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Horatio Gates]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Nathanael Greene]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Henry Knox]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]]<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}} [[Benedict Arnold]]{{efn|Arnold served on the American side from 1775–1779; On the British side from 1780–1783.}}<br />{{flagdeco|United States|1777}}{{flagdeco|Kingdom of France}} [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]]<br />[[File:George Rogers Clark Flag.svg|border|22px]] [[George Rogers Clark]]<br />{{flagdeco|Spain|1748}} [[Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston|Bernardo de Gálvez]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of France}} [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Rochambeau]]<br />[[List of military leaders in the American Revolutionary War|''full list...'']] | commander2 = <!--MAJOR LEADERS ONLY. DO NOT ADD/REMOVE WITHOUT CONSENSUS--> {{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]]<br />{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]]<br />{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Shelburne]] ----{{nowrap|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville|Lord George Germain]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Thomas Gage]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[John Burgoyne]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Benedict Arnold]]{{efn|1780–1783}}<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Henry Hamilton (colonial administrator)|Henry Hamilton]]<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Banastre Tarleton]]}}<br />[[List of military leaders in the American Revolutionary War|''full list...'']] | strength1 = '''United States:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Continental Army|Army]] & [[Militia (United States)|Militia]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}40,000 (average)<ref name=medical>[[#duncan1931|Duncan, 1931]]</ref><br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}200,000 (total)<ref name="Lanning195–96">[[#lanning|Lanning, 2009]], pp.195–196</ref> <br /> {{nbsp}}'''French Army:''' troops<ref>[[#montero|Montero, 1860]], p. 356</ref><br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Continental Navy|Navy]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}53 [[Frigate#Age of Sail|frigates]] & [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]]<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 328</ref>{{efn|5,000 sailors (peak)<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 328</ref>, manning privateers, an additional 55,000 total sailors<ref name=usmm55>[[#usmm|U.S. Merchant Marine, 2012]]</ref>}}<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[List of United States state navies in the American Revolutionary War|State Navies]]:'''<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}106 ships (total)<ref>[[#paullin|Paullin, 1906]], pp. 315–316</ref><br /> {{nbsp}}'''French Navy:''' task-force<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}fleets, escorts<ref name="Jonathan Dull 1985 p. 110">[[#dull|Dull, 1987]], p. 110</ref><br /> {{nbsp}}'''Native Americans:'''<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Unknown | strength2 = '''Great Britain:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|Army]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}48,000 peak American<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}deployment<ref name="totallyhistory.com">[[#redcoatsfacts|Essay: ''Red Coats Facts'', Totally History.com, 2012]]</ref>{{efn|British 121,000 (global 1781)<ref name="British Army 1775–1783">[[#britisharmy|Rinaldi]], Essay, ''The British Army 1775—1783'';</ref><ref name=chartrand63>[[#chartrand|Chartrand, 2006]], p. 63</ref> "Of 7,500 men in the Gibraltar garrison in September (including 400 in hospital), some 3,430 were always on duty".<ref name=chartrand63/>}}<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Germans in the American Revolution#Allies of Great Britain|German troops]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}29,875 (total)<ref name="Lowell, Edward J 1884"/><ref name=ernst9>[[#ernst|Knesebeck, 2017 [1845] ]], p. 9</ref>{{efn|The strength of a Hanoverian battalion who where serfs of the British George III, were shipped to Gibraltar is listed as 473 men.<ref name=ernst9/>}}<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist troops]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}25,000 (total)<ref name="Savas and Dameron 2006, p. xli">[[#savas|Savas & Dameron, 2006]], p. xli</ref>{{efn|Contains a detailed listing of American, French, British, German, and Loyalist regiments; indicates when they were raised, the main battles, and what happened to them. Also includes the main warships on both sides, And all the important battles.}}<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Royal Navy#1707–1815|Navy]]:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}task-force fleets,<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}blockading squadrons{{efn|Royal Navy 94, [[Ship of the line|ships-of-the-line]] global<ref name="Jonathan Dull 1985 p. 110" /> 104 [[Frigate#Age of Sail|frigates]] global,<ref name=winfield2007>[[#winfield|Winfield, 2007]]</ref> 37 [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]] global,<ref name=winfield2007/> 171,000 sailors,<ref name="Mackesy 1964 pp. 6, 176">[[#mackesy93|Mackesy, 1993&nbsp;&nbsp;[1964] ]], pp. 6, 176</ref>}}<br /> {{nbsp}}'''[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]'''<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}13,000<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 393</ref><ref>[[#boatner74|Boatner, 1974&nbsp;&nbsp;[1966] ]], p. 545</ref> | casualties1 = '''United States:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}6,800 dead in battle<br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}6,100 wounded<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}17,000 disease dead<ref name="Burrows">[[#burrows2008|Burrows, 2008, Patriots or Terrorists]], Issue 5</ref><br /> 25–70,000 war dead<ref>[[#duncan1931|Duncan, 1931]], p. 370</ref><ref name="Howard H. Peckham 1974">[[#peckham74|Peckham, (Ed.), 1974]]</ref><br /> 130,000 small-pox dead<small><ref>[[#clodfelter|Clodfelter, 2017]], p. 133-134</ref></small><br /> '''France:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}2,112 dead total<ref name="frenchcasualtiesrevolution" />{{efn|7,000 dead total world wide<ref name="frenchcasualtiesrevolution">[[#dawson|Dawson, Essay, 2017]]</ref>}}<br> ---- {{collapsible list |title='''French & Spanish overseas:''' <ref name=Clodfelter/> |1= '''France overseas:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}4,888 dead{{efn|7,000 dead total world wide including 2,112 in North America<ref name="frenchcasualtiesrevolution">[[#dawson|Dawson, Essay, 2017]]</ref>}}; 19 ships-of-the-line & 32 frigates (global)<ref name=Clodfelter/><br /> '''Spain overseas:'''<br /> From 1779, Spain allied with France in its war against Britain in the [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)]]; it made a separate peace with Britain at the [[Peace of Paris#Treaty with Spain|Anglo-Spanish Treaty of Versailles (1783)]]. Spain gained [[East Florida]], [[West Florida]] and [[Minorca]]. Participation in the Anglo-French War (1779–83) cost the Spanish Empire 5,000 dead total globally,<ref name="Necrometrics">[[#necro|White, 2010: Essay]]</ref><br /> 371 in British West Florida,<ref>[[#otfinoski|Otfinoski, 2008]], p. 16</ref><br /> and 4,000 dead in British prison ships.<ref name=Roy>[[#roy2006|Archuleta, 2006]], p. 69</ref><br /> Globally, it lost 8 ships-of-the-line, and 11 frigates.<ref name=Clodfelter/> }} '''Netherlands overseas:''' [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]].{{efn|Britain declared war on the Netherlands to end its trade and military aid to its rebelling Thirteen Colonies in North America. Peace came with the [[Treaty of Paris (1784)]]. The Dutch war with Britain cost 500 dead worldwide.<ref name="Necrometrics" />}} | casualties2 = '''Great Britain:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}5,500 battle-deaths<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{efn|Clodfelter reports that the total deaths among the British and their allies numbered 15,000 killed in battle or died of wounds. These included estimates of 3000 Germans, 3000 Loyalists & Canadians, 3000 lost at sea, and 500 American Indians killed in battle or died of wounds.<ref>[[#clodfelter|Clodfelter, 2017]], p. 133-134</ref>}}<br /> '''Germans:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}7,774 total dead<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}1,800 dead in battle<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}4,888 deserted<ref name=medical /><br /> '''Loyalists:'''<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}7,000 total dead<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}1,700 dead in battle<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}5,300 dead of disease<ref>[[#forgotten2008|Burrows, 2008, ''Forgotten Patriots'']], p. 203</ref> ----- {{collapsible list |title='''Army overseas:'''<ref name=Clodfelter/> |1={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}~9,372 dead in battle<ref name="books.google.com">[[#parliamentaryreg|Parliamentary Register, 1871]], pp. 263–265</ref><br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}27,000 disease<ref name=medical /><ref name="Necrometrics"/> }} {{collapsible list |title='''Navy overseas:'''<ref name=Clodfelter/> |1= {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}1,243 dead in battle<br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}18,500 dead of disease<ref name="Parliamentary Register">[[#parliamentaryreg|Parliamentary Register, 1871]], p. 269</ref><br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}42,000 deserted<ref name="Mackesy 1964 pp. 6, 176"/><br /> {{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}20 ships-of-the-line<ref name=Clodfelter>[[#clodfelter|Clodfelter, 2017]], p 133</ref><br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}70 frigates<ref name=Clodfelter/><br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}2,200 merchants<ref name=Clodfelter/><br />{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}75 privateers<ref name=Clodfelter/><br> '''British Army & Navy, “Atlantic War of 1775-1783”, <ref>[[#stoker|Reeve in Stoker, 2009]], “British naval strategy, War on a global scale”</ref> Total:'''<br>{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}43,633 dead from all causes<ref name="Annual Register, 1783">[[#burke1785|Burke (ed), 1785]], pp. 199–200</ref><ref name=Clodfelter/> }} | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox American Revolutionary War}} }} <!-- Lede --> <!-- PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR EDITS TO THE LEAD, IT WAS AGREED UPON BY CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE. PLEASE DISCUSS IF YOU WISH TO CHANGE IT. --> The '''American Revolutionary War''', also known as the '''American War of Independence''', was initiated by the [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen original colonies]] in Congress against the [[British Empire|Kingdom of Great Britain]] over their objection to [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]]'s direct taxation and its lack of colonial representation.{{efn|The scope of the American Revolutionary War is dated 1775–1783 between the independent US Congress and the First Empire of Great Britain. The contest was over British North American colonial independence. It took place in North America and the Caribbean Sea, and in the North Atlantic with its North Sea, Irish Sea, and the English Channel. Formally, the "American War" was from the Declaration of Independence by Congress addressed to Britain, to the Anglo-American Treaty of Paris (1783), signed 2 September 1783 to end the American Revolutionary War. It became effective at the signing of two separate treaties on 3 September 1783: the Anglo-French Treaty of Versailles (1783), and the Anglo-Spanish Treaty of Versailles (1783); the US Congress was not a signatory to either of these last two.<ref>[[#kohn|Kohn, 2006]], "American Revolution", pp 14-15. See also the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/american-revolution "American Revolution"] at Dictionary.com with 100+ million downloads.</ref>}} From their founding in the 17th century, the colonies were largely left to govern themselves. As conflict with [[New France]] expanded, the costs of their defense increased. After the eviction of France from North America in [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763]], Parliament and the colonies disputed how these expenses should be paid. Measures such as the [[Stamp Act 1765|1765 Stamp Act]] to increase government revenues provoked unrest that culminated in the 1773 [[Boston Tea Party]]. When Parliament responded by imposing [[Intolerable Acts|punitive measures]] on [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], twelve colonies set up the [[First Continental Congress]] which agreed to boycott British goods.{{efn|The [[colony of Georgia]] joined the Continental Congress later. The fourteenth state, [[Vermont Republic]] was independently established 1777-1791 before its admission to the US.}} In June 1775, the [[Second Continental Congress]] appointed [[George Washington]] to create a [[Continental Army]] and oversee the [[Siege of Boston|capture of Boston]]. When their [[Olive Branch Petition]] was rejected, Congress sponsored an unsuccessful attack on [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|British Quebec]], before passing the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in July 1776. Hopes of a quick settlement were increased by a [[Rockingham Whigs|substantial element within Parliament]] who opposed Lord North's "coercion policy" in the colonies. Like the Patriots who followed them, Whigs believed that the Crown had assumed too much power since the Hanover ascension in August 1714.{{efn|British North American colonists who became Patriot leaders were very influenced by the Whig history that defended the [[Glorious Revolution]] at the ascension of the Protestant King William and Queen Mary to the British throne, along with their [[Bill of Rights of 1689|British Bill of Rights]]. Several important [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] sought reforms to free in Parliament from George III, who governed by granting offices, bribes, and rotten boroughs. These included: [[John Sawbridge]] for reform 1771-95, [[John Wilkes]] in 1776 hailed in the colonial American press, [[Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]] in 1780 for annual parliaments, universal suffrage and equal electoral districts. [[William Pitt the Younger]] proposed a Committee in Commons to study reform in 1782, but it was defeated 161 to 141. When Pitt proposed a specific plan in May 1783, the bill failed, but "Pitt's popularity was greatly increased by his action in this matter." He was elected Prime Minister December 1783, two months after the Peace of Paris 1783.<ref>[[#a.ward1925|Ward]] 1925, p. 465</ref>}} However, British commander in chief, General Sir [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]] then launched a [[New York and New Jersey campaign|counter-offensive]], capturing New York City. Washington retaliated with harassing attacks at [[Battle of Trenton|Trenton]] and [[Battle of Princeton|Princeton]]. Howe's 1777–1778 [[Philadelphia campaign]] captured that city, but the British [[Saratoga Campaign|were defeated]] at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]] in October 1777. At [[Valley Forge]] that winter, Washington built a professional army. American victory at Saratoga had dramatic consequences on the war. Although some foreign states, notably France, had been supporting the American cause in the form of financial and material provisions, the French wished for no further involvement until the capture of a British army at Saratoga by American forces made them reconsider their level of commitment. The French entered into treaties for [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–France)|trade]] with the United States and to protect that trade, the Americans secured a [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] in 1778.{{efn|In the 1788 Franco-American "Treaty of Alliance", at the Introduction it states that the defensive military treaty is conditioned on Britain conducting offensive war against France or otherwise "hindering her commerce and navigation" with the US. In Article 1, it commits the US, that should Britain initiate war against French-US trade, Louis XVI and the US will "join against their common enemy". Art. 2 dedicates the purpose of the treaty: "The essential and direct end of the present defensive alliance is to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and independence absolute and unlimited of the said United States, as well in matters of government as of commerce."<ref>[[#treatyofalliance|Treaty of Alliance, 1778]], Introduction, Article 1, Article 2.</ref>}} Spain joined the war the following year as an&nbsp;ally of France. Spanish Louisiana Governor [[Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston|Bernardo Gálvez]] routed British forces from [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Spanish territory]]. This allowed supplies north from the Spanish and [[Privateer#United States|American privateers]] for the 1779 Virginia militia conquest of [[Illinois campaign|Western Quebec]] ([[Northwest Territory#British control|later the US Northwest Territory]]).<ref>[[#nessy|O'Shaughnessy, 2013]], p. 179.</ref> He then expelled British forces from [[Battle of Fort Charlotte|Mobile]] and [[Siege of Pensacola|Pensacola]], cutting off British military assistance to their Native American allies in the interior south. Howe's replacement, General Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]], then mounted a 1778 "[[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War#British campaign in the South|Southern strategy]]" from Charleston. After initial success taking [[Capture of Savannah|Savannah]], their losses at [[Battle of Kings Mountain|King's Mountain]] and [[Battle of Cowpens|Cowpens]] led to the British southern army retreat to [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]] where it was besieged by Franco-American forces. A decisive [[Battle of the Chesapeake|French naval victory]] brought the October 1781 surrender of the second British army lost in the American Revolution. War between Britain and France allied with Spain dragged on for another two years over their imperial aims called out in the [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)|Treaty of Aranjuez]].{{efn|The Third [[Pacte de Famille|Bourbon Family Pact]] was extended at the secret Treaty of Aranjuez (1779) made without the knowledge or consent of Congress. It obligated Spain to fight after American Independence for French-declared war aims, and to recover Gibraltar for itself from the British, regardless of the Americans achieving independence.<ref>[[#yaniz|Yaniz. 2009]], p. ii.</ref> Spain was an ally of France, but not of America.<ref>[[#yaniz|Yaniz. 2009]], p. i, quoting Frank de Varona in the journal, ''Hispanic Presence in the United States: Historical Beginnings'', Miami.</ref>}} In December 1782, George III spoke from the British throne for US independence. In April 1783, Congress accepted the British-proposed treaty that met its peace demands including independence and sovereignty west to the [[Mississippi River]]. On September 3, 1783, the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] was signed between Great Britain and the United States, recognizing the United States, making peace between the two nations, and formally ending the American Revolution.{{toclimit|5}} {{clear}} == Background and political developments == {{Main|American Revolution}} [[File:Early Localization Native Americans USA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|alt=A map of early Native American language groups, color coded with major tribe names labeled.|<center>Map of North American local tribes and their languages, Algonkin in pink, Iroquoian in purple, Muskegan in red</center>]] [[File:NorthAmerica1762-83.png|thumb|upright=1.0|right|alt=A map of North American claims before and after the Treaty of Paris (1763) for Britain, Spain and France|<center>British and Spanish claims at [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763]], French & Spanish cessions to Britain in pink, France to Spain in yellow</center>]] In the three years 1607–1609, English Jamestown, French Quebec and Spanish Santa Fe were established as North American outposts of three European powers in their ongoing conflict and imperial competition.<ref>[[#kelly|Kelly and Smith, 2007]], p. 1</ref> At the edges of each North American sphere of influence, frontier settlements were interspersed in a babble of languages. From the first English settlement in Virginia north were Algonkin, Iroquoian, Siouan, French and English. Southerly were Iroquoian speakers in the Appalachian Mountains, Souian on the Atlantic coast, Muskegan in the southeast to the Mississippi, Spanish at the Gulf, and English on the seaboard. Just west of the Mississippi River were Siouan, French and Spanish.<ref>[[#gutman|Gutman and Avanzati, 2013]], map, “Native North American Languages Distribution</ref> Early English settlement in Virginia and Massachusetts under [[Elizabeth I]] and successor [[James VI and I|James I]] pointedly recruited veterans from European religious wars in the [[Eighty Years' War]], such as Virginia's Captain [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]]. These brought “hard war” tactics against every foe, whether native, nation-state or pirate, and they effectively schooled their successors in each British North American colony.<ref>[[#kupperman|Kupperman, 2009]], p. 20</ref>{{efn|Many of these same “soldiers of fortune” were also intimately acquainted with the un-Christian nation-like religious tolerance in the 1500s Ottoman Empire of [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], permitting open practice of Christianity and Judaism for a nominal tax. Accounts of Suleyaman’s policy were translated into English by Richard Knolles and published in 1606, The emperor of the Turks honors his own inherited religion, “and yet detesteth hee not the staunge religions of others; but to the contrarie permitteth every man to live according to his conscience.” Merchants in Ottoman port cities ran their own courts governing trade with co-religionists. Ruled from Constantinople (now Istanbul), it was then the largest empire in Europe. Virginia’s Captain John Smith had been held capture there and escaped.<ref>[[#kupperman|Kupperman, 2009]], p. 22</ref>}} Just a decade before the Revolution, the North American [[French and Indian War]] spread to Europe and their imperial territories as the [[Seven Years’ War]].<ref>[[#calloway2007|Calloway, 2007]], p. 4</ref> At the [[Peace of Paris (1763)|1763 Peace of Paris]] ending it, France was removed from North America, Spain expanded north and east to the Mississippi River, and the British formally abandoned the Stuart King colonial charters “from sea to sea”, accepting a western boundary of the “middle of the Mississippi River” with free navigation on it “to the open sea”. The Europeans changed their maps and everything on the American continent was disrupted: military alliances, trade networks, and any former economic stability.<ref>[[#calloway2007|Calloway, 2007]], p. 15</ref> The coming American Revolutionary War was set amidst this already unsettled world. {{clear}} ;Taxation and legislation From their founding in the 17th century, the colonies were largely allowed to govern themselves; unlike the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish Americas]], native-born property owners were allowed to participate in [[Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies|colonial government]]. Although [[London]] managed external affairs, the colonists funded [[Militia (United States)|militia]] for defense against [[New France]] and their [[Indigenous peoples in Quebec|indigenous allies]]. Once this threat ended with the eviction of France from North America in [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763]], disputes arose between [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] and the colonies as to how these expenses should be paid.<ref>[[#bellot|Bellot, 1960]], pp. 73-77</ref> With Britain's enlarged North American empire, the earlier Navigation Acts were expanded from mercantile regulation and repurposed for additional revenue.<ref>[[#morganmorgan|Morgan and Morgan, 1963]], p. 96-97</ref> Parliament sought to expand British American settlement north into Nova Scotia and south into Florida as a hedge against French and Spanish designs respectively. At the [[Proclamation Line of 1763]], British policy was to limit Indian warfare to increase their trade revenue directly to the Crown. But maintaining the frontier peace for interior trade required policing against illicit colonial settlement. And that required British garrisons in the formerly French forts ceded by the Indians. Limiting colonial westward expansion was to be paid for by the Americans themselves by the [[Sugar Act|1764 Sugar Act]] and the [[Stamp Act|1765 Stamp Act]].<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p. 184</ref> [[File:Boston Tea Party Currier colored.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|alt=Two ships in a harbor, one in the distance. On board, men stripped to the waist and wearing feathers in their hair throw crates of tea overboard. A large crowd, mostly men, stands on the dock, waving hats and cheering. A few people wave their hats from windows in a nearby building|<center>19th c. print of the 1774 [[Boston Tea Party]]</center>]] Most of the frontier garrison expense was to be paid by the Sugar Act, which also renewed provisions of the old 1733 [[Molasses Act]].<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p. 183-184</ref> The economic effect was crippling for New England.<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p. 187</ref>{{efn|Eighty-five percent of New England's rum exports worldwide was manufactured from French molasses, prohibited to the French to protect their domestic Brandy industry. When the Lord Rockingham administration abolished the Stamp Act, it also reduced the tax on foreign molasses to one-penny a gallon in an explicit policy to help the New England economy recover and expand.<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p. 187</ref>}} Stamp Act monies were expected to be relatively small, an estimated 16% of American frontier expense. But with the passage of the Stamp Act, an innovative direct tax was placed on official documents. That provoked further unrest among colonists of every description who bought land, practiced law, read newspapers, or gambled with cards or dice.<ref>[[#morganmorgan|Morgan and Morgan, 1963]], p. 96-97</ref>{{efn|Fifty colonial papermakers operating their own mills lost valuable local markets. All paper listed for colonial use had to come from Britain with an embossed stamp.<ref>[[#westlager|Westlager, 1976]], p. 42</ref>}} The taxes had to be paid in scarce gold or silver, not in colonial legislature paper money.<ref>[[#morganmorgan|Morgan and Morgan, 1963]], p. 42</ref> Most dangerously for the Englishman's right to jury trial, the Stamp Act extended Admiralty Court jurisdiction beyond the high seas to violations in colonial ports, with the accused to stand trial in London. The accumulating discontent with Royal collections agents and Admiralty justice culminated in the 1773 [[Boston Tea Party]].<ref>[[#morganmorgan|Morgan and Morgan, 1963]], p. 98</ref>{{efn|Colonial paper had been issued by all the North American colonial legislatures to increase local commerce in the cash-starved business environment. It allowed a limited financial independence from British merchant-creditors, and it permitted local funding for new manufacturers to begin in the otherwise deflated specie-only colonial economies. However the early 18th century practice was gradually ending, because additional paper money issues had been banned since 1764 .<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p. 187</ref>}} The colonial legislatures argued the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] was illegal, since only they had the representative right to impose local taxes within their jurisdictions.<ref>[[#bonwick|Bonwick, 1991]], pp 71-72</ref> They also claimed that their [[Rights of Englishmen|rights as Englishmen]] protected them from taxes imposed by a body in which they had [[no taxation without representation|no actual representation]].<ref>[[#gladney|Gladney, 2014]], p. 5</ref> Prime Minister [[George Grenville]]'s defense to the effect that the colonies had a "[[virtual representation]]" in Parliament was dismissed on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref name="google1">[[#dickinson1977|Dickinson, 1977]], p. 218</ref> Although the [[Chatham ministry]] of Whig [[William Pitt the Elder]] repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 to widespread rejoicing, it simultaneously [[Declaratory Act|re-affirmed Parliament's right]] to tax the colonies in the future.<ref>[[#McIlwain|McIlwain, 1938]], p. 51</ref> [[File:Philip Dawe (attributed), The Bostonians Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring and Feathering (1774) - 02.jpg|thumb |upright=0.9 |alt=In the foreground, five leering men of the Sons of Liberty are holding down a Loyalist Commissioner of Customs agent, one holding a club. The agent is tarred and feathered, and they are pouring scalding hot tea down his throat. In the middle ground is the Boston Liberty Tree with a noose hanging from it. In the background, is a merchant ship with protestors throwing tea overboard into the habor. |<center>Loyalist [[John Malcolm (Loyalist)|John Malcolm]], Boston Commissioner of Customs, tarred and feathered by [[Sons of Liberty]].</center>]] The 1767 [[Townshend Acts]] instituted new taxes on tea, lead, glass, and paper, but collection proved increasingly difficult. With the new revenue taxes came an enforcement policy from Parliament meant expressly for the American colonies and their widespread smuggling among the islands held by the Dutch, French, Spanish, and even other British colonies in the Caribbean Sea. The “Writs of Assistance” allowed British agent to arbitrarily conduct searches without warrants. The Writs had been challenged in a ruling by [[James Otis Sr.]] in the Superior Court of Massachusetts. But on appeal to London the next year in 1762, Writs of Assistance for the colonies were upheld. For five years after the renewed 1767 enforcement, the Writs were challenged again in all thirteen colonial courts. In eight superior colonial courts they were refused. Where the colonial plaintiffs won, they were subsequently all overturned again in London.<ref>[[#wallenfeldt|Wallenfeldt 2015]], “Writ of Assistance”</ref> When the British royal authorities seized the sloop ''[[HMS Liberty (1768)|Liberty]]'' in 1768 on suspicion of smuggling, it triggered a riot in Boston. Relations between Parliament and the colonies worsened after [[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]] became [[Prime Minister]] in January 1770, an office he held until just after the British defeat at [[Siege of Yorktown (1781)|Yorktown]]. He pursued tougher policies, including a threat to charge colonists with [[Treason Act 1543|treason]], although there was no support for this in Parliament; tensions then escalated in March 1770 when British troops fired on rock-throwing civilians [[Boston Massacre|in Boston]].<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p.23</ref> After the 1772 [[Gaspee Affair]] when a customs vessel was destroyed in [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island]], Parliament repealed all taxes other than that [[Tea Act|on tea]]. Partly designed to undercut illegal imports, it was also recognized as another attempt to assert their right to tax the colonies, so it did nothing to quiet opposition.<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 155–156</ref> Following the [[Sons of Liberty]] protest at the [[Boston Tea Party]] in December 1773, Parliament passed a series of measures called the [[Intolerable Acts]]. While intended to narrowly punish [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], they were widely viewed as a threat to the liberty of all the colonies and gained widespread support among the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]] in America and among the Whig Opposition in Parliament.<ref>[[#ammerman|Ammerman, 1974]], p 15</ref> {{clear}} ;Colonial response [[File:Patrick Henry speaking before the Virginia Assembly.tiff|thumb|left|upright=1.0|alt=Patrick Henry giving his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech before Virginia's Revolutionary "Second Convention" in Richmond, Virginia|<center>[[Patrick Henry|P. Henry]], [[Virginia Conventions#First through fourth Revolutionary conventions|2nd Virginia Convention]]<br />“Give me liberty or give me death!”</center>]] The elected members in the Royal colonial legislatures, those who represented the smaller landowners in the lower-house assemblies, responded by establishing ad hoc provincial legislatures, variously called Congresses, Conventions and Conferences. They effectively removed Crown control within their respective colonies. Twelve sent representatives to the [[First Continental Congress]] to develop a joint American response to the crisis. {{efn|Georgia did not attend.}}<ref>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], p. 112</ref> It passed [[Continental Association|a compact]] declaring a [[Economic sanctions|trade boycott]] against Britain.<ref name="Kramnick21">[[#kramnick82|Paine, Kramnick (Ed.), 1982]], p. 21</ref><ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 338–339</ref>{{efn|An alternative plan called for an imperial legislature made up both of Parliament and of a new North American "Grand Council" that would be equivalent to Parliament. It was rejected in Congress by a six to five vote on October 22, 1774. Some of its earlier support may have been chilled at the arrival of the Massachusetts [[Suffolk Resolves|Suffolk County Resolves]] petitioning for economic boycott, no British tax payments, and calling up local militias by the rump colonial legislatures comprised only of the elected representatives.}}<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 338</ref> While the Congress also affirmed that Parliament had no authority over internal American matters, they also acquiesced to trade regulations for the benefit of the empire.{{efn|"Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council: … they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, …: But, … we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British parliament, as are bonafide, restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members; excluding every idea of taxation internal or external, [without the consent of American subjects]." quoted from the [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/resolves.asp Declarations and Resolves of the First Continental Congress] October 14, 1774.}} Awaiting some measure of reconciliation from Parliament and the King's Tory government, Congress authorized the extralegal committees and conventions of the colonial legislatures to enforce the Congressional boycott. In the event, the boycott was effective, as imports from Britain dropped by 97% in 1775 compared to 1774.<ref name="Kramnick21"/> [[File:Washington promotion by Continental Congress.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|left|alt=George Washington standing to receive his appointment as Continental Army commander-in-chief. John Adams nominated him, seated second to the right of Washington in a blue coat, at the First Continental Congress|[[George Washington|Washington]] nominated commander<br />by [[John Adams|Adams]]{{efn|George Washington standing to receive the appointment, John Adams in a blue coat, two figures to the right of him}}, [[First Continental Congress|1st Continental Congress]]]] Parliament refused to yield to Congressional proposals. In 1775, it declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion and enforced a blockade of the colony.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 62–64</ref> It then passed the [[Restraining Acts 1775|Restraining Acts of 1775]] aimed at limiting colonial trade to the [[British West Indies]] and the British Isles. New England ships were barred from the Newfoundland cod fisheries. These increasing tensions led to a [[Powder Alarm|mutual scramble for ordnance]] between royal governors and the elected assemblies. British raids on [[Quarterpath Road#Colonial era|colonial powder magazines]] pushed the assemblies towards open war. Each assembly was required by law to defend them for the purpose of providing arms and ammunition for frontier defense.<ref>[[#axelrod|Axelrod, 2009]], p. 83</ref> [[Thomas Gage]] was appointed the British [[Commander-in-Chief, North America|Commander-in-Chief]] for North America. As military governor of Massachusetts he was ordered to disarm the local militias on April 14, 1775.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, p. 76</ref> On April 19, the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] were fought between Massachusetts militia and British regulars, with scores of casualties. {{clear}} ;Political reactions {{Main|Olive Branch Petition|United States Declaration of Independence}} After fighting began, Congress launched an [[Olive Branch Petition]] in another attempt to avert war. George III rejected the offer as insincere because Congress also made contingency plans for muskets and gunpowder.<ref>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], p. 38, 113</ref> The King answered militia resistance at Bunker Hill with a [[Proclamation of Rebellion]], which further provoked the Patriot faction in Congress.<ref>Ketchum, 2014a, p. 211</ref> Parliament rejected coercive measures on the colonies by 170 votes.<ref name=maier25>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], p. 25</ref> The tentative [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] majority there feared an aggressive policy would drive the Americans towards independence.<ref name=maier25/> [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]] stiffened their resistance to compromise,<ref>[[#middlekauff|Middlekauff, 2007&nbsp;&nbsp;[1984] ]], p. 168</ref><ref>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], pp. 123–124</ref> and the King himself began micromanaging the war effort.<ref>[[#nessy|O'Shaughnessy, 2013]], p. 186</ref> The [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] pledged to send troops to America, and Irish Catholics were allowed to enlist in the army for the first time.<ref name="Lecky 162–65">[[#lecky|Lecky, 1892]], vol. 3, pp. 162–165</ref>{{efn|[[Irish Protestants]] who had been among the families immigrating to the colonies favored the Americans, while [[Irish Catholic|Catholics]] who were generally disenfranchised there favored the King.<ref>[[#morley2002|Morley, 2002]], pp. 154–57</ref>}} The [[Boston campaign|initial hostilities]] in Boston caused a pause in British activity, they remained in New York City awaiting more troops.<ref name="Ketchum208_9">Ketchum, 2014 [1973], pp. 208–09</ref> That inactive response gave the Patriots a political advantage in the colonial assemblies, and the British lost control over every former colony.<ref name="John C. Miller 1959 410–12">[[#miller1959|Miller, J. 1959]], pp. 410–12</ref> The army in the British Isles had been deliberately kept small [[Glorious Revolution|since 1688]] to prevent abuses of power by the King.<ref name=scheer64>[[#scheer1959|Scheer & Rankin, 1959]], p. 64</ref> To prepare for war overseas, Parliament signed treaties of subsidy with small German states for [[Hessian (soldier)|additional troops]].<ref name="Lowell, Edward J 1884">[[#lowell84|Lowell, 1884]], p. 20</ref> Within a year it had sent an army of 32,000 men to America.<ref>[[#smithD2012|Smith, D. 2012]], pp. 21–23</ref>{{efn|That number was the largest army it had ever sent outside Europe at the time.}} At the onset of the war, the [[Second Continental Congress]] realized that they would need foreign alliances and intelligence-gathering capability to defeat a world power like Britain. To this end, they formed the [[Committee of Secret Correspondence]] which operated from 1775 to 1776 for "the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain and other parts of the world". Through secret correspondence the Committee shared information and forged alliances with persons in France, England and throughout America. It employed secret agents in Europe to gather foreign intelligence, conduct undercover operations, analyze foreign publications, and initiate American propaganda campaigns to gain Patriot support.<ref name=cia2011>[[#cia|CIA, 2011, Historical Document]]</ref> Members included [[Thomas Paine]], the committee's secretary, and [[Silas Deane]] who was instrumental in securing French aid in Paris.<ref>[[#alexrose|Rose, A. 2014]]&nbsp;[2006], p. 43</ref>{{efn|During this time [[Benjamin Church (physician)|Benjamin Church]], an assumed trusted patriot, was giving the British information on patriot troop strength and positions.<ref>[[#french1932|French, 1932]], p. 28</ref>}} [[File:Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=The artist's recreation of the Declaration signing with portraits of the entire Second Congress, as though all members were present. The Committee of Five are standing centered together presenting a parchment on the table.|<center>The [[Committee of Five]] for the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration]]<br>[[John Adams|Adams]], [[Roger Sherman|Sherman]], [[Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)|Livingston]],<br>[[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]], [[Benjamin Franklin|Franklin]] (l-r presenting) </center>]] [[Thomas Paine]]'s pamphlet ''[[Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]'' boosted public support for independence throughout the thirteen colonies, and it was widely reprinted.<ref>[[#christie|Christie, 1976]], pp. 31–32</ref><ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], pp. 33–34</ref> At the rejection of the Olive Branch Petition, Congress appointed the [[Committee of Five]] consisting of [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[John Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Roger Sherman]] and [[Robert Livingston (chancellor)|Robert Livingston]]<ref>[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]], pp.119-122</ref> to draft a [[Declaration of Independence]] to politically separate the United States from Britain. The document argued for government by consent of the governed on the authority of the people of the thirteen colonies as "one people", along with a long list indicting George III as violating English rights.<ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], pp. 55-56, 99–105</ref><ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 112, 118</ref><ref>[https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript National Archives: Declaration of Independence, 1776]</ref> On July 2, Congress voted for independence, and it published the declaration on July 4<ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], pp. 160–61</ref> which George Washington read to assembled troops in New York City on July 9.<ref>[[#fischer2004|Fischer, D. 2004]], p. 29</ref> Later that evening a mob tore down a lead statue of the King, which was later melted down into musket balls.<ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], pp. 156–157</ref> At this point, the American Revolution passed from its "colonial war" stage as thirteen colonies in Congress contesting the economic rules of empire with the Mother Country, to a second stage, one of civil war. The self-proclaimed states through their delegates assembled in Congress engaged in a military, political, and economic struggle against Great Britain. Politically and militarily, there were in every colony and county, a mix of Patriots (Whigs) and Loyalists (Tories) who now went to war against their neighbors.<ref name=mays2>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 2</ref> Patriots were those who supported independence from Britain in their states and a new national union in Congress. Loyalists remained faithful to British imperial rule. Loyalists were usually minorities in each population, the appointed colonial officials, licensed merchants, Anglican churchmen, and the politically traditional. They were concentrated around port cities, on the New England Iroquois frontier and in the South near Cherokee settlement.<ref name=mays2/> Tories saw any subjects of the King who pretended to remove their ruler for whatever reasons as committing treason, and George III was encouraged to convict those responsible with the death penalty.<ref>[[#maier1998|Maier, 1998]], p. 152</ref> In each state legislature, Patriots responded to the Loyalist challenge by passing Test Laws that required all residents to swear allegiance to their state.<ref>[[#boatner74|Boatner, 1974]], p.1094</ref> These were meant to identify neutrals or to drive opponents of independence into self-exile. Failure to take the oath meant possible imprisonment, forced exile, or even death.<ref>[[#jasanoff2012|Jasanoff, 2012]], p. 28</ref> American Tories were barred from public office, forbidden from practicing medicine and law, or forced to pay increased taxes. Some could not execute wills or become guardians.<ref>[[#bonwick|Bonwick, 1991]], p. 152</ref><ref>[[#morris1982|Morris, R.B. and J.B. Morris, 1982]], p. 130</ref> Congress enabled states to confiscate Loyalist property to fund the war,<ref>[[callahan|Callahan, 1967]], p. 120</ref> and some [[Quaker]]s who remained neutral had their property confiscated. States later prevented some Loyalists from collecting any debts that they were owed.<ref>[[#dunaway|Dunaway 2015]], vol. 1, p. 9</ref> {{clear}} ==War in America== {{Further|Invasion of Quebec (1775)|Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War#Early operations, 1775–1778}} As the American Revolutionary War was to unfold in North America, there were two principal campaign theaters within the thirteen states, and a smaller but strategically important one west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. The full-on military campaigning began in the states north of Maryland, and fighting was most frequent and severest there between 1775 and 1778. Patriots achieved several strategic victories in the South, the British lost their first army at Saratoga, and the French entered the war as a US ally. After wintering at [[Valley Forge]], from the 1778 [[Battle of Monmouth]], Washington stalemated British initiatives into a series of raids, containing the British army in New York City. In 1778, Spanish-supplied Virginia Col. [[George Rogers Clark]], Francophone settlers and their Indian allies conquered Western Quebec, the US [[Northwest Territory]]. Starting in 1779, the British initiated a southern strategy to begin at Savannah, gather Loyalist support, and reoccupy Patriot-controlled territory north to the Chesapeake Bay. The Americans lost an army in their greatest defeat at Charleston in 1780. British maneuvering north led to a combined American and French force cornering a second British army at [[Battle of Yorktown]], and their surrender effectively ended the Revolutionary War.<ref>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 3</ref> {{clear}} ===Early engagements=== Sir [[Thomas Gage]], the British Commander-in-Chief in America 1763-1775 and sitting Governor of Massachusetts, gathered intelligence of a Patriot plan to destroy stores of militia ordnance at [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]]. He set out to secure the stores there by way of [[Lexington, Massachusetts|Lexington]] to capture [[John Hancock]] and [[Samuel Adams]], the two principal provocateurs of the rebellion. The operation was to commence before midnight while completing their objectives and retreating to Boston before multitudes of patriot militias could respond. However, the patriots had a good intelligence network of their own, which Paul Revere had helped organize. Subsequently, the Patriots learned of Gage's intentions before he could act, where Revere quickly dispatched this information and alerted Captain [[John Parker (captain)|John Parker]] and the patriot forces in Concord.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 29</ref><ref>Fischer, D. 2004, p. 85</ref> [[File:British Army in Concord Detail.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A birds-eye view of a long column of British soldiers marching by regiment along a road just outside of Boston|<center>The British marching to Concord</center>]] Fighting broke out during the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] on April 19, when patriots [[The shot heard round the world|fired the first shot]] forcing the British troops to conduct a fighting withdrawal to Boston. Overnight, the local militia converged on and [[Siege of Boston|laid siege to Boston]].<ref>[[#ketchum2014|Ketchum, 2014a]], pp. 18, 54</ref> On May 25, 4,500 British reinforcements arrived with generals [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]], [[John Burgoyne]], and [[Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)|Henry Clinton]].<ref>[[#ketchum2014|Ketchum, 2014a]], pp. 2–9</ref> During the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]] the British seized the [[Charlestown Peninsula]] on June 17 with a frontal assault costing many officer casualties to American rifle snipers.<ref>[[#ketchum2014|Ketchum, 2014a]], p. 110–111</ref><ref>[[#adams63|Adams, 1963&nbsp;&nbsp;[1895-1896] ]], pp. 401–413</ref> Surviving British commanders were dismayed at the costly attack which had gained them little,<ref>[[#ketchum2014|Ketchum, 2014a]], pp. 183, 198–209</ref> and Gage appealed to London stressing the need for a large army to suppress the revolt.<ref>[[#rankin|Rankin, 1987]], p. 63</ref> Total British losses killed and wounded exceeded 1,000, leading Howe to replace Gage.<ref>[[#higginbotham1983|Higginbotham, 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], pp. 75–77</ref> Congressional leader [[John Adams]] of Massachusetts nominated Virginia delegate [[George Washington]] for commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in June 1775. He had previously commanded Virginia militia regiments in British combat commands during the [[French and Indian War]].<ref name="Taylor 2016">[[#taylor2016|Taylor, 2016]], pp. 141–142</ref><ref>[[#burke75|Davis, B. 1975]], pp. 11–13</ref> Washington proceeded to Boston to assume field command of the ongoing [[Siege of Boston]] on July 3.<ref name=gardner3>[[#bell2005|Bell, 2005]], pp. 3–4</ref> Howe made no effort to attack in a standoff with Washington,<ref>[[#lecky|Lecky, 1892]], vol. 3, pp. 449–450</ref> who made no plan to assault the city.<ref>[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]], p. 53</ref> Instead, the Americans [[Fortification of Dorchester Heights|fortified Dorchester Heights]]. In early March 1776, Colonel Henry Knox arrived with [[Noble train of artillery|heavy artillery]] captured from a [[Capture of Fort Ticonderoga|raid on Fort Ticonderoga]].<ref name="Frothingham100">[[#Frothingham|Frothingham 1903]], pp. 100–01</ref> Under cover of darkness Washington placed his artillery atop Dorchester Heights March 5,<ref>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], p. 183</ref> threatening Boston and the British ships in the harbor. Howe did not want another battle like Gage's Bunker Hill, so he evacuated Boston. The British were [[Evacuation Day (Massachusetts)|permitted to withdraw]] without further casualties on March 17, and they sailed to [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], Nova Scotia. Washington then moved his army south to [[New York City|New York]].<ref>[[#alden1969|Alden, 1969]], pp. 188–190</ref> Beginning in August 1775, American Privateers had begun to raid villages in Nova Scotia, first at [[Raid on St. John (1775)|Saint John]], then [[Raid on Charlottetown (1775)|Charlottetown]] and [[Raid on Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (1775)|Yarmouth]]. They continued in 1776 at [[Raid on Canso (1776)|Canso]] and then a land assault on [[Battle of Fort Cumberland|Fort Cumberland]]. [[File:Canadian militiamen and British soldiers repulse the American assault at Sault-au-Matelot.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|alt=Snow-covered street fighting of British and Tory Provincials repulsing an American assault|British regulars and Canadian militia repulse American attack on [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Quebec]]]] Meanwhile, British officials in [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Quebec]] began negotiating with Indian tribes to support them,<ref>[[#smith1907Ja|Smith, J. 1907, vol 1]], p. 293</ref> while the Americans urged them to maintain neutrality.<ref>[[#Glatthaar|Glatthaar 2007]], p. 91, 93</ref> In April 1775, Congress feared an Anglo-Indian attack from Canada and authorized an invasion of Quebec. Quebec had a largely [[Francophone]] population and had been under British rule for only 12 years.<ref>[[#smithJ1907a|Smith, J. 1907, vol 1]], p. 242</ref><ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 504–505</ref>{{efn|Quebec was officially [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|ceded in 1763]]}} A Massachusetts sponsored uprising in [[Battle of Fort Cumberland (1776)|Nova Scotia]] had been disbursed in November, but The Americans expected that they would welcome liberation from the British.<ref>[[#smithJ1907a|Smith, J. 1907, vol 1]], p. 242</ref> The second American expedition into the former French territory was defeated at the [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Quebec]] on December 31.<ref>[[#alden1976|Alden, 1976]], p. 206</ref><ref>[[#randall'mhq|Randall, 1990]], pp. 38-39</ref> After a loose siege, the Americans withdrew on May 6, 1776.<ref>[[#lanctot|Lanctot]], 1967]], pp. 141–46</ref> An American [[Battle of Trois-Rivières|failed counter-attack]] on June 8 ended their operations in Quebec.<ref>[[#stanley|Stanley, 2006]], pp. 127–28</ref> However, British pursuit was blocked by American ships on Lake Champlain until they were cleared on October 11 at the [[Battle of Valcour Island]]. The American troops were forced to withdraw to [[Fort Ticonderoga|Ticonderoga]], ending the campaign. The invasion cost the Patriots their support in British public opinion,<ref>[[#watsonclark|Watson and Clark, 1960]], p.203</ref> and their aggressive anti-Loyalist policies had diluted Canadian support.<ref>[[#lefkowitz2007|Lefkowitz, 2007]], pp. 264–265</ref> No further Patriot attempts to invade were subsequently made.<ref>[[#smithJ1907b|Smith, J. 1907, vol 2]], pp. 459–552</ref> In [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]], Royal Governor [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore|Lord Dunmore]] had attempted to [[Gunpowder Incident|disarm the militia]] as tensions increased, although no fighting broke out.<ref>[[#selby2007|Selby, 2007]], p. 2</ref> He [[Dunmore's Proclamation|issued a proclamation]] on November 7, 1775, promising freedom for slaves who fled their Patriot masters to fight for the Crown.<ref name="The First Emancipator">[[#levy2007|Levy, 2007]], p. 74</ref><ref>[[#scribner|Scribner, 1988]], p. xxiv</ref> Dunmore's troops were repulsed at the [[Battle of Great Bridge]], and Dunmore fled to British ships anchored off the nearby port at Norfolk. The [[Third Virginia Convention]] refused to disband its militia or accept martial law. Speaker [[Peyton Randolph]] in the last Royal Virginia Assembly session did not make a response to Lord Dunmore concerning Parliament's [[Conciliatory Resolution]]. Negotiations failed in part because Randolph was also President of the Virginia Conventions, and he deferred to Congress, where he was also President. Dunmore ordered the ship's crews to [[Burning of Norfolk|burn Norfolk]] on January 1, 1776.<ref>Russell, 2000, p. 73</ref> [[File:Battle_of_Sullivans_Island.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|alt=Continental Sergeant Jasper of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, on a parapet raising the fort's South Carolina Revolutionary flag with its white crescent moon.|<center>Sgt. Jasper raising the fort's flag,<br />[[Battle of Sullivan's Island]], June 1776</center>]] [[Siege of Savage's Old Fields|Fighting broke out]] on November 19 in [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] between Loyalist and Patriot militias,<ref>[[#mccrady1775|McCrady, 1901]], p. 89</ref> and the Loyalists were subsequently [[Snow Campaign|driven out of the colony]].<ref>[[#landrum1897|Landrum, 1897]], pp. 80–81</ref> Loyalists were recruited in [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] to reassert colonial rule in the South, but they were [[Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge|decisively defeated]] and Loyalist sentiment was subdued.<ref>[[#wilson2005|Wilson, 2005]], p. 33</ref> A troop of British [[Regular military|regulars]] set out to reconquer South Carolina and launched an attack on Charleston during the [[Battle of Sullivan's Island]], on June 28, 1776,<ref>[[#hibbert|Hibbert, 2008]], p. 106</ref> but it failed and left the South in Patriot control until 1780.<ref>[[#kepner1945|Kepner, 1945]], pp. 93–103</ref><ref>[[#bicheno14|Bicheno, 2014]], pp. 154, 158</ref> Shortages in Patriot gunpowder led Congress to authorize an expedition against [[the Bahamas]] colony in the British West Indies to secure additional ordnance there.<ref>[[#field|Field, 1898]], p. 104</ref> On March 3, 1776, the Americans landed and engaged the British at the [[Battle of Nassau]], but the local militia offered no resistance.<ref>[[#mccusker1997|McCusker, 1997]], pp. 185–87</ref> The expedition confiscated what supplies they could and sailed for home on March 17.<ref>[[#field|Field, 1898]], pp. 117–18</ref> The squadron reached [[New London, Connecticut]], on April 8, after a brief skirmish during the [[Battle of Block Island]] with the Royal Navy frigate {{HMS|Glasgow|1757|6}} on April 6.<ref>[[#field|Field, 1898]], pp. 120–25</ref> {{clear}} ===British New York counter-offensive=== {{Main|New York and New Jersey campaign}} [[File:BattleofLongisland.jpg|thumb|alt=Continental infantry firing a volley kneeling behind a stone wall, their captain standing with a sword; their flag has a dark green field with a canton of thirteen alternating red and white stripes.|<center>Americans at [[Battle of Long Island|Long Island]], 1776</center>]] After regrouping at Halifax, William Howe determined to take the fight to the Americans.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 76–78</ref> He set sail in June 1776 and began landing troops on [[Staten Island]] near the entrance to [[New York Harbor]] on July 2. The Americans rejected Howe's informal attempt to negotiate peace July 30.<ref>[[#ketchum73|Ketchum, 2014]]&nbsp;[1973], p. 104</ref> Facing off against the British at New York City, Washington realized that he needed advance information to deal with disciplined British regular troops. On August 12, 1776, [[Thomas Knowlton]] was given orders to form an elite group for reconnaissance and secret missions. [[Knowlton's Rangers]] became the Army's first intelligence unit.<ref>[[#johnston1897|Johnston, 1897]], p. 61</ref> When Washington split his army to positions on [[Manhattan Island]] and across the [[East River]] in western [[Long Island]],<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 89, 381</ref> on August 27 at the [[Battle of Long Island]] Howe outflanked Washington and forced him back to [[Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn|Brooklyn Heights]], but he did not attempt to encircle Washington's forces.<ref name="Adams, Charles Francis 1896 p. 657">[[#adams63|Adams, 1896&nbsp;&nbsp;[1963] ]], p. 657</ref> Through the night of August 28, General [[Henry Knox]] bombarded the British. On August 29, an American council of war all agreed to retreat to Manhattan. Washington quickly had his troops assembled and ferried them across the East River to Manhattan on flat-bottomed [[Bateau|freight boats]] without any losses in men or ordnance, with General [[Thomas Mifflin]]'s regiments in the rear guard.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 88–102</ref><ref>[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]]. pp. 184–186</ref> The [[Staten Island Peace Conference]] failed to negotiate peace as the British delegates did not have authority to recognize independence to meet the rebel demands.<ref>[[#ketchum73|Ketchum, 2014]]&nbsp;[1973], p. 117</ref><ref>[[#mcguire2011|McGuire, 2011]], pp. 165–166</ref> Howe [[Landing at Kip's Bay|seized control]] of New York City on September 15 and unsuccessfully [[Battle of Harlem Heights|engaged the Americans]] the following day.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 102–07</ref> He failed to encircle the Americans at the [[Battle of Pell's Point]], then the Americans successfully withdrew. Howe declined to close with Washington's army on October 28 at the [[Battle of White Plains]], but instead concentrated his efforts on a hill that was of no strategic value.<ref name="Fischer 2004, pp. 102–11">[[#fischer2004|Fischer, D. 2004]], pp.&nbsp;102–111</ref><ref>[[#schecter|Schecter, 2003]], p. 258</ref> [[File:Forcing a Passage of the Hudson.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Sailing ships on the Hudson River from afar, the scene emphases the two tall bluffs overlooking either side of the Hudson Narrows.|British forced Hudson River narrows]] Washington's retreat had left his remaining forces isolated, and the British captured their [[Battle of Fort Washington|Fort Washington]] on November 16. The British victory there took 3,000 prisoners and amounted to Washington's most disastrous defeat.<ref>Ketchum 2014 [1973], pp. 111, 130</ref> Washington's remaining army on Long Island fell back four days later.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 109–25</ref> [[Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)|Henry Clinton]] wanted to pursue Washington's disorganized army, but he was required to commit 6,000 troops to first capture [[Newport, Rhode Island]] in an operation that he had opposed.<ref name=mccullough2005>[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]], p. 122</ref><ref name="Stedman, Charles 1794 p. 221">[[#stedman1|Stedman, 1794, Vol. 1]], p. 221</ref> The American prisoners were subsequently sent to the [[Prisoners in the American Revolutionary War#Prison Ships|infamous prison ships]] where more American soldiers and sailors died of disease and neglect than died in every battle of the war combined.<ref>[[#lowenthal2009|Lowenthal, 2009]], pp. 61, 131</ref> [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]] pursued Washington, but Howe ordered him to halt and Washington marched away unmolested.<ref>[[#tucker2002|Tucker, 2002]], pp.22–23</ref><ref>[[#stedman1|Stedman, 1794, Vol. 1]], p. 223</ref> The outlook was bleak for the American cause; the reduced army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men and that number would be reduced further when enlistments expired at the end of the year.<ref>[[#schecter|Schecter, 2003]], pp. 266–67</ref> Popular support wavered, morale ebbed away, and Congress abandoned [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]].<ref name="Fischer, pp. 138–42">Fischer, D. 2004, pp. 138–42</ref> Loyalist activity surged in the wake of the American defeat, especially in New York.<ref>[[#morris1982|Morris, R.B. and J.B. Morris, 1982]], p. 139</ref> Once Washington was driven out of New York, he realized that he would need more than military might and amateur spies to defeat the British and earnestly made efforts to professionalize military intelligence with the aid of [[Benjamin Tallmadge]]. They created the [[Culper Ring|Culper spy ring]] of six men.{{efn|Tallmadge's cover name became John Bolton, and he was the architech of the spy ring.<ref name=baker12/> }} [[File:Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851.jpg|thumb|alt=Washington standing up in a freight boat crossing a windy river filled with winter chunks of ice.|<center>''[[Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851 painting)|Washington Crossing the Delaware]]''</center>]] News of the campaign was well received in Britain with festivities held in London, public support reached a peak,<ref>[[#lecky4|Lecky, Vol.4, 1891]], pp. 70–78</ref><ref name="m195">[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]], p. 195</ref> and the King awarded the [[Order of the Bath]] to Howe. The successes led to predictions that the British could win within a year.<ref>[[#ketchum73|Ketchum, 2014]]&nbsp;[1973], pp. 191, 269</ref> Strategic deficiencies among Patriot forces were evident by Washington's dividing a numerically weaker army in the face of a stronger one, inexperienced staff misreading the situation, and their troops fleeing in the face of enemy fire.<ref>[[#adams63|Adams, 1963&nbsp;&nbsp;[1895–1896] ]], pp. 650–670</ref> In the meantime, the British entered winter quarters and were in a good place to resume campaigning.<ref>[[#schecter|Schecter, 2003]], pp. 259–63</ref> On the night of December 25–26, 1776, Washington [[Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|crossed]] the ice-choked Delaware River and [[Battle of Trenton|surprised and overwhelmed]] the [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] garrison at Trenton, New Jersey, and taking 900 prisoners.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp.&nbsp;206–59</ref>{{efn|Casualty numbers vary slightly with the Hessian forces, usually between 21–23 killed, 80–95 wounded, and 890–920 captured (including the wounded).<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, p. 254</ref>}} The decisive victory rescued the army's flagging morale and gave a new hope to the Patriot cause.<ref>[[#wood1995|Wood, 1995]], pp. 72–74</ref> Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton, but his efforts were repulsed in the [[Battle of the Assunpink Creek]] on January 2.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, p. 307</ref><ref>Ketchum 2014 [1973], p. 286</ref> Washington outmaneuvered Cornwallis that night and [[Battle of Princeton|defeated his rearguard]] the following day. The two victories contributed to convincing the French that the Americans were worthwhile allies.<ref>[[#ketchum73|Ketchum, 2014]]&nbsp;[1973], pp. 388–389</ref><ref>[[#schecter|Schecter, 2003]], p. 268</ref><ref>[[#mccullough2005|McCullough, 2005]], p. 290</ref> Washington entered winter quarters at [[Morristown, New Jersey]] on January 6,<ref>[[#lengel2005|Lengel, 2005]], p. 208</ref> though a prolonged [[Forage War|guerrilla conflict]] continued.<ref>Fischer, D. 2004, pp.&nbsp;345–58</ref> Howe made no attempt to attack, much to Washington's amazement.<ref name="Lecky, William 1891 p. 57">[[#lecky4|Lecky, Vol.4, 1891]] p.57</ref> {{clear}} ===British northern strategy fails=== {{Main|Saratoga campaign|Philadelphia campaign}} In December 1776, [[John Burgoyne]] returned to London to set strategy with [[George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville|Lord George Germain]]. Burgoyne's plan was to isolate New England by establishing control of the Great Lakes from New York to Quebec. Efforts could then concentrate on the southern colonies, where it was believed that Loyalist support was widespread and substantial.<ref name="K84">[[#ketchum97|Ketchum, 1997]], p. 84</ref> [[File:Surrender of General Burgoyne.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|alt=In an American army camp, of two British red-coated officers with white pants on the left, British General Burgoyne offers his sword in surrender to the American General Gates in a blue coat and buff pants to the right-center, flanked to the right by US Colonel Morgan dressed all in white.|"[[Battles of Saratoga|The Surrender at Saratoga]]", Gen. [[John Burgoyne]] (l.), to Gen. [[Horatio Gates]]]] Burgoyne's plan was to maneuver two armies by different routes and rendezvous at [[Albany, New York]].<ref>[[#ketchum97|Ketchum, 1997]], p.84</ref> Burgoyne set out along Lake Champlain on June 14, 1777, [[Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777)|quickly capturing Ticonderoga]] on July 5. From there the pace slowed. The Americans blocked roads, destroyed bridges, dammed streams, and stripped the area of food.<ref name="K249">[[#ketchum97|Ketchum 1997]], pp. 244–49</ref> Meanwhile, [[Barry St. Ledger]]'s diversionary column along the Mohawk River [[Siege of Fort Stanwix|laid siege to Fort Stanwix]]. St. Ledger withdrew to Quebec on August 22 after his [[Battle of Oriskany|Indian support abandoned him]]. On August 16, a [[Germans in the American Revolution#Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ("Brunswick")|Brunswick]] foraging expedition was [[Battle of Bennington|soundly defeated at Bennington]], and more than 700 troops were captured.<ref>[[#gabriel2012|Gabriel, 2012]], p. x</ref> The vast majority of Burgoyne's Indian support then abandoned him in the field, but Lord Howe informed him that he would still launch their planned campaign on Philadelphia, but without his support from New York.<ref name="K283">[[#ketchum97|Ketchum 1997]], p. 283</ref> Burgoyne continued the advance, and he attempted to flank the American position at Freeman's Farm on September 19 in the [[Battles of Saratoga#First Saratoga|First Battle of Saratoga]]. The British won, but at the cost of 600 casualties. Burgoyne then dug in, but he suffered a constant hemorrhage of deserters, and critical supplies ran low.<ref>[[#ketchum97|Ketchum, 1997]], pp. 337–78</ref> The Americans repulsed a British [[reconnaissance in force]] against the American lines on October 7, with heavy British losses during the [[Battles of Saratoga#Second Saratoga|second Battle of Saratoga]]. Burgoyne then withdrew in the face of American pursuit, but he was surrounded by October 13. With supplies exhausted and no hope of relief, Burgoyne surrendered his army on October 17, and the Americans took 6,222 soldiers as prisoners of war.<ref>[[#ketchum97|Ketchum, 1997]], pp. 403–25</ref> [[File:Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|alt=Two US officers on horseback on a snow-covered road, the sentry for a campsite standing in the snow at left, then to the right Washington mounted then Lafayette.|<center>[[George Washington|Washington]] & [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette|Lafayette]] inspecting troops at [[Valley Forge]]</center>]] Meanwhile, Howe took command of a New York-based [[Philadelphia campaign|campaign against Washington]]. Early feints failed to bring Washington to battle in June 1777.<ref>[[#stedman1|Stedman, 1794, Vol. 1]], pp. 287–89</ref> Howe then declined to attack towards Philadelphia further, either overland via New Jersey or by sea via the [[Delaware Bay]], leaving Burgoyne's initiative launched from the interior unsupported. Later in the fall with additional supplies, Howe recommenced the Philadelphia campaign. This time on advancing, he [[Battle of Brandywine|outflanked and defeated Washington]] on September 11, but failed to pursue and destroy the defeated Americans on two occasions; once after the [[Battle of Brandywine]],<ref name="Adams, Charles Francis p. 43">[[#adams1911|Adams, 1911]], p. 43</ref> and again after the [[Battle of Germantown]].<ref>[[#higginbotham1983|Higginbotham, 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], p. 181</ref> A [[Battle of Paoli|British victory at Willistown]] left Philadelphia defenseless, and Howe captured the city unopposed on September 26. He then moved 9,000 men to [[Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Germantown]] north of Philadelphia.<ref>[[#ward1952|Ward, C. 1952]], p. 362</ref> Washington [[Battle of Germantown|launched a surprise attack]] there on Howe's garrison on October 4, but he was eventually repulsed.<ref>[[#taaffe|Taaffe, 2003]], pp. 95–100</ref> Once again, Howe did not follow up on his victory.<ref>[[#rose2013|Rose, M. 2013]], p. 20</ref> [[File:Baron_Steuben_drilling_troops_at_Valley_Forge_by_E_A_Abbey.png|thumb|upright=1.1|left|alt=From the left armed with muskets, a standing rank of six US infantry, a kneeling rank of six infantry, then standing facing them from the right are General von Steuben instructing them with his arm outstretched, and two officers behind him.|<center>[[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben|General von Steuben]] training<br>"Model Infantry" at Valley Forge</center>]] Howe, surprised by the American defenses, inexplicably ordered a retreat to Philadelphia after several days of probing at the [[Battle of White Marsh]].<ref name="McGuire, p. 254">[[#mcguire2011|McGuire, 2011]], p. 254</ref> He ignored the vulnerable American rear, where an attack might possibly have deprived Washington of his baggage and supplies.<ref name="auto1">[[#cadwalader1901|Cadwalader, 1901]], pp. 20–21</ref> On December 19, Washington's army entered winter quarters at [[Valley Forge]]. Poor conditions and supply problems there resulted in the deaths of some 2,500 American troops.<ref>[[#freedman|Freedman, 2008]], pp. 1–30</ref> During Washington's winter encampment at Valley Forge, [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben|Baron von Steuben]], introduced the latest [[Prussian Army|Prussian]] methods of drilling and infantry tactics to the entire Continental Army.<ref>[[#lockhart|Lockhart, 2008]], p.</ref> While the Americans wintered only twenty miles away, Howe made no effort to attack their camp, which some critics argue could have ended the war.<ref name="A Concluding Commentary">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120619002020/http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/risch/chpt-14.htm "A Concluding Commentary"] ''Supplying Washington's Army'' 1981</ref><ref name="history.army.mil">[http://history.army.mil/books/AMH-V1/ch04.htm "The Winning of Independence, 1777–1783"] ''American Military History'' Volume I, 2005</ref> Following the conclusion of the campaign, Howe resigned his commission, and was replaced by Henry Clinton on May 24, 1778.<ref name="Frances H. Kennedy 2014 163">[[#kennedy2014|Kennedy, 2014]], p. 163</ref> Clinton received orders to abandon Philadelphia and fortify New York following France's entry into the war. On June 18, the British departed Philadelphia, with the reinvigorated Americans in pursuit.<ref name="vafo">Text incorporated from [http://www.nps.gov/vafo Valley Forge National Historical Park] website, which is in the public domain</ref> The two armies [[Battle of Monmouth|fought at Monmouth Court House]] on June 28, with the Americans holding the field, greatly boosting Patriot morale and confidence.<ref>[[#freedman|Freedman, 2008]], pp. 70–83</ref> By July, both armies were back in the same positions they had been two years prior. {{clear}} ===Foreign intervention=== {{Main|France in the American Revolutionary War|Spain in the American Revolutionary War|Carlisle Peace Commission}} Early in the war, it became clear to Congress that help from France was imperative. First, the British instituted a blockade on the Atlantic seacoast ports against military assistance that could not be challenged. Second, its army troop strength attrited by death, disease and desertion, and the states failed to meet recruitment quotas. Third, the British had a continuing resupply of German auxiliaries to compensate for their losses.<ref name="Ferling pp.117">[[#ferling|Ferling, 2007]], pp.117–118</ref> French foreign minister the [[Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes|Comte de Vergennes]] was strongly anti-British,<ref name="crucible">[[#jones2002|Jones, 2002]], p. 5</ref> and he had long sought a pretext for going to war with Britain since the [[Conquest of 1760|conquest of Canada]] in 1763.<ref>[[#hoffman|Hoffman, 1981]], p. </ref> The French public favored war, but Vergennes and King [[Louis XVI]] were hesitant, owing to the military and financial risk.<ref>[[#Lemaître2005|Lemaître, 2005]], p. 229</ref><ref name="Paterson pp. 13">[[#paterson2009|Paterson, 2009]], pp. 13–15</ref> [[File:The_Bonhomme_Richard,_1779._Copy_of_artwork_by_F._Muller,_1883_-_1966_-_NARA_-_512971.tif|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=An East Indiaman freight sailboat at sea; it has three masts and a bowsprit, with all its sails set|<center>Louis XVI gifted the US a former [[East Indiaman|merchant]] for [[John Paul Jones|US Capt. Jones]], renamed USS ''[[USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)|Bonhomme Richard]]''</center>]] France, however, would not feel compelled to intervene if the colonies were still considering reconciliation with Britain, as France would have nothing to gain in that event.<ref name="Ferling pp.117"/> To assure assistance from France, independence would have to be declared, which was effected by Congress in July 1776.<ref name="Ferling pp.117"/> The Americans who had been [[Roderigue Hortalez and Company|covertly supplied]] by French merchants through neutral Dutch ports since the onset of the war, were now also supplied directly by the French government.<ref name="crucible" /> These proved invaluable in the American 1777 Saratoga campaign.<ref>[[#bemis1958|Bemis & Ferrell (eds), 1958]], pp. 8-9</ref><ref>[[#armory2013|NPS, Essay, 2013]]</ref> The British defeat at Saratoga caused British anxiety over possible foreign intervention. The [[North ministry]] sought [[Carlisle Peace Commission|reconciliation with the colonies]] by consenting to their original demands, but without independence.<ref>[[#reidJ1987|Reid,J. 1987]], p. 51</ref> However the Americans were now bolstered by their French trade, and would settle for no terms short of complete independence from Britain.<ref>[[#stockley2001|Stockley, 2001]], pp. 11–14</ref> The American victory at Saratoga convinced the French that supporting the Patriots was worthwhile,<ref name="Paterson pp. 13"/> but doing so too late brought major concerns. King Louis XVI feared that Britain's concessions would be accepted and bring reconciliation with the Colonies. Britain would then be free to strike at French Caribbean possessions.<ref>[[#corwin|Corwin 1916]], pp. 121–48</ref> To prevent this, France formally recognized the United States in a [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–France)|trade treaty]] on February 6, 1778, and followed that with a [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|defensive military alliance]] guaranteeing American independence.<ref>[[#morris1965|Morris, R. 1983]]&nbsp;[1965], p. 15</ref>{{efn|In a subsequent treaty France secretly made with Spain struck at [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)|Aranjuez]], France aimed to expel Britain and deny the Americans from the Newfoundland fishery, end restrictions on Dunkirk sovereignty, regain free trade in India, recover Senegal and Dominica, and restore the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] provisions pertaining to Anglo-French trade.<ref>[[#renaut1922|Renaut, 1922]], p. 290</ref>}} Spain was wary of recognizing a republic of former European colonies, and also of provoking war with Britain before it was well prepared. It opted to covertly supply the Patriots mainly from Havana in Cuba and New Orleans in Spanish Louisiana.<ref>[[#caughey1998|Caughey, 1998]], p. 87</ref><ref>[[#mitchell2012|Mitchell, 2012]], p. 99</ref> To encourage French participation in the American struggle for independence, diplomat [[Silas Deane]] promised promotions and command positions to any French officer who joined the American war effort. However, many of the French officer-adventurers were completely unfit for command. In one outstanding exception, Congress recognized Lafayette's "great zeal to the cause of liberty" and commissioned him a major General. He was immediately instrumental in reconciling some of Washington's rival officers and he aligned some of the delegates in Philadelphia to support Washington in an otherwise indifferent Congress.<ref>[[#ward1952|Ward, C. 1952]], pp.557–558</ref><ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 283</ref> Congress also hoped to persuade Spain into an open alliance, as formally extended in the French treaty. The American Commissioners met with the [[Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, 10th Count of Aranda|Count of Aranda]] in 1776.<ref>[[#chavez|Chávez, 2002]],pp. 52–54</ref> But Spain was still reluctant to make an early commitment due to its Great Power concerns on the Continent.<ref>[[#sparks1829|Sparks (ed), 1829]], pp. 7, 20, 409</ref> Nevertheless, the following year, Spain affirmed its desire to support the Americans so as to weaken Britain's empire.<ref>[[#Fernández1885|Fernández, 1885]], p. 4</ref>{{efn|On April 12, 1779, Spain signed the secret [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)|Treaty of Aranjuez]] with France and went to war against Britain. Spain made war on Britain to recover [[Gibraltar]] and [[Menorca]] in Europe, as well as Mobile and Pensacola in Florida. Spain also had an imperial interest in expelling the British from Central America, both militarily and commercially.<ref name=stockley19>[[#stockley2001|Stockley, 2001]], p. 19</ref>}} [[File:Serapis_and_Bonhomme_Richard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=From the left, in the background three sailing warships at sea, one clearly flying a British naval ensign; in the center-right foreground, three sailing warships, two of them firing broadsides with gun smoke starting to cover them up. There was no US flag on the American ship, so the British said John Paul Jones was a pirate.|<center>[[Battle of Flamborough Head|Capture of the HMS ''Serapis'']]. The Dutch let [[John Paul Jones|Jones]] into port as a "French capture" to aid the US</center>]] Since the outbreak of the conflict, Britain had appealed to its former ally, the neutral Dutch Republic, to lend the use of the Scots Brigade for service in America. But pro-American sentiment there forced its elected representatives to deny the request.<ref>[[#edler|Edler, 1911]], pp. 28–32</ref> Consequently, the British attempted to invoke treaties for outright Dutch military support, but the Republic still refused. At the same time, American troops were being supplied with ordnance by Dutch merchants via their [[Dutch West Indies|West Indies colonies]].<ref>[[#edler|Edler, 1911]], pp. 42–62</ref> French supplies bound for America were also transshipped through Dutch ports.<ref name="crucible" /> The Republic traded with France following France's declaration of war on Britain, citing a [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|prior concession]] by Britain on this issue. But despite standing international agreements, Britain responded by confiscating Dutch shipping, and [[Affair of Fielding and Bylandt|even firing]] upon it. The Republic joined the [[First League of Armed Neutrality]] with Austria, Prussia and Russia to enforce their neutral status.<ref>[[#edler|Edler, 1911]], p. 95–138</ref> But The Republic had further assisted the rebelling Patriot cause. It had also given sanctuary to American privateers<ref>[[#edler|Edler, 1911]], p. 62–69</ref> and had drafted a treaty of commerce with the Americans. Britain argued that these actions contravened the Republic's neutral stance and declared war in December 1780.<ref>[[#edler|Edler, 1911]], pp. 88–91, 151–154, 164</ref> Meanwhile, George III had given up on subduing America while Britain had a European war to fight.<ref>[[#ferling2013|Ferling, 2007]], p. 294</ref> He did not welcome war with France, but he believed that Britain had made all necessary steps to avoid it and cited the [[Annus Mirabilis|British victories over France]] in the Seven Years' War as a reason to remain optimistic in the event of war with France.<ref>[[#syrett1998|Syrett 1998]], p. 17</ref> Britain tried in vain to find a powerful ally to engage France. It was isolated among the Great Powers, and French strength was not drawn off into Europe as in the Seven Years' War.<ref>[[#scott1990|Scott, 1990]], pp. 264–272</ref> Britain subsequently changed its focus from one theater,<ref>[[#syrett1998|Syrett, 1998]], p. 18</ref> and diverted major military resources away from America.<ref name="Ketchum 1997, p. 405–448">[[#ketchum97|Ketchum, 1997]] pp. 405–48</ref><ref>[[#higginbotham1983|Higginbotham, 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], pp. 175–188</ref> Despite these developments, George III still determined never to recognize American independence and to make war on the American colonies indefinitely, or until they pleaded to return as his subjects.<ref>[[#trevelyan|Trevelyan, 1912]], pp. 4–5</ref>{{efn|[[Alfred Thayer Mahan|Mahan]] maintains that Britain's attempt to fight in multiple theaters simultaneously without major allies was fundamentally flawed, citing impossible mutual support, exposing the forces to defeat in detail.<ref name=mahan534>[[#mahan1890|Mahan, 1890]], p. 534</ref>}} {{clear}} ===Stalemate in the North=== {{Main|Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga|Western theater of the American Revolutionary War}} [[File:Entree_de_l_escadre_francaise_en_baie_de_Newport_1778_Ozanne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=From the left, a coastal town set in the background of a harbor; in the foreground center-right in the approach to the harbor and curving into the right background, a line of French warships, one firing a broadside at the town.|<center>French Adm. [[Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing|d'Estaing]]'s joint expedition with US Gen. [[John Sullivan (general)|Sullivan]] at [[Battle of Rhode Island|Newport RI]]</center>]] Following the British defeat at Saratoga in October, 1777, and French entry into the war, Clinton withdrew from Philadelphia to consolidate his forces in New York.<ref>[[#higginbotham1983|Higginbotham 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], pp. 175–88</ref> French admiral the [[Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing|Comte d'Estaing]] had been dispatched to America in April 1778 to assist Washington. The Franco-American forces felt that New York's defenses were too formidable for the French fleet, so in August 1778 they launched an attack on Newport at the [[Battle of Rhode Island]] under the command of General [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]].<ref>[[#morrissey2004|Morrissey, 2004]], pp. 77–78</ref> The effort failed when the French opted to withdraw, disappointing the Americans.<ref>[[#daughan2011|Daughan, 2011]]&nbsp;[2008], pp. 174–176</ref> The war then stalemated. Most actions were fought as large skirmishes such as those at [[Battle of Chestnut Neck|Chestnut Neck]] and [[The Affair at Little Egg Harbor|Little Egg Harbor]]. In the summer of 1779, the Americans captured British posts at the Battles of [[Battle of Stony Point|Stony Point]] and [[Battle of Paulus Hook|Paulus Hook]].<ref>[[#hazard54|Hazard, 1829]], p. 54</ref> In July, Clinton unsuccessfully attempted to coax Washington into a decisive engagement by making a [[Tryon's raid|major raid into Connecticut]].<ref>[[#nelson1999|Nelson, 1999]], p. 170</ref> That month, a large American [[Penobscot Expedition|naval operation]] attempted to retake Maine, but it resulted in a humiliating defeat.<ref>[[#bicheno14|Bicheno, 2014]], p. 149</ref> The high frequency of [[Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War#Raiding in the valleys, 1778|Iroquois raids]] compelled Washington to mount a [[Sullivan Expedition|punitive expedition]] which destroyed a large number of Iroquois settlements, but the effort ultimately failed to stop the raids.<ref>[[#fischer2008|Fischer, J. 2008]], p. 86</ref> During the winter of 1779–80, the Continental Army suffered greater hardships than at Valley Forge.<ref>[[#tolson|Tolson 2008]], "Washington's Savvy Won the Day"</ref> Morale was poor, public support fell away in the long war, the [[Continental dollar|national currency]] was virtually worthless, the army was plagued with supply problems, desertion was common, and whole regiments mutinied over the conditions in early 1780.<ref>[[#chandler|Chandler, 2017]], pp. 363–380</ref> [[File:Battle of Springfield NJ 1780.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A close up of Continental infantry fighting in a street; a company on line firing to the left off the painting; in the center the officer; right foreground a drummer boy and behind him a soldier reloading a musket.|[[Continental Army|Continentals]] repulsing British attack at [[Battle of Springfield|Springfield]] – "Give 'em Watts, boys!"]] In 1780, Clinton launched an attempt to retake New Jersey. On June 7, 6,000 men invaded under Hessian general [[Wilhelm von Knyphausen]], but they met stiff resistance from the local militia at the [[Battle of Connecticut Farms]]. The British held the field, but Knyphausen feared a general engagement with Washington's main army and withdrew.<ref>[[#fleming|Fleming 2005]] &nbsp;[1973], pp. 174–175</ref> A second attempt two weeks later was [[Battle of Springfield (1780)|soundly defeated at Springfield]], effectively ending British ambitions in New Jersey.<ref>[[#fleming|Fleming 2005]] &nbsp;[1973], pp. 232, 302</ref> Meanwhile, American general [[Benedict Arnold]] [[To the Inhabitants of America|turned traitor]], joined the British army and attempted to surrender the American [[West Point]] fortress. The plot was foiled when British spy-master [[John André]] was captured. Arnold fled to British lines in New York where he justified his betrayal by appealing to Loyalist public opinion, but the Patriots strongly condemned him as a coward and [[turncoat]].<ref>[[#palmer2010|Palmer, 2010]], p. 340–342, 410</ref> [[File:Vincennes 1779.jpg|thumb|alt=At left center, Virginia militia Colonel George Rogers Clark with buckskinned uniformed militia lined up behind him; at right center, red-coated British Quebec Governor Hamilton surrendering with ranks of white-uniformed Tory militia behind receding into the background; a drummer boy in the foreground; a line of British Indian allies lined up on the right receding into the background.|<center>Quebec Gov. [[Henry Hamilton (colonial administrator)|Hamilton]] surrenders to [[George Rogers Clark|Col. Clark]] at Vincennes, 1779</center>]] The war to the west of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]] was largely confined to skirmishing and raids. In February 1778, an expedition of militia to destroy British military supplies in settlements along the [[Cuyahoga River]] was halted by adverse weather.<ref>[[#nester|Nester, 2004]], p. 194</ref> Later in the year, a [[Illinois campaign|second campaign]] was undertaken to seize the [[Illinois Country]] from the British. Virginia militia, francophone settlers and Indian allies commanded by Colonel [[George Rogers Clark]] captured [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]] on July 4 and then secured [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]], although Vincennes was recaptured by Quebec Governor [[Henry Hamilton (colonial administrator)|Henry Hamilton]]. In early 1779, the Americans counter-attacked and [[Siege of Fort Vincennes|retook Vincennes]], taking Hamilton prisoner.<ref>[[#harrison2001|Harrison, 2001]], pp. 58–60</ref> On May 25, 1780, the British launched [[Bird's invasion of Kentucky|an expedition into Kentucky]] as part of a wider operation to clear rebel resistance from Quebec to the Gulf coast. Hundreds were killed or captured, but the initiative met with only limited success.<ref name=grenier159>[[#grenier|Grenier, 2005]], p. 159</ref>{{efn|Grenier maintains that "The slaughter the Indians and rangers perpetrated was unprecedented.<ref name=grenier159/>}} The Americans responded with a major offensive along the [[Mad River (Ohio)|Mad River]] in August which [[Battle of Piqua|met with some success]], but it did little to abate the Indian raids on the frontier.<ref>[[#nelson1999|Nelson, 1999]], p. 118</ref> French militia attempted to capture Detroit, but it ended in disaster when [[Miami tribe|Miami Indians]] [[Augustin de La Balme|ambushed and defeated]] the gathered troops on November 5.<ref>[[#gaff|Gaff, 2004]], p. 85</ref> The war in the west had become a stalemate; the Americans did not have the manpower to simultaneously defeat the hostile Indian tribes and occupy the land.<ref>[[#skaggs1977|Skaggs, 1977]], p. 132</ref> {{clear}} ===War in the South=== {{Main|Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War}} The British turned their attention to conquering the South in 1778 after Loyalists in London assured them of a strong Loyalist base there. Squadrons of the Royal Navy would be closer to the British Caribbean colonies to defend against attacking Franco-Spanish fleets.{{citation needed|date=September 2020|reason=previous cite by self-published author}} On December 29, 1778, [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] commanded an expeditionary corps from New York to [[Capture of Savannah|capture Savannah]], and British troops then moved inland to recruit Loyalist support.<ref>[[#morrill|Morrill, 1993]], pp.46–47</ref> The initial Loyalist recruitment was promising in early 1779, but then a large Loyalist-only militia was defeated by Patriot militia at [[Battle of Kettle Creek|Kettle Creek]] on February 14. That demonstrated Loyalist need for the support of British regulars in major engagements. But the British in turn defeated Patriot militia at [[Battle of Brier Creek|Brier Creek]] on March 3.<ref>[[#morrill|Morrill, 1993]], pp.48–50</ref> In June they launched an [[Battle of Stono Ferry|abortive assault]] on Charleston, South Carolina. The operation became notorious for its widespread looting by British troops that enraged both Loyalists and Patriots in the Carolinas. In October, a combined Franco-American siege by Admiral [[Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing|d'Estaing]] and General [[Benjamin Lincoln]] failed to [[Siege of Savannah|recapture Savannah]].<ref name="Wilson p. 112">[[#wilson2005|Wilson, 2005]], p. 112</ref> [[File:Sullivans-island-1050x777.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A birds-eye view over the British lines of artillery besieging the port of Charleston in the center-background, and landing some shots at the docks.|British Siege of Charleston in 1780]] The primary British strategy for the following year hinged on a Loyalist uprising in the south. Cornwallis proceeded into North Carolina, gambling his success on a large Loyalist uprising which never materialized.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020|reason=previous cite by self-published author}} In May 1780, Henry Clinton [[Siege of Charleston|captured Charleston]], taking over 5,000 prisoners and effectively destroying the Continental Army in the south. Organized Patriot resistance in the region collapsed when [[Banastre Tarleton]] defeated the withdrawing Americans at [[Battle of Waxhaws|Waxhaws]] on May 29.<ref>[[#gordon|Gordon & Keegan, 2007]]</ref> British commander-in-chief Clinton returned to New York, leaving General Lord Cornwallis at Charleston to oversee the southern war effort. Few Loyalists joined him there. The initiative was seized by Patriot militias who won July victories at the [[Battle of Mobley's Meeting House|Fairfield County]], [[Battle of Ramsour's Mill|Lincolnton]], [[Huck's Defeat]], [[Battle of Colson's Mill|Stanly County]], and [[Battle of Hanging Rock|Lancaster County]]. These effectively suppressed Loyalist support.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In July, Congress appointed General [[Horatio Gates]] with a new command to lead the American effort in the south. By mid-August 16, 1780, he had lost the [[Battle of Camden]], and Cornwallis was poised to invade North Carolina.<ref>[[#rankin|Rankin 2011]] &nbsp;[1996], p.</ref> The British attempted to subjugate the countryside, but Patriot militia continued their attacks. Cornwallis dispatched Major [[Patrick Ferguson]] to raise Loyalist forces to cover his left flank as he moved north, but they ranged beyond mutual support.<ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 202</ref> In early October the Tory regulars and militias were defeated at the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]], destroying any significant Loyalist support in the region.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} [[File:Cowpens.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A close-up of a cavalry melee on large horses with sabers and pistols drawn; Three redcoats center-right are engaging two Patriots in blue along with an African-American in a brown linen shirt and white pants, with his pistol drawn and leveled at a redcoat.|<center>American and British cavalry clash<br>[[Battle of Cowpens]], 1781</center>]] Cornwallis advanced into North Carolina despite the setbacks, gambling that he would receive substantial Loyalist support there. Greene evaded combat with Cornwallis, instead wearing the British down through a protracted [[war of attrition]].<ref name="Buchanan, p. 326">[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 326</ref> Washington replaced General Gates with General [[Nathanael Greene]] At the beginning of December 1780.<ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 275</ref> Greene was unable to confront the British directly, so he dispatched a force under [[Daniel Morgan]] to recruit additional troops. Morgan then defeated the renowned [[British Legion (American Revolution)|British Legion]], on January 17, 1781, at [[Battle of Cowpens|Cowpens]]. Cornwallis subsequently aborted his advance and retreated back into South Carolina.<ref name="Buchanan, p. 241">[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 241</ref> The British launched a surprise offensive in Virginia in January 1781, with [[Benedict Arnold]] [[Raid of Richmond|invading Richmond, Virginia]]. It met little resistance. Governor [[Thomas Jefferson]] escaped Richmond just ahead of the British forces, and the British burned the city to the ground.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 234–38</ref> Although later accused by his enemies of inaction and cowardice, Jefferson sent an emergency dispatch to nearby Colonel [[Sampson Mathews]] to check Arnold's advance.<ref>[[#jefferson1780|Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4]], p. 343</ref> [[File:Battle of Guilford Courthouse 15 March 1781.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Left foreground, curving into the center, double line of Continental infantry, braced with their muskets and bayonets held at the ready; in the left background, US cavalry is charging towards lines of British infantry in the right background; immediately behind the US infantry is the occasional sergeant in formation; behind the line are two mounted US officers under a winter tree.|<center>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1st Maryland Regiment<br>[[Battle of Guilford]]</center>]] By March, Greene's army had increased in size enough that he felt confident in facing Cornwallis who was far from his supply base. The two armies engaged near [[Battle of Guilford Court House|Guilford Courthouse]] on March 15. Accompanied by lieutenant colonel [[Henry Lee III|"Light Horse Harry"]]{{efn|Light Horse Harry was the father of [[Robert E. Lee]].<ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 352</ref>}} and his cavalry, the fighting went back and forth with the first British advance resulting in their retreat. The second clash occurred in a wooded area mostly involving [[close-quarters combat]]. During the chaotic [[melee]] Cornwallis has his horse shot out from under him, however, Greene was beaten, but Cornwallis's army suffered irreplaceable casualties.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp.494, 497–498</ref><ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan]], 1997, pp. 374, 382</ref> The Americans further reduced his army in a [[war of attrition]],<ref name="Buchanan, p. 241"/> and far fewer Loyalists were joining than the British had previously expected.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020|reason=previous cite by self-published author}} Cornwallis's casualties were such that he was compelled to retreat to [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]] for reinforcement, leaving the Patriots in control of the interior of the Carolinas and Georgia.<ref name="Ferling pp. 518">[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 518–519</ref> Greene then proceeded to reclaim the South. On April 25 the American troops suffered a reversal at [[Battle of Hobkirk's Hill|Hobkirk's Hill]] due to poor tactical control, but they continued to march 160 miles in 8 days, continually dislodging strategic British posts in the area nonetheless. They recaptured [[Siege of Fort Watson|Fort Watson]] and [[Siege of Fort Motte|Fort Motte]] on April 15.<ref>[[#fgreene1913|Greene, F. 1913]], pp. 234-237</ref><ref name="Ferling pp. 518"/><ref>[[#cate2006|Cate, 2006]], p. 162</ref> During the [[Siege of Augusta]] on June 6, Brigadier general [[Andrew Pickens (congressman)|Andrew Pickens]] reclaimed possession of the last British outpost beyond Charleston and Savannah.<ref>[[#reynolds2012|Reynolds, 2012]], pp. 255–277</ref> The last British effort to stop Greene occurred at [[Battle of Eutaw Springs|Eutaw Springs]] on September 8, but the British casualties were so high that they withdrew to Charleston.<ref name=pancake221>[[#pancake1985|Pancake, 1985]], p. 221</ref> By the end of 1781, the Americans had effectively confined the British to the Carolina coasts, undoing any progress they had made in the previous year.<ref name=pancake221/> Minor skirmishes continued there until the end of the war.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#bicheno14|Bicheno, 2014]]</ref> {{clear}} ===Mississippi River theater=== {|align=right |<center>Conquerors of the British controlled<br />Mississippi River Basin</center> |- |<gallery perrow=2 heights=150> File:Portrait_of_Bernardo_de_Gálvez.jpg|alt=Portrait of Spanish Luisiana Governor Galvez|<center>'''[[Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston|Bernardo de Gálvez]]'''<br />opened Mississippi River<br />and retook [[Spanish West Florida|West Florida]]</center> File:George_Rogers_Clark.jpg|alt=Portrait of Virginia militia Colonel Clark|<center>'''[[George Rogers Clark]]'''<br />took western Quebec<br />US '[[Northwest Territory]]'</center> </gallery> |} In America east of the Mississippi River, though Spanish Louisiana territory ran west of it, Governor General [[Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston|Gálvez]] had been allowing covert aid to George Washington by Pittsburgh via New Orleans. In 1777 [[Oliver Pollock]], a successful merchant in Havana and New Orleans, was appointed US "commercial agent". He personally underwrote the American campaign against the British along the upriver Mississippi among the francophone settlements of western Quebec. In the Virginia militia campaign of 1778, General [[George Rogers Clark]] founded Louisville, and cleared British forts in the region.<ref>[[#butterfield|Butterfield 1903]], p.123-124</ref> Clark's conquest resulted in the creation of [[Illinois County, Virginia]]. It was organized with the consent of French-speaking colonials who had been guaranteed protection of the Catholic Church. Voters at their court house in [[Illinois campaign#Occupation of the Illinois Country|Kaskaskia]], were represented for three years in the Virginia General Assembly until the territory was ceded to the US Congress.<ref>[[#james2013|James, 2013]], p. 157</ref> At the Spanish declaration of war with France in 1779, Governor Gálvez raised an army in Spanish Louisiana to initiate offensive operations against British outposts.<ref>[[#chavez|Chávez, 2002]], p. 170</ref> First, he cleared British garrisons in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]], [[Fort Bute]] and [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], capturing five forts.<ref name=Galvez>[[#carlos|Don Jaun Carlos I, 1979]], speech</ref> In this first maneuver Gálvez opened navigation on the Mississippi River north to US settlement in Pittsburg.<ref>[https://wgno.com/news-with-a-twist/nola-300-that-time-when-spanish-new-orleans-helped-america-win-independence/ Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo, exhibit May 14, 2018], viewed April 25, 2020</ref> His Spanish military assistance to [[Oliver Pollock]] for transport up the Mississippi River became an alternative supply to Washington's Continental Army, bypassing the British-blockaded Atlantic Coast.<ref>[[#chavez|Chavez, 2002]], p.108</ref> [[File:Cuadro por españa y por el rey, Galvez en America.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Spanish ''Luisiana'' Territory Governor Gálvez and a color-guard holding up the Spanish banner are standing in the wind atop an earthen-work parapet for artillery pieces at the Siege of Pensacoloa. |[[Bernardo de Gálvez|Gálvez]] at the [[Siege of Pensacola]]]] In 1781, Governor Galvez and Pollack campaigned east along the Gulf Coast to secure West Florida including British-held Mobile and Pensacola.<ref>[[#raab|Raab, 2007]], p. 135</ref> The Spanish operations crippled the British supply of armaments to British Indian allies, effectively suspending a military alliance to attack settlers between the Mississippi River and Appalachian Mountains.<ref>[[#o'brien2008|O'Brien, 2008]], p. 124</ref>{{efn|Governor Bernardo de Gálvez is only one of eight men made honorary US citizens for his service in the American Cause. see Bridget Bowman (29 December 2014). "Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid's Very Good Year". Roll Call. The Economist Group. Retrieved April 25, 2020.}} In April 1782 at the [[Battle of the Saintes]], the British parried the French-Spanish invasion of Jamaica, then dominated the Caribbean Sea. In February 1783 Spanish lifted their siege of Gibraltar. A Spanish-US fleet captured Bahamas was returned at the peace. The belligerents had all lost heart for continued warfare. After George III announced for US independence in a Speech before the Throne before a joint session of Parliament in December 1782, the British proffered terms to the Americans in Paris, which were then approved by Congress April 1783.<ref>[[#mahan1898|Mahan, 1898]], p. 226</ref> British "American settlement" allowed US fishing rights in Newfoundland and the Gulf of Mexico, along with "perpetual access" to the Mississippi River. The [[Treaty of Versailles (1783)|two British treaties with France and Spain]] settled their three-way swaps of imperial territory in September. The British settled their [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]] the next year.<ref>[[#stone1994|Stone, 1994]], p. 120</ref> {{clear}} ===British defeat in America=== {{Main|Yorktown campaign}} In 1781, the British commander-in-chief in America was General Clinton, who was garrisoned in New York City. He had failed to construct a coherent strategy for British operations that year, owing to his difficult relationship with his naval counterpart Admiral [[Marriot Arbuthnot]]. Arbuthnot in turn had failed to detect the arrival of French naval forces in July.<ref name=ferling444>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 444</ref> In Charleston, Cornwallis independently developed a plan for a campaign in Virginia to cut supply to Greene's army in the Carolinas, expecting the Patriot resistance in the South would then collapse. Lord Germain, Cabinet Secretary of State for America in London agreed, but neither official informed Clinton.<ref name="auto3">[[#grainger2005|Grainger, 2005]], p. 29</ref><ref>[[#ketchum2014b|Ketchum, 2014]], pp. 423, 520</ref> [[File:BattleOfVirginiaCapes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|alt=Two lines of warships at sea sailing with full sails downwind away from the viewer and firing broadsides at one another; in the center foreground receding into the left background, six of the French fleet; in the right foreground receding to the center four of the British fleet. |<center>French fleet (left) engages the British<br>[[Battle of the Chesapeake]], 1781</center>]] Washington and the [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Comte de Rochambeau]] discussed their options. Washington pushed for an attack on New York, while Rochambeau preferred a strike in Virginia, where the British were less well-established and thus easier to defeat.<ref>Ketchum, p. 139</ref> Franco-American movements around New York caused Clinton a great deal of anxiety, fearing an attack on the city. His instructions were vague to Cornwallis during this time, rarely forming explicit orders. However, Clinton did instruct Cornwallis to establish a fortified naval base and to transfer troops to the north to defend New York.<ref>[[#grainger2005|Grainger, 2005]], pp. 43–44</ref> Cornwallis maneuvered to Yorktown to establish a fortified a sea-base of supply. But at the same time [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] was maneuvering south with a Franco-American army.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling,m 2007]], p. 524</ref>{{efn|They had been sent south to Virginia in August to coordinate with de Grasse in defeating Cornwallis.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp.526–529</ref> Following two previous calamitous joint operations at Newport and Savannah by French (at sea) and Americans (on land), French planners realized that closer cooperation with the Americans was required to achieve success.<ref>[[#dull1975|Dull, 2015&nbsp;&nbsp;[1975] ]], pp. 247–248</ref> The French fleet led by the [[Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse|Comte de Grasse]] had received discretionary orders from Paris to assist joint efforts in the north if naval support was needed.<ref>[[#grainger2005|Grainger, 2005]], p. 40</ref><ref>[[#dull|Dull, 1987]], p. 241</ref>}} The British dug in at [[Yorktown, Virginia|Yorktown]] and awaited the Royal Navy.<ref>[[#taylor2016|Taylor, 2016]], pp. 293–295</ref> As Lafayette's army closed with Cornwallis, the British made no early attempt to [[sally (military)|sally out]] to engage the Americans before siege lines could be dug, despite the repeated urging of his subordinate officers.<ref name="Ketchum, p. 205" /> Expecting [[relief (military)|relief]] from Admiral Arbuthnot shortly to facilitate his withdrawal off the Virginia Peninsula, Cornwallis prematurely abandoned his outer defenses. These were promptly occupied by the besiegers, serving to hasten the British defeat.<ref>[[#lengel2005|Lengel, 2005]], p. 337</ref>{{efn|Despite the continued urging of his subordinates,<ref name="Ketchum, p. 205">Ketchum, p. 205</ref> Cornwallis made no attempt to break out and engage the Franco-American army before it had established siege works, expecting that reinforcements would arrive from New York, and the Franco-American army [[Siege of Yorktown|laid siege to Yorktown]] on September 28.<ref>Ketchum, p. 214</ref> Cornwallis continued to think that relief was imminent from Clinton, and he abandoned his outer defenses which were immediately occupied by American troops—serving to hasten his subsequent defeat.<ref>[[#lengel2005|Lengel, 2005]], p. 337</ref>}} [[File:Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|alt=Center foreground a British officer on the left standing surrenders to a mounted Continental officer; far left foreground receding into the center background, a British line of infantry then mounted cavalry, with a large white flag of surrender; far right foreground receding into the center background, a Continental line of infantry, then mounted cavalry, with a large US flag of the Army.|<center>''Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown''</center>]] The British had dispatched a fleet from New York under [[Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves|Thomas Graves]] to rendezvous with Cornwallis.<ref>[[#middleton2014|Middleton, 2014]], pp. 29–43</ref> As they approached the entry to the Chesapeake Bay on September 5, the French fleet commanded by Admiral [[François Joseph Paul de Grasse|de Grasse]] decisively defeated Graves at the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]], giving the French control of the seas around Yorktown and cutting off Cornwallis from further reinforcements or relief.<ref>[[#black1992|Black, 1992]], p. 110</ref> On the unexpected arrival of the French fleet, Cornwallis then failed in an attempt to break out of the siege by crossing the York River at [[Gloucester Point, Virginia|Gloucester Point]] when a storm hit.<ref>[[#dale2005|Dale, 2005]], pp.36–37</ref> Cornwallis and his subordinates were under heavy bombardment and facing dwindling supplies, they agreed that their situation was untenable.<ref>[[#fleming|Fleming, 2005]]&nbsp;[1973], pp.16, 307–308</ref>{{efn|A white flag was raised and a British officer emerged from the earthworks, along with a drummer boy. An American officer came forward to meet them, and after a brief discussion, the British officer was blindfolded and escorted to Washington's headquarters about a mile away. Upon arrival the British officer presented Washington with a letter from Cornwallis confirming the surrender. After consulting with his staff, Washington gave his written response and arranged for a meeting with Cornwallis the next morning.}} On October 17, 1781, after twelve hours of negotiations, the terms of surrender were finalized.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 534–535</ref> Yorktown was the last major battle on the American mainland, but Britain fought France and Spain elsewhere involving their own objectives for two more full years.<ref>[[#grainger2005|Grainger, 2005]], p. 1</ref> After the defeat at Yorktown Clinton attempted to lay blame on Germain who had assured him that adequate reinforcements would arrive. Clinton also took exception to Cornwallis' account of the campaign, prompting him to write his own version of the defeat. Clinton, however, ultimately took the brunt of the blame for the defeat.<ref>[[#middleton2014|Middleton, 2014]], pp. 370-372</ref> {{clear}} == Strategy and commanders == To win the American Revolution, the United States had to outlast the will of the British Crown and its government in Parliament to subdue them. For the British to win the conflict, they had to defeat the Continental Army early in the war and force the dissolution of Congress.<ref>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 1</ref> [[File:USMA01 Major Campaigns of the American Revolutionary War.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|alt=West Point Military Academy MAP of America east of the Mississippi River. Campaigns noted in New England; in the Middle colonies with three British (red sailing ship) naval victories; in the South with two British naval victories, and in Virginia with one French (blue sailing ship) naval victory. A Timeline bar graph below shows almost all British (red bar) victories on the left in the first half of the war, and almost all US (blue bar) victories on the right in the second half of the war.|<center>American Revolution, campaigns</center>]] The revolt for and against colonial independence between British subjects in thirteen colonies of North America can be seen as three kinds of ongoing and interrelated warfare. First there was an economic war between a European state and its territory settled for its own economic strength and European balance of power. By 1775, British American colonies supplied of raw materials for its ships and one-third its sailors and they purchased British-manufactured goods that maintained its industrial growth. Newly enforced and expanded mercantile regulation restricted previous international Caribbean trade and colonial laissez faire smuggling.<ref>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 2</ref> Second there was a political civil war, a British constitutional war. Across 1000 miles of Atlantic coastline, settled as much as 300 miles into the continental frontier, thirteen British colonies self-proclaimed themselves states independent of Parliament and united in a Congress of their delegates to declare their independence as “one people” in a political revolution from monarchy to republic. This initiated a political struggle for British recognition assisted by Whigs in Parliament, a military struggle assisted by state militias and the creation of George Washington’s national Continental Army, and an economic struggle for international free-trade to break the European mutually beneficial system of [[mercantilism]]. It also began thirteen civil wars in every state, as there were in every colony and county, a mix of Patriots (Whigs) and Loyalists (Tories) who now went to war among their neighbors. These divided variously in each state along both multi-ethnic and multi-religious lines. Every faction and element had veterans from the imperial conflict between Brtiain and France fifteen years before, there were officers and sergeants on every side practiced in the arts of both Indian frontier warfare, and in the European infantry line formations of musketry.<ref>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 2</ref> Third, there was an international war, outside the American Revolution removed from it, but also intervening and influencing it. France played a key role in assisting the Americans with money, weapons, soldiers, and naval vessels. French troops fought under US command in the states, and Spanish troops in its territory west of the Mississippi River and on the Gulf of Mexico defeated British forces. In the two years from 1778 to 1780, more countries with competing imperial domains worldwide went to war against Britain for their own reasons,<ref>[[#mays2019|Mays, 2019]], p. 3</ref> including the [[Dutch Republic]] to assert its right to trade with its former colony in New York, and the French and Spanish to regain lost empire and prestige in the Caribbean, India and Gibraltar.<ref>[[#davenport|Davenport, 1917]], p. 168</ref> Alternatively, nations in the [[First League of Armed Neutrality|League of Armed Neutrality]] including Russia, Austria and Prussia, defended the right of their merchant convoys to trade with the rebel Americans, enforced by Russian squadrons in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.<ref>[[#Grainger|Grainger, 2005]], p. 10</ref> === American strategy === [[File:Population Density in the American Colonies 1775.gif|thumb|left|alt=MAP of North America east of the Mississippi River outlining state borders in 1782 after state cessions of the Northwest Territory to Congress. Superimposed are three colors showing density of settled population, settlers per square mile (SPSM) in 1776: coastal Boston to Baltimore is green for over 40 SPSM; then next a thin area in tan for 15-40 SPSM for New England, then that settlement sweeps out for one hundred miles west into the frontier of southern Pennsylvania, Virginia and northeast North Carolina - and then the 15-40 SPSM tan color reappears in a 50-mile half-circle around Charleston, SC; the sparsest settlement is colored light purple for the far frontier with 2-15 SPSM for modern Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, perhaps a 20-mile buffer east of the Allegheny Mountains in New York and Pennsylvania, then reaching farther west another 100 miles into the Appalachian Mountains for Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.|[[Thirteen colonies|American]] population density, 1775]] Congress had multiple advantages if the rebellion turned into a protracted war. Their prosperous state populations depended on local production for food and supplies rather than on imports from a Mother Country that lay six to twelve weeks away by sail. They were spread across most of the North American Atlantic seaboard stretching 1000 miles. Most farms were remote from the seaports; control of four or five major ports did not give British armies control over the inland areas. Each state had established internal distribution systems.<ref name="autogenerated1">[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 36–39</ref> Each colony had a long-established system of local militia, combat tested in support of British regulars thirteen years before to secure an expanded British Empire. Together they took away [[French and Indian War|French claims in North America]] west to the Mississippi River. The state legislatures independently funded and controlled their local militias. They would train and provide Continental Line regiments to the regular army, each with their own state officer corps.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Motivation was also a major asset. Each colonial capital had its own newspapers and printers. The Patriots had more popular support than the Loyalists. British hoped for the Loyalists to do much of the fighting, but they did much less than expected.<ref name="Lanning195–96"/> {{clear}} ;Continental Army {{Main|Continental Army|Continental Navy|Minutemen}} {{See also|Militia (United States)#American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)}} When the war began, Congress lacked a professional army or navy, and each colony maintained only local militias. Militiamen were lightly armed, had little training, and usually without uniforms. Their units served for only a few weeks or months at a time and lacked the training and discipline of soldiers with more experience. Local county militias were reluctant to travel far from home and they were unavailable for extended operations. However, if properly employed their numbers could help the Continental armies overwhelm smaller British forces, as at [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Concord]], [[Siege of Boston|Boston]], [[Battle of Bennington|Bennington]], and [[Saratoga campaign|Saratoga]]. Both sides used partisan warfare, but the state militias effectively suppressed Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 59</ref> The [[First Continental Congress|Congress]] established a regular army on June 14, 1775, and appointed [[George Washington]] as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington used both his regulars and state militia throughout the war.{{efn|Three branches of the United States Military forces trace their institutional roots to the American Revolutionary War; the Army comes from the [[Continental Army]]; the Navy recognizes October 13, 1775, as the date of its official establishment when the Continental Congress created the [[Continental Navy]], appointing [[Esek Hopkins]] as the Navy's first commander.<ref>[[#miller1997|Miller, 1997]], pp. 11-12, 16</ref> The Marine Corps links to the [[Continental Marines]] of the war, formed by a resolution of Congress on November 10, 1775.<ref>[[#smithD2012|Smith, D. 2012]], pp. iv, 459</ref>}} [[File:George Washington, 1776.jpg|thumb|upright=1.01|<center>General Washington<br />Commander of the [[Continental Army]]</center>|alt=Formal painting of General George Washington, standing in uniform, as commander of the Continental Army]] Washington designed the overall military strategy of the war in cooperation with Congress, established the principle of civilian supremacy in military affairs, personally recruited his senior office corps and kept the states all pointed toward the common goal.<ref name="Ferling pp. 286"/><ref>[[#lengel2005|Lengel, 2005]], pp. 365–71</ref> For the first three years until after [[Valley Forge]], the Continental Army was largely supplemented by local state militias. At Washington's discretion, the inexperienced officers and untrained troops were employed in a [[Fabian strategy]] rather than resorting to frontal assaults against Britain's professional army.<ref>[[#ellis2004|Ellis, 2004]], pp. 92–109</ref> The American commander spent more than 10 percent of his total military funds on intelligence operations.<ref name=cia2011/> Some historians maintain that, without the efforts of Washington and the Culper Spy Ring, the British would never have been defeated.<ref name="kilmeade'xv">[[#kilmeade|Kilmeade & Yaeger, 2013]], pp. xv–xvi</ref><ref name=baker12>[[#baker2014|Baker, 2014]], Chap.12</ref> Over the course of the entire war, Washington lost more battles than he won, but he maintained a fighting force in the face of British field armies and never surrendered his troops.<ref>[[#alexrose|Rose, A. 2014]]&nbsp;[2006], pp. 258-261</ref> The American armies were small by European standards of the era, largely attributable, to limitations such as lack of powder and other [[logistics]].{{efn|The largest force Washington commanded was certainly under 17,000,<ref>[[#boatner74|Boatner, 1974]], p. 264</ref> and may have been no more than 13,000 troops, and even the combined American and French forces at the siege of Yorktown amounted to only about 19,000.<ref name="Duffy-p13">[[#duffy1987|Duffy, 2005 [1987] ]], p. 13</ref>}}{{efn|On the British side, their armies were relatively smaller due to the difficulty of transporting troops across the Atlantic. They were also limited by their dependence on local supplies, which the Patriots tried to cut off. By comparison, Duffy notes that in an era when European rulers were generally revising their forces downward, in favor of a size that could be most effectively controlled (the very different perspective of [[levée en masse|mass conscript]] armies came later, during the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and then the [[Napoleonic Wars]]), the largest army that [[Frederick the Great]] ever led into battle was 65,000 men (at Prague in 1757), and at other times he commanded between 23,000 and 50,000 men, considering the latter the most effective number.<ref name="Duffy-p13"/>}} At the beginning of 1776, Washington commanded 20,000 men, with two-thirds enlisted in the Continental Army and the other third in the various state militias. About 250,000 men served as regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war, but there were never more than 90,000 men under arms at one time.<ref>[[#crocker|Crocker, 2006]], p. 51</ref> American officers as a whole never equaled their opponents in tactics and maneuver, and they lost most of the pitched battles. The great successes at Boston (1776), [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]] (1777), and [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]] (1781) came from trapping the British far from base with much larger numbers of troops.<ref>[[#higginbotham1987|Higginbotham, 1987]], Chap.3</ref> Nevertheless, after 1778, Washington's army was transformed into a more disciplined and effective force, due largely to training by [[Baron von Steuben]].<ref name="Ferling pp. 286"/> Immediately after the Army emerged from Valley Forge, it proved its ability to match the British troops in action at the [[Battle of Monmouth]], including a black Rhode Island regiment fending off a British bayonet attack then counter-charging for the first time in Washington's army.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 294–295</ref> [[File:ContinentalArmy LeffertsWatercolor.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.9|alt=two lines of men in Continental uniforms, seven standing infantrymen in the foreground and five mounted cavalry in the middle-ground. Seven have mostly blue coats, three coats are mostly brown, one is tanned buckskin, and one is white linen.|<center>A watercolor showing various<br>Continental Army uniforms</center>]] Though Congress had responsibility for the war effort and getting supplies to the troops, Washington took it upon himself to pressure the Congress and state legislatures to provide the essentials. There was never nearly enough.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p. 220</ref> Congress evolved in its committee oversight, establishing the Board of War which included members of the military.<ref name=gardner3/><ref>[[#harwell2011|Freeman & Harwell (ed.)]], p. 42</ref> But the Board of War was also a committee ensnared with its own internal procedures, so Congress created the post of Secretary of War, appointing Major General [[Benjamin Lincoln]] in February, 1781. Washington worked closely with Lincoln in coordinating civilian and military authorities<ref name=gardner3/> and took charge of training and supplying the army.<ref name="Ferling pp. 286"/> The new Continental Army suffered significantly from a lack of an effective training program and from largely inexperienced officers and sergeants. The inexperience of its officers was somewhat offset by a few senior officers.<ref name="Ferling pp. 286">[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 286–287</ref> Each state legislature appointed officers for both county and state militias and their regimental Continental Line officers, but Washington was permitted to choose and command his own generals, although sometimes he was required to accept Congressional appointments.<ref>[[#higginbotham1987|Higginbotham, 1987]], Chap.3</ref> Eventually, the Continental Army found capable officers such as [[Nathanael Greene]], [[Daniel Morgan]], [[Henry Knox]] (chief of artillery), and [[Alexander Hamilton]] (chief of staff).<ref>[[#higginbotham1987|Higginbotham, 1987]], Chap.3</ref> One of Washington's most successful recruits to general officer was Baron [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]], a veteran of the Prussian general staff who wrote the [[Revolutionary War Drill Manual]].<ref name="Ferling pp. 286"/> Over the winter of 1777–78 at [[Valley Forge]], von Steuben was instrumental in training the Continental Army in the essentials of infantry field maneuvers with military discipline, drills, tactics, and strategy.<ref name="Ferling pp. 286">[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 286–287</ref> {{clear}} ;Continental Navy [[File:First_Recognition_of_the_American_Flag_by_a_Foreign_Government.jpg|thumb|alt=Sail warships at sea with full sail; in the center middle ground, the US ship; in the background, four French warships in a haze giving it a cannon salute with gunpowder; small boats also in the water in the middle ground.|[[USS Ranger (1777)|USS ''Ranger'']], Capt. Jones. France<br>gives the [[Flag of the United States#Flag Resolution of 1777|US flag]] its first foreign salute]] During the first summer of the war, Washington began outfitting schooners and other small sea-going vessels to prey on ships supplying the British in Boston.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 360</ref> [[File:NH 1336 (17166575515).jpg|thumb|alt=A sail warship at sea flying a US flag.|right|<center>[[USS Alliance (1778)|USS ''Alliance'']], Capt. Barry won the war's last engagement</center>]] Congress established the [[Continental Navy]] on October 13, 1775, and appointed [[Esek Hopkins]] as the Navy's first commander.<ref>[[#miller1997|Miller, 1997]]&nbsp;[1977], pp. 11-12, 16</ref> The following month, [[Continental Marines|Marines]] were organized on November 10, 1775.<ref>[[#smithD2012|Smith, D. 2012]], pp. iv, 459</ref> The Continental Navy was a handful of small frigates and sloops throughout the Revolution for the most part. [[John Paul Jones]] became the first great American naval hero, capturing [[HMS Drake (1777)|HMS ''Drake'']] on April 24, 1778, the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.<ref>[[#higginbotham|Higginbotham, 1983]],&nbsp;[1971], pp. 331–46</ref> The last was by the frigate USS ''Alliance'' commanded by Captain [[John Barry (naval officer)|John Barry]]. On March 10, 1783, the ''Alliance'' outgunned HMS ''Sybil'' in a 45-minute duel while escorting Spanish gold from Havana to Congress.<ref>[[#thomas2017|Thomas, 2017]], "Last Naval Battle"</ref> After Yorktown, all US Navy ships were sold or given away. For the first time in America's history she had no fighting forces on the high seas.<ref>[[#daughan2011|Daughan, 2011]]&nbsp;[2008], p. 240</ref> Congress primarily commissioned privateers as a cost savings, and to take advantage of the large proportion of colonial sailors found in the British Empire. Overall, they included 1,700 ships, and these successfully captured 2,283 enemy ships to damage the British effort and to enrich themselves with the proceeds from the sale of cargo and the ship itself.<ref name="John Pike" /> In what was known as the [[Whaleboat War]], American privateers mainly from New Jersey, Brooklyn and Connecticut attacked and robbed British merchant ships and raided and robbed coastal communities of Long Island reputed to have Loyalist sympathies.<ref>[[#cook1959|Cook, 1959]], pp. 275-304</ref><ref>[[#philbrick2016|Philbrick, 2016]], p. 237</ref> About 55,000 sailors served aboard American privateers during the war.<ref name=usmm55/> {{clear}} ;France {{main|France in the American Revolution}} To begin with, the Americans had no major international allies. Battles such as the [[Battle of Bennington]], the [[Battles of Saratoga]], and even defeats such as the [[Battle of Germantown]] proved decisive in gaining the attention and support of powerful European nations such as France and Spain, who moved from covertly supplying the Americans with weapons and supplies to overtly supporting them.<ref>[[#trevelyan|Trevelyan, 1912]], p. 249</ref> {|align=right |<gallery perrow=2 heights=160> File:Vergennes,_Charles_Gravier_comte_de.jpg|alt=Portrait of French Chief Minister Vergennes serving King Louis XVI.|<center>'''[[Charles Gravier de Vergennes|Vergennes]]'''<br />French Chief Minister<br />for US to Appalachians<br />& more French empire</center> File:Marquis de Lafayette 2.jpg|alt=Portrait of French subject and US General Lafayette.|<center>'''[[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]]'''<br />FR liaison, US soldier<br />for US independence<br />& the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen|Rights of Man]]</center> </gallery> |} The decisive American victory at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]] spurred [[France in the American Revolutionary War|France]] to offer a defensive [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|treaty of alliance]] with the United States to guarantee its independence from Britain. It was conditioned on Britain initiating a war on France to stop it from trading with the US. Spain and the Netherlands were invited to join by both France and the United States in the treaty, but neither made a formal reply.<ref>[[#morgan|Morgan, 2012]]&nbsp[1956], pp.82-83</ref> On June 13, 1778, France declared war on Great Britain, and it invoked the French military alliance with the US. That ensured additional US privateer support for French possessions in the Caribbean. King George III feared that the war's prospects would make it unlikely he could reclaim the North American colonies.<ref>[[#ketchum97|Ketchum 1997]], p. 447</ref> During the later years of the Revolution, the British were drawn into numerous other conflicts about the globe.<ref name="K405_48">[[#ketchum97|Ketchum 1997]], pp. 405–48</ref> Washington worked closely with the soldiers and navy that France would send to America, primarily through [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] on his staff. French assistance made critical contributions required to defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.<ref>[[#burke75|Burke, 1975]], pp. 203, 303, 391</ref> The final elements for US victory over Britain and US independence was assured by direct military intervention from France, as well as ongoing French supply and commercial trade over the final three years of the war.<ref>[[#higginbotham1983|Higginbotham, 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], pp. 188–98</ref> {{clear}} ;American logistics Generally throughout the Revolution, inadequate provisioning of the Continental Army led to serious difficulty in maintaining a force in the field. From July 1779 to July 1780, the Army shrunk from twenty-six thousand men to less than fifteen thousand. Only the most committed of revolutionaries persisted throughout the conflict, although some numbers reentered service after leaving at end-of-enlistment, desertion, or mutiny amnesty. Several factors contributed: lack of food regularly distributed in ration quantity, inadequate or no pay, and in 1780-81 the harshest winter of the war.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 178</ref> Overall, the problem was fundamentally a financial one. The Continental currency depreciated, inflation accelerated.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 186</ref> The British government maintained a financial campaign counterfeiting a flood of paper currency in Continental dollars to sabotage the war effort.<ref>[[#baack|Baack, “The Economics of the American Revolutionary War”]]</ref> Continental currency became worthless, state treasuries were empty, towns went bankrupt, and the marketplace was paralyzed by Quartermaster and Commissary certificates<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 186</ref>.{{efn|For instance, cattle-feeders could not use Congressional certificates to buy yearlings to fatten, nor would grain sellers honor them for feed. States netted as little as 10% their annual revenues in inflated Continental dollars, the rest in certificates that could not be used to pay their state requisitions to Congress to fund the Army.}} Both Congress and states shared in the failure of the “specific supplies” system that Congress undertook by committee. From the standpoint of legislation, states did not tell Congressional Boards nor their delegates in Congress what they had, and Congress requisitioned the states for food in resolves that were only published in Philadelphia newspapers. Congressional requisitions to each state were proportionately based on wealth and population, but those formulas did not match the ability to respond in each state.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 182-3</ref>{{efn|Requisitions for wheat to Connecticut had no effect because there was little wheat production there. Pennsylvania had to import its requisitions of bacon and salt from other states with inflated currency. Congressional orders for salted beef and pork were placed after marketing season, so states had to obtain the supplies through hording speculators. The previous year’s drought in Rhode Island had killed all the state’s cattle. The 1780 harvest was poor in New York. Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay was effectively blockaded.}} [[File:The American Soldier, 1776-1.jpg|alt= a ship's landing with a ship in the background; in the middle ground barrels and boxes staged for awaiting Conestoga wagons, adjacent artillery pieces lined up; in the foreground military, civilian and laborer figures consulting and at their tasks|thumb|upright=1.0|<center> Continental Army provisioning suffered from inadequate finances, markets and transportation</center>]] Even during the emergency of war with national survival at issue, American colonial traditions of local self-government thwarted efforts to supply a national "standing army".{{efn|Congress tried to motivate the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments in the Continental Army independently from local politics by compensating them on commission. That led to local charges of corruption by local profiteers and others on Puritanical principles.}} States interfered with shipments of army provisions, Continental Army and Navy supply officials were drafted into state militias, and local magistrates would not enforce impressment when farmers withheld food from the military for speculators.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 220</ref> States either could not or refused to cooperate with Congress, civilians everywhere resisted and then refused to participate in markets to supply and provision the army. When Continental, state or local officials were given authority to impress goods for army use without compensation, it was either actively resisted or only half-heartedly attempted.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 186-7</ref> State provincialism also played a part.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 185</ref>{{efn|State requisition laws were designed to minimize the pain of local citizenry and to maximize delay to the Continental Army. In the worst case by law, a requisition passed in October 1780 was to begin county implementation February 1781, with fifty days for individual farmers to comply, and another 30 days of appeal time. Regardless of legislated schedules, in many cases local officials refused to pressure their voting neighbors. They accepted their salaries, “without ever supposing it incumbent on them to discharge the duties thereof” according to Deputy Quartermaster Edward Carrington, April 1781.}} As a matter of administration and logistics, the most serious aspect limiting military supply was the immense difficulty in acquiring provisions and transportation. Middlemen and speculators bought up food before it reached market, adding their margins to state expense. French regiments in Maryland and Connecticut paid in gold and silver, preempting state purchase of army requisitions in Continental dollars or worse, by certificates.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 186</ref> Even when states gathered supply, there was no administrative means provided to take it to the Continental Army. Unaccessed food rotted in state depositories.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 181</ref> The most serious related event was the mutiny of the Continental Pennsylvania Line in January 1781, followed by that of the New Jersey Line later the same month. The two mutinies followed one years' service without pay of any kind, along with a sporadic supply of inadequate food and clothing.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 179</ref> Congressional delegates feared for the future of their revolution and the nation's independence. Among the correspondents of George Washington pleading in his daily correspondence for Continental Army support, a Nationalist movement developed within every state. State commissioners met in a Hartford Convention from 11 to 22 November 1780, recommending an end to the administrative Boards of mixed Congressional and civilian advisors. Nationalist majorities in state legislatures increased their Congressional delegations with numbers of former Continental Army officers.<ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 203</ref>{{efn|These included Generals [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]] (NH), [[Ezekiel Cornell]] and [[James Mitchell Varnum]] (RI), and other staunch nationalists were returned such as clergyman [[John Witherspoon]] (NJ).}} The Nationalist caucus in Congress replaced the Boards with independent executive Secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, War, and Marine (Oceans). Unfortunately these were likewise mostly secretarial posts accumulating reports to submit to Congress for action. <ref>[[#carp1990|Carp, 1990]], p 187,203</ref> Late in the war, Congress hoped that shifting direct responsibility onto the state legislatures for each state militia Line regiment in Continental service would result in better provisioning. It asked individual state legislatures to equip their own troops and pay upkeep for their own citizen soldiers in the Continental Army. When the war ended, the United States had spent $37&nbsp;million at the national level and $114&nbsp;million at the state level. The United States finally solved its debt problems in the 1790s when Congress assumed all state war debt to attach the states to the [[Constitution of the United States]]' central government, and it founded the [[First Bank of the United States]] to establish the good faith and credit of the United States.<ref>[[#jensen|Jensen, 2004]], p 379</ref> === British strategy === [[File:Map of territorial growth 1775.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|alt=1763 Proclamation Line of 1763 by George III to limit colonial western settlement. The Province of Quebec lies north of the Ohio River, west of Lake Erie and the west boundary of Pennsylvania. The Indian Reserve lies west of modern Roanoke Virginia, generally following the [[Eastern Continental Divide]]. |George III limited settlement west to the [[Eastern Continental Divide|Continental Divide]]]] The population of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] in 1780 was approximately 12.6&nbsp;million,<ref>[[#mulhall|Mulhall, 1911, [1884] ]], p. 357</ref> while the [[Thirteen Colonies]] held a population of some 2.8&nbsp;million, including some 500,000 slaves.<ref>[http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/CT1970p2-13.pdf Colonial and Pre-Federal Statistics] U.S. Census Bureau</ref> Theoretically, Britain had the advantage; however, many factors inhibited raising a large army for a war that was unpopular at home. [[File:1768 Boundary Line Map Treaty of Ft Stanwix.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|alt="1768 Boundary Line Treaty Map" for Iroquois Six Nations and tributary tribes north of Fort Stanwix and the Ohio River; and for Cherokee and Creeks south of the Ohio River and west of modern Roanoke, Virginia, the purple line 1768 “Treaty of Hard Labor”, is west of the [[Eastern Continental Divide]], the green line for the previous 1763 “King’s Proclamation”. |1768 treaties: Iroquois west (red), Cherokees west (purple)]] Suppressing a rebellion in America presented the British with major problems. The key issue was distance; it could take up to three months to cross the Atlantic, and orders from London were often outdated by the time that they arrived.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p.39</ref><ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 298, 306</ref> The colonies had never been formally united prior to the conflict and there was no centralized area of ultimate strategic importance. Traditionally, the fall of a capital city often signaled the end of a conflict <ref>[[#rossman|Rossman, 2016]], p. 2</ref> yet the war continued unabated even after the fall of major settlements such as New York, Philadelphia (where Congress met), and Charleston.<ref>[[#curtis1926|Curtis, 1926]], pp 148-149</ref> Britain's ability to project its power overseas lay chiefly in the power of the Royal Navy, allowing her to control major coastal settlements with relative ease and to enforce a strong blockade of colonial ports. However, the overwhelming majority of the American population was agrarian, not urban, and the American economy proved resilient enough to withstand the blockade's effects.<ref name="Pole 2004">[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 42, 48</ref> The vastness of the American countryside and the limited manpower available meant that the British could never simultaneously defeat the Americans and occupy captured territory. One British statesman described the attempt as "like trying to conquer a map".<ref>[[#curtis1926|Curtis, 1926]], p. 148</ref> Debate persists over whether a British defeat in America was a guaranteed outcome. [[John E. Ferling|Ferling]] argues that long odds made the defeat of Britain nothing short of a miracle.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 562–77</ref> [[Joseph Ellis|Ellis]], however, considers that the odds always favored the Americans. He holds that the British squandered their only opportunities for a decisive success in 1777 because William Howe's strategic decisions relied on local Tory militias while underestimating Patriot capabilities. Ellis concludes that once Howe failed, the opportunity for a British victory "would never come again".<ref name="Ellis 2013">[[#ellis2013|Ellis, 2013]], p. xi</ref> Conversely, the US military history published by the US Army argues that an additional British commitment of 10,000 fresh troops in 1780 would have placed British victory within the realm of possibility.<ref>[[#stewartR|Stewart, R. 2005]], vol. 4, p. 103</ref> {{clear}} ;British army {{Main|British Army during the American Revolutionary War|Royal Navy}} Britain had four commanders-in-chief from initial days of the American colonial revolt to the final conclusion of the British-American civil war. The first commander of British forces in America following the 1763 Treaty of Paris was long-serving General Lord [[Thomas Gage]]. He had been installed in the flush victory days immediately following the end of the [[French and Indian War]] in America, with the business of expanding British empire into the French cessions in North America. The second British commander-in chief followed the dismissal of General Gage with his [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]] assault and its high casualties to entrenched American rifle-fire. General Sir [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]], commanded British forces in North America 1775-1778. His tenure continued the London policy of "soft war" under the influence of back-bencher Whigs in Parliament, and the caution felt in government because senior general officers refused to serve in America to put down the revolt.<ref>[[#ketchum97|Ketchum 1997]], p. 76</ref> At the loss of an army at Saratoga and France declaring war on Britain, Congress rejected the peace offer at the Carlisle Commission, and Howe's replacement as British commander-in-chief in 1778 was General Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]]. He would serve for the duration of British campaigning in North America. London changed its war policy with orders to ruthlessly pursue victory against the colonists as enemies. Clinton's tenure ended at the loss of a second British army at [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]], and in early 1782 at the British-American truce, he was replaced by Sir [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carleton]], who had repelled the American assault on Quebec in 1775. Carlton then successfully managed the British evacuation of American port cities in Savannah, Charleston and New York City.<ref>[[#unlikelyvictory|The History Place]], “An Unlikely Victory, 1777-1783</ref> [[File:Thomas Gage John Singleton Copley.jpeg|thumb|upright=.8|right|alt=Portrait of the British commander-in-chief, Sir Thomas Gage in dress uniform.|Sir [[Thomas Gage]], British Commander, 1763-1775]] In 1775, the standing [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]], exclusive of militia, comprised 45,123 men worldwide, including 8500 men stationed in North America.<ref name=clode268>[[#clode1869|Clode, 1869]], Vol. 1, p. 268</ref>{{efn|The total numbers in the British Army of 1775 included 38,254 infantry and 6,869 cavalry. Their Army had approximately eighteen regiments of foot. Figures include the 41st regiment of invalids, but not the 20 independent companies on garrison duty. Troops in India were under the control of the [[East India Company]], and did not become part of the British Army until 1858.<ref name=clode268/>}} The British army at home had been deliberately kept small in peacetime to prevent abuses of power by the King.<ref name="scheer64" />{{efn|Standing armies had played a key role in the purge of the [[Long Parliament]] in 1648.<ref>[[#cannon2015|Cannon, 2015]], p. 714</ref>}} Despite this, eighteenth century armies were not welcome guests among British civilian populations, and were regarded with scorn and contempt by the [[News media|press]] and public of the [[New World|New]] and [[Old World]] alike, derided as enemies of liberty.<ref>[[#belcher1|Belcher, 1911]], pp. 250, 258</ref> The idle peacetime Army fell into corruption and inefficiency, resulting in many administrative difficulties once campaigning began.<ref>[[#clayton2014|Clayton, 2014]], p. 65</ref> Through the American crises of 1775, the British leadership discovered it had overestimated the capabilities of its own troops, while underestimating those of the colonists. Strategic and tactical reassessments began in London and British America.<ref name="Ketchum208_9" /> The immediate replacement of General Gage with General Howe followed the large casualties suffered in a frontal assault against shallow entrenchments at Bunker Hill.<ref name="Frothingham156">[[#Frothingham|Frothingham 1903]], p. 156</ref> Both British military and civil officials soon acknowledged that their initial responses to the rebellion had allowed the initiative to shift to the Patriots, as British authorities rapidly lost control over every colony.<ref name="John C. Miller 1959 410–12" />{{efn|A microcosm of these shortcomings were evident at the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]]. It took ten hours for the British leadership to respond following the sighting of the Americans on the Charlestown Peninsula, giving the colonists ample time to reinforce their defenses.<ref>[[#french|French 1932]], pp. 263-265</ref> Rather than opt for a simple flanking attack that would have rapidly succeeded with minimal loss,<ref>Frothingham 1903, p. 155</ref> the British decided on repeated frontal attacks with heavy casualties, until the patriots ran out of ammunition, gunpowder being in short supply. The results were telling; the British suffered 1,054 casualties of a force of around 3,000 after repeated frontal assaults.<ref>Frothingham 1903, pp. 191, 194</ref> The British leadership had nevertheless remained excessively optimistic, believing that just two regiments could suppress the rebellion in Massachusetts.<ref name=Ferling15>[[#ferling|Ferling, 2015]], pp. 127–29</ref>}} Ultimately, Gage was relieved of command for underestimating the strength of republican sympathy and Patriot support.<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. 86</ref> [[File:WilliamHowe1777ColorMezzotint.jpeg|thumb|right|upright=.8|alt=Portrait of the British commander-in-chief, Sir William Howe in dress uniform.|Sir [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]], British [[Commander-in-Chief, North America|Commander]], 1775–1778]] Gage was replaced by Sir [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]]. Both had been light infantry commanders in America during the French and Indian War, but now General Howe had a command advantage, as he received large numbers of reinforcements of both British and German troops, horse and artillery.<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. 86</ref> Howe made several strategic errors that cost the British offensive initiative.<ref name="Ridpath 1915">[[#ridpath6|Ridpath, 1915]], vol. 6, p. 2531</ref><ref name="Stedman, Charles 1794 p. 221" /> The general's tardiness in launching the New York campaign awaiting supplies, and his reluctance to allow Cornwallis to vigorously pursue Washington's beaten army, have both been attributed food shortages.<ref>Colonial Office Papers, 5:93, Howe to Germain, June 7 and July 7, 1776</ref><ref>A View of the Evidence (London, 1783), p. 13</ref> During the winter of 1776–1777, Howe split his army into scattered cantonments. This decision dangerously exposed the individual forces to defeat in detail,<ref>[[#stedman1|Stedman, 1794]], p. 287</ref> but low food supply in New York City warehouses required dispersed regimental foraging parties.<ref>Colonial Office Papers, 5:93, Howe to Germain, November 30, 1776</ref> Washington took advantage at [[Battle of Trenton|Trenton]] and [[Battle of Princeton|Princeton]].<ref>Correspondence of George III with Lord North, Volume II, p. 57</ref> Howe's difficulties during the next year’s Philadelphia campaign were also magnified by the poor quality and quantity of resupply directly from Britain.<ref>[[#stedman1|Stedman, 1794]], p. 287</ref> In 1777, Howe might have committed his army to support Burgoyne attacking south from Quebec into New York, but he saw Washington positioned before Philadelphia as a greater threat. At the [[Battle of White Marsh]], Howe failed to exploit the vulnerable American rear,<ref name="auto1" /> and then he inexplicably ordered a retreat to Philadelphia after only minor skirmishes. His withdrawal astonished both sides.<ref name="McGuire, p. 254" /> Howe may have been dissuaded from direct assaults by the memory of the grievous losses the British suffered at Bunker Hill.<ref>[[#jackson2005|Jackson, 2005]], p. 20</ref> In his initial approach Philadelphia, which was round-about by sea through the Chesapeake Bay, Howe was unable to assist Burgoyne even if it were required, and no surprise was achieved. That decision so angered Tories on both sides of the Atlantic, that Howe was accused in Parliament of treason.<ref name="Campaign of 1777">[[#adams1911|Adams, 1911]], Vol. 44, pp. 25–26</ref> At the surrender of General [[John Burgoyne]] and the loss of a British army to the Continental Army at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]], Howe was recalled and replaced by Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]].<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. 216</ref> [[File:Sirhenryclinton2.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|right|alt=Portrait of the British commander-in-chief, Sir Henry Clinton in dress uniform.|Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]], British Commander, 1778–1782]] Clinton was professionally regarded in the British Army as one of the best-read experts on campaign tactics and military strategy.<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. 216</ref> But like Howe before him, Clinton's efforts to campaign suffered from chronic supply issues. In 1778, Clinton wrote to [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Secretary]] Lord Germain complaining of the lack of supplies, even after the arrival of a convoy from Ireland.<ref>Colonial Office Papers, 5:96, Clinton to Germain, September 15, 1778</ref> Clinton was largely inactive in the North throughout 1779, launching few major campaigns. This inactivity was partially due to the shortage of food.<ref>Colonial Office Papers, 5:98, Haldimand to Clinton, July 19 and August 29, 1779</ref> By 1780, the situation had not improved. Clinton wrote a frustrated correspondence to Germain, voicing concern that a "fatal consequence will ensue" if matters did not improve.<ref>Colonial Office Papers, 5:100, Clinton to Germain, October 31, 1780</ref> To emphasize his disappointment, Clinton had asked London that Admiral [[Mariot Arbuthnot]] be recalled.<ref name=ferling444/> Arbuthnot's relief was meant to be Admiral Sir George Rodney from his Leeward Islands command in late 1780, but Arbuthnot appealed to the admiralty. The replacement was upheld and Rodney took command in New York, but not before Arbuthnot narrowly turned back a French navy attempt in March 1781 to reinforce Lafayette in Virginia at the [[Battle of Cape Henry]].<ref name=stephen65>[[#stephen1885|Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 2]], pp. 65-66</ref>{{efn|The naval standoff at Cape Henry was at considerable cost to Arbuthot's professional reputation. He had disrupted the chain of command during war, the he was subsequently embarrassed by the admiralty supporting his successor. And he tactically mishandled his fleet in line, misjudging the wind and causing three of his eight ships to be put out of action during battle. It was only the prevailing wind that allowed his limping withdrawal towards the mouth of the Chesapeake, which was coincidentally his tactical goal. Arbuthnot was given no further command at sea thereafter.<ref name=stephen65/>}} The following spring, General Lord Cornwallis commanding the British southern army in Charleston began a campaign north into Virginia to force a collapse of Patriot support throughout the South. Although approved by Colonial Secretary Sir [[George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville|George Germain]], General Clinton was not notified either of adopting the plan or the beginning of the campaign. Clinton delayed sending reinforcements because he believed the bulk of Washington's army was still outside New York City. Admiral Romney’s relief fleet to Yorktown failed.<ref>[[#ketchum2014b|Ketchum, 2014]], p. 208–210</ref> Cornwallis' surrender at [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]] and the loss of a second British army to the Continental Army effectively ended British attempts to retake America.<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. 216</ref> Clinton was relieved and replaced by Sir [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carleton]].<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. </ref> General Carleton had repelled the American assault on Quebec in 1775, but he had been passed over for advancement by General Burgoyne because of his reputation for over-caution.<ref>[[#nessy|O’Shaunessy, 2013]], p. </ref> On his taking command of British forces in America, he then successfully managed the British transport of Loyalists to Nova Scotia and British East Florida, then evacuated British troops from American port cities in Savannah, Charleston and New York City.<ref>[[#unlikelyvictory|The History Place]], “An Unlikely Victory, 1777-1783</ref><ref>[[#cashin|Cashin, 2005]], “Revolutionary War in Georgia”</ref> {{clear}} ;Hessians {{Main|Hessian (soldier)}} [[File:Hessian jager.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|alt=Portrait of two Hessian auxiliaries deployed in America in their uniforms; one with an upright pike formally at “dress right”, one with a musket formally at “left carry arms”.|[[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] uniforms of the Leibregiment deployed to America]] In 1775, without sufficient popular support at home to supply enlistments for the British Army overseas, London had to look elsewhere to find the number of troops required to put down an expanding revolt in the Thirteen Colonies. Britain unsuccessfully attempted to secure 20,000 mercenaries from [[Russian Empire|Russia]],<ref>Colonial Office Papers. Manuscripts in the Public Record Office, 5:92, Dartmouth to Howe, September 5, 1775</ref> and then it was denied use of the [[Scots Brigade]] from the Dutch Republic.<ref>Edler 2001, pp. 28–32</ref> Parliament finally managed to negotiate treaties of subsidy with certain mercenary German princes in exchange for [[Hessian (soldier)|auxiliary troops]] to serve in America.<ref name="Lowell, Edward J 1884"/> In total, 29,875 troops were hired for British service from six German states.<ref name="Lowell, Edward J 1884" />{{efn|Hessians sent to America:<br />[[Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Brunswick]] (5,723)<br />[[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel|Hesse-Kassel]] (16,992)<br />[[Hanau|Hesse-Hannau]] (2,422)<br />[[Principality of Ansbach|Ansbach-Bayreuth]] (2,353)<br />[[Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont|Waldeck-Pyrmont]] (1,225)<br />[[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Anhalt-Zerbst]] (1,160).<br />Total: 29,875<br />Of these more than 18,000 sailed to America in 1776.<ref name="Lowell, Edward J 1884"/> In the case of a seventh German principality, Parliament approached King George III to lend the government Hanoverian soldiers for war service because he personally ruled [[Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Hanover]] as a [[Prince-elector]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Hanover supplied 2,365 men in five [[battalion]]s. However the lease agreement permitted only European deployment. They were subsequently garrisoned in fortress at Gibraltar where they could not desert as easily as in American service.<ref>[[#ernst|Knesebeck, 1845]]</ref>}} Early in 1776, when the Patriots learned that London had hired German mercenaries to help suppress the rebellion, they became even more embittered,<ref>[[#ferling2002|Ferling, 2002]], p. 130</ref> the sentiment of which was instrumental in convincing the Americans in rejecting their allegiance to the British Crown,<ref>[[#lowell84|Lowell, 1884]], p. 36</ref> prompting Thomas Jefferson to criticize King George III over that issue when he authored the Declaration of Independence that year.<ref name=lowell298>[[#lowell84|Lowell, 1884]], p. 298</ref>{{efn|Jefferson wrote: "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."<ref name=lowell298/>}} The first Hessians arrived in August and landed on Staten Island to reinforce the British troops stationed there, and would soon participate in the action that followed during the Battle of Long Island.<ref>[[#mccolough2006|McColough, 2006]], p. 161</ref> Newspaper accounts viewed them as brutal mercenaries.<ref name=schwamenfield123>[[#schwamenfeld2007|Schwamenfeld, 2007]], pp. 123-124</ref> It was also true that diaries of Hessian soldiers voiced objections to occasionally bad treatment of colonists at the hands of the British Army. Some officers had ordered property destruction and prisoner execution. British soldiers were themselves often contemptuous in their treatment of Hessian troops, despite orders from General Howe that "the English should treat the Germans as brothers". The order only began to have any real effect when the Hessians learned to speak a minimal degree of English, which was seen as a prerequisite for the British troops to accord them any respect.<ref>Schwamenfeld, 2007, p. 123</ref> The German soldiers were an essential part of the British war effort, without whose participation the prospect of subduing the rebellion by themselves was deemed unlikely.<ref>[[#atwood2002|Atwood, 2002]], p. 58</ref><ref>[[#mackesy93|Mackesy, 1993 [1964] ]], p. 62</ref> By the end of hostilities in America at the close of 1781, the British Army numbered approximately 121,000 men globally,<ref name="British Army 1775–1783" /> 48,000 of whom were stationed throughout the Americas.<ref name="totallyhistory.com" /> Of the 171,000 sailors<ref name="Mackesy 1964 pp. 6, 176"/> who served in the Royal Navy throughout the conflict, around a quarter were pressed. This same proportion, approximately 42,000 men, deserted during the conflict.<ref name="Mackesy 1964 pp. 6, 176"/> At its height, the Navy had 94 [[Ship of the line|ships-of-the-line]],<ref name="Jonathan Dull 1985 p. 110"/> 104 [[Frigate#Age of Sail|frigates]]<ref name=winfield2007/> and 37 [[sloop-of-war|sloops]]<ref name=winfield2007/> in service. {{clear}} {{clear}} ;British logistics [[File:Grenadier, 40th Foot, 1767.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|alt=Portrait of a British soldier in red coat and fur busby posing formally “at rest” with a Brown Bess musket.|[[40th Regiment of Foot|40th Regt. of Foot]] Grenadier<br>and Brown Bess musket, 1767]] Logistical organization of eighteenth century armies was chaotic at best, and the British Army was no exception. No logistical corps existed in the modern sense; while on campaign in foreign territories such as America, horses, wagons, and drivers were frequently requisitioned from the locals, often by impressment or by hire.<ref>[[#duncan1879|Duncan, 1879]], volume 1, pp. 131, 303, 309</ref> No centrally organized medical corps existed. It was common for surgeons to have no formal medical education, and no diploma or entry examination was required. Nurses sometimes were apprentices to surgeons, but many were drafted from the women who [[camp follower|followed the army]].<ref name=lamb2011>[[#hagist2011|Lamb, Hagist (ed), Journal, 2011]], pp. 280-290</ref> Army surgeons and doctors were poorly paid and were regarded as social inferiors to other officers.<ref>[[#duncan1879|Duncan, 1879]], volume 2, p. 15</ref> The heavy personal equipment and wool uniform of the regular infantrymen were wholly unsuitable for combat in America, and the outfit was especially ill-suited to comfort and agile movement.<ref>[[#burgoyne1780|Burgoyne, 1780]], p. 148</ref> During the [[Battle of Monmouth]] in late June 1778, the temperature exceeded {{convert|100|°F|lk=on}}, and [[heat stroke]] claimed more lives than actual combat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Battle of Monmouth Courthouse|url=http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/unitedstates/1775/campaigns/monmouth.htm|website=Robinson Library|publisher=Self-published|accessdate=June 20, 2017}}</ref> The standard-issue firearm of the British Army was the [[Brown Bess|Land Pattern Musket]]. Some officers preferred their troops to fire careful, measured shots (around two per minute), rather than rapid firing. A bayonet made firing difficult, as its cumbersome shape hampered ramming down the charge into the barrel.<ref>[[#lloyd1908|Lloyd, 1908]], p. 155</ref> British troops had a tendency to fire impetuously, resulting in inaccurate fire, a trait for which John Burgoyne criticized them during the [[Saratoga campaign]]. Burgoyne instead encouraged bayonet charges to break up enemy formations, which was a preferred tactic in most European armies at the time.<ref>[[#trevelyan|Trevelyan, 1912]], Vol. III, p. 6; Vol. IV, p. 158</ref> [[File:Officer and Serjeant of a Highland Regiment.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|alt=Portrait of two British soldiers of the "Black Watch" regiment in informal poses; on the left one carries a Brown Bess musket horizontally; on the right one holds a pike upright.|Soldiers of the [[42nd Regiment of Foot|Black Watch]]<br>and [[Brown Bess]] muskets, 1790]] Every battalion in America had organized its own rifle company by the end of the war, although rifles were not formally issued to the army until the [[Baker Rifle]] in 1801.<ref>[[#fortescue|Fortescue, 1902]], p. 83</ref> Flintlocks were heavily dependent on the weather; high winds could blow the gunpowder from the [[flash pan]],<ref>Sawyer, C.W. 1910, "Firearms in American History", p. 99</ref> while heavy rain could soak the [[paper cartridge]], ruining the powder and rendering the musket unable to fire. Furthermore, [[flint]]s used in British muskets were of notoriously poor quality; they could only be fired around six times before requiring resharpening, while American flints could fire sixty. This led to a common expression among the British: "Yankee flint was as good as a glass of grog".<ref>[[#trevelyan|Trevelyan, 1912]], Volume IV, pp. 224, 34</ref> Provisioning troops and sailors proved to be an immense challenge, as the majority of food stores had to be shipped overseas from Britain.<ref>Minute Book of a Board of General Officers of the British Army in New York, 1781. New York Historical Society Collections, 1916, p. 81</ref> The need to maintain Loyalist support prevented the Army from living off the land.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 14</ref> Other factors also impeded this option; the countryside was too sparsely populated and the inhabitants were largely hostile or indifferent, the network of roads and bridges was poorly developed, and the area which the British controlled was so limited that foraging parties were frequently in danger of being ambushed.<ref>Correspondence of George III with Lord North, Volume II, pp. 7, 52</ref> After France entered the war, the threat of the French navy increased the difficulty of transporting supplies to America. Food supplies were frequently in bad condition. The climate was also against the British in the southern colonies and the Caribbean, where the intense summer heat caused food supplies to sour and spoil.<ref>[[#smithM2015|Smith, M. 2015]], p. 374</ref> Life at sea was little better. Sailors and passengers were issued a daily food ration, largely consisting of [[hardtack]] and beer.<ref name=RoyNavyMus>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_ship_biscuit.htm |title=Ships Biscuits – Royal Navy hardtack |publisher=Royal Navy Museum |accessdate=January 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031064002/http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_ship_biscuit.htm |archivedate=October 31, 2009 }}</ref> The hardtack was often infested by weevils and was so tough that it earned the nicknames "molar breakers" and "worm castles",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.19thusregulars.com/html/hardtack.html |title=19th United States Infantry |publisher=19thusregulars.com |date= |accessdate=December 25, 2013|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120715204518/http://www.19thusregulars.com/html/hardtack.html|archivedate=July 15, 2012}}</ref> and it sometimes had to be broken up with cannon shot. Meat supplies often spoiled on long voyages.<ref>Lowell, Edward J and Andrews, Raymond J (June 15, 1997) "The Hessians in the Revolutionary War", Corner House Pub, {{ISBN|9780879281168}}, p. 56</ref> The lack of fresh fruit and vegetables gave rise to scurvy, one of the biggest killers at sea.<ref name="GARD2016" /> {{clear}} ==Revolution as civil war== ===Loyalists=== {{Main|Loyalist (American Revolution)}} {{See also|American Legion|Prince of Wales' American Regiment}} Wealthy Loyalists wielded great influence in London<ref>C. Ritcheson, "Loyalist Influence on British Policy Toward the United States After the American Revolution"; ''Eighteenth-Century Studies''; 1973 7#1 p. 6. {{JSTOR|3031609}}</ref> and they were successful in convincing the British government that the majority view in the colonies was sympathetic toward the Crown. Consequently, British military planners pinned the success of their strategies on popular uprisings of Loyalists that never materialized.{{efn|Historians have estimated that Loyalists made up only 15- to 20-percent of the population (vs. 40- to 45-percent Patriots)<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 235</ref> and that they continued to deceive themselves on their level of support as late as 1780, only a year before the close of hostilities.<ref name="Lecky1892">[[#lecky|Lecky, 1892]], vol. 3, p. 139</ref>}} [[File:John Singleton Copley 001.jpg|thumb|right|alt=British troops assaulting down a city street behind two regimental colors, a freed black Tory in militia uniform among them; in the center, soldiers in British red coats are advancing into an American street barricade in the background; on the right turning away from the battle, resident women and children are running away.|[[Black Loyalist]] militia fight alongside British regulars, [[Battle of Jersey]] 1781.]] Recruiting adequate numbers of Loyalist militia to support British military plans in America was made difficult by intensive local Patriot opposition nearly everywhere.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 59</ref>{{efn|On militia see Boatner 1974, p.&nbsp;707;<br />Weigley 1973, ch.&nbsp;2}} To bolster Loyalist militia numbers in the South, the British promised freedom and grants of land to slaves who [[Black Loyalist|fought for them]].<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 113</ref> Approximately 25,000 Loyalists fought for the British throughout the war.<ref name="Savas and Dameron 2006, p. xli"/> From early on, the British were faced with a major dilemma. Any significant level of organized Loyalist activity required a continued presence of British regulars.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 12</ref> The available manpower that the British commands had in America was insufficient to protect Loyalist territory while at the same time countering American offensives.<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 13-14</ref> The Loyalist militias in the South were vulnerable to strings of defeats by their Patriot militia neighbors. The most critical combat between the two partisan militias was at Kings Mountain. The Patriot victory there irreversibly crippled any further Loyalist militia capability in the South.<ref name="Buchanan, p. 241" /> During the early war policy administered by General Lord Howe, the need to maintain Loyalist support prevented the British from using the harsh methods of suppressing revolts that they had used in [[Jacobite rising of 1745#Legacy|Scotland]] and [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|Ireland]].<ref>[[#black2001|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], p. 14</ref> The Crown's cause suffered when British troops looted and pillaged the locals during an aborted attack on Charleston in 1779, enraging both Patriots and Loyalists.<ref name="Wilson p. 112"/> After Congress rejected the Carlisle Commission settlement offer in 1778 and London turning to "hard war" during General Lord Clinton's command, neutral colonists in the Carolinas were often driven into the ranks of the Patriots whenever brutal combat broke out between Tories and Whigs.<ref>[[#black|Black, 2001]]&nbsp;[1991], pp. 14–16 (Harsh methods), pp. 35, 38 (slaves and Indians), p. 16 (neutrals into revolutionaries)</ref> Conversely, Loyalists were often emboldened when Patriots resorted to intimidating suspected Tories by destroying property or [[tarring and feathering]].<ref>Leonard Woods Larabee, Conservatism in Early American History, 1948, pp 164–65</ref><ref>Calhoon, Robert M. The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1760–1781, 1973</ref> One outstanding Loyalist militia unit provided some of the best troops in the British service.<ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan, 1997]], p. 327</ref> Their [[British Legion (American Revolution)|British Legion]] was a mixed regiment of 250 [[dragoons]] and 200 infantry, supported by batteries of flying artillery<ref name=babits>[[#babits|Babits, 2011]], p. 41</ref>{{efn|"British Legion Infantry strength at Cowpens was between 200 and 271 enlisted men". However, this statement is referenced to a note on pp. 175–76, which says, "The British Legion infantry at Cowpens is usually considered to have had about 200–250 men, but returns for the 25 December 1780 muster show only 175. Totals obtained by Cornwallis, dated 15 January, show that the whole legion had 451 men, but approximately 250 were dragoons". There would therefore appear to be no evidence for putting the total strength of the five British Legion Light Infantry companies at more than 200.<ref name=babits/>}} Under the command of [[Banastre Tarleton]] in the South, it gained a fearsome reputation in the colonies for "brutality and needless slaughter".<ref name="rankin">[[#bass|Bass, Journal, October, 1957]], pp. 548-550</ref> Nevertheless, in May 1779 the Loyalist British Legion was one of five regiments taken into British Army regular service as the [[American establishment (British army)|American Establishment]].<ref>Katcher, Philip. [https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-British-Provincial-German-1775-1783/dp/0811705420 Encyclopedia of British, Provincial, and German Army Units, 1775-1783], 1973, Stackpole Books, {{ISBN|978-0-811-70542-4}}, p. 101</ref> After the [[Battle of Cowpens]] in January 1781, British Legion survivors amounting to 14 percent of those engaged were consolidated into the British garrison at Charleston.<ref>[[#buchanan97|Buchanan 1997]], p. 326</ref> {{clear}} ===Women=== {{Main|Women in the American Revolution}} [[File:Nancy Morgan Hart.gif|thumb|left|upright=1.1|alt=Scene of Nancy Morgan Hart on the left with musket raised and child hiding behind her skirts, and behind; on the right two British soldiers are lying on the floor, and three are raising their hands defensively in alarm.|[[Nancy Morgan Hart]] captured six British infantry while defending her home.]] Women played various roles during the Revolutionary War. Some women accompanied their husbands when permitted. [[Martha Washington]] was known to visit the American camp, for example, and [[Frederika Charlotte Riedesel]] documented the [[Saratoga campaign]].<ref>[[#berkin2005|Berkin, 2005]], p. 84</ref> Women also acted as spies on both sides of the Revolutionary War.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/revolutionary-spies |title=Revolutionary Spies. Women Spies of the American Revolution |first=Kenna |last=Howat |date=November 9, 2017 |accessdate=August 23, 2019}}</ref> In some cases women served in the American Army in the war, some of them [[List of wartime cross-dressers|disguised as men]].<ref name="history1">[[#womens2009|Historical Essay, 2009]]</ref> [[Deborah Sampson]] fought until her sex was discovered and she was discharged, and Sally St. Clare died in the war.<ref name="history1"/> Anna Maria Lane joined her husband in the Army, and she was wearing men's clothes by the time of the [[Battle of Germantown]].<ref name="history1"/> According to the Virginia General Assembly, Lane "performed extraordinary military services, and received a severe wound at the battle of Germantown", fighting dressed as a man and "with the courage of a soldier".<ref name="history1"/> Other women fought or directly supported fighting while dressed as women, such as the legendary or mythical [[Molly Pitcher]].<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 330</ref> On April 26, 1777, Sybil Ludington rode to alert militia forces of Putnam County, New York and Danbury, Connecticut, warning of the approach of the British regular forces. She is referred to as the female Paul Revere.<ref>[[#hunt2015|Hunt, 2015]], pp. 188–222</ref> Other women also accompanied armies as camp followers, selling goods and performing necessary services in hospital and camp. They were a necessary part of 18th century armies, and they numbered in the thousands during the war.<ref>[[#liberty|Dunklery, 2014]], Essay</ref> {{clear}} ===African Americans=== {{Main|African Americans in the Revolutionary War}} [[File:Soldiers at the siege of Yorktown (1781), by Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger.png|thumb|alt=A scene of four uniformed soldiers of the Continental 1st Rhode Island Regiment. On the left, a black and a white soldier formally at “Attention” with Brown Bess muskets; on the right, a downcast white soldier walking back into formation with an officer barking at him holding a cat-o-nine tails for flogging.|<center>Continental [[1st Rhode Island Regiment|1st Rhode Island Regt.]]<br>black & white infantry, (r.) officer & whip</center>]] [[African Americans in the Revolutionary War|African Americans]]—slave and free—served on both sides during the war. The British recruited slaves belonging to [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] masters and promised freedom to those who served by act of Lord [[Dunmore's Proclamation]]. Because of manpower shortages, George Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. Small all-black units were formed in [[Rhode Island]] and [[Massachusetts]]; many slaves were promised freedom for serving. Some of the men promised freedom were sent back to their masters after the war was over for political convenience. Another all-black unit came from [[Saint-Domingue]] with French colonial forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause.<ref>[[#alexander2010|Alexander, 2010]], p. 356</ref> Tens of thousands of slaves escaped during the war and joined British lines; others simply moved off in the chaos. For instance, in South Carolina, nearly 25,000 slaves (30% of the enslaved population) fled, migrated or died during the disruption of the war. This greatly disrupted plantation production during and after the war. When they withdrew their forces from Savannah and Charleston, the British also evacuated 10,000 slaves belonging to Loyalists.<ref>[[#kolchin1994|Kolchin, 1994]], p. 73</ref> Altogether, the British evacuated nearly 20,000 blacks at the end of the war. More than 3,000 of them were freedmen and most of these were resettled in Nova Scotia; other blacks were sold in the West Indies.<ref>[[#weir2004|Weir, 2004]], pp. 31–32</ref><ref name=":0">[[#cassandra|Cassandra, 2005]], pp. 243–264</ref> About 8,000 to 10,000 slaves gained freedom.<ref name=":0" /> About 4,000 freed slaves went to Nova Scotia and 1,200 blacks remained slaves.<ref>[[#walker1992|Walker, 1992]], p. x</ref> {{clear}} ===American Indians=== {{Main|Category:Native Americans in the American Revolution}} :See also [[Cayuga people#history|Cayuga]], [[Cherokee#18th century|Cherokee]], [[Cherokee War of 1776]], [[Cherokee–American wars]], [[Chocktaw#American Revolutionary War|Chocktaw]], [[Iroquois#American Revolution|Iroquois]], [[Lenape#history|Lenape]], [[Mohawk people#American Revolutionary War|Mohawk]], [[Oneida people#American Revolution|Oneida]], [[Onondaga people#history|Onodaga]], [[Seneca people#Involvement in the American Revolution|Seneca]]. Most [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] east of the [[Mississippi River]] were affected by the war, and many tribes were divided over the question of how to respond to the conflict. A few tribes were on friendly terms with the other Americans, but most Indians opposed the union of the Colonies as a potential threat to their territory. Approximately 13,000 Indians fought on the British side, with the largest group coming from the [[Iroquois]] tribes, who fielded around 1,500 men.<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 393</ref><ref>[[#boatner74|Boatner, 1974]], p. 545</ref> {|align=left |<center><br />'''Indians split within languages, nations and tribes;'''<br />Neutrality was impossible to maintain in the Revolution</center> |- |<gallery perrow=2> File:Joseph_Brant_by_William_Berczy_c1794-1797.jpg|alt=Portrait of British regular army Colonel Joseph Brant, [[Iroquois#American Revolution|Iroquois]] [[Mohawk people#American Revolutionary War|Mohawk]].|<center>Col. [[Joseph Brant]], GB<br />[[Iroquois#American Revolution|Iroquois]] [[Mohawk people#American Revolutionary War|Mohawk]]<br />led [[Seneca people#Involvement in the American Revolution|Seneca]] in war</center> File:Colonel_Louis.jpg|alt=Portrait of US regular army Colonel Joseph Cook, [[Iroquois#American Revolution|Iroquois]] [[Mohawk people#American Revolutionary War|Mohawk]].|<center>Col. [[Joseph Louis Cook|Joseph Cook]], US<br />[[Iroquois#American Revolution|Iroquois]] [[Mohawk people#American Revolutionary War|Mohawk]]<br />led [[Oneida people#American Revolution|Oneida]] in war</center> </gallery> |} The powerful [[Iroquois Confederacy]] was shattered as a result of the conflict, whatever side they took; the [[Seneca nation|Seneca]], [[Onondaga (tribe)|Onondaga]], and [[Cayuga nation|Cayuga]] tribes sided with the British. Members of the [[Mohawk nation|Mohawks]] fought on both sides. Many [[Tuscarora (tribe)|Tuscarora]] and [[Oneida tribe|Oneida]] sided with the Americans. The Continental Army sent the [[Sullivan Expedition]] on raids throughout New York to cripple the Iroquois tribes that had sided with the British. Mohawk leaders [[Joseph Louis Cook]] and [[Joseph Brant]] sided with the Americans and the British respectively, and this further exacerbated the split.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 200–203</ref> [[Western theater of the American Revolutionary War|Farther west]], conflicts between settlers and Indians led to lasting distrust.<ref>[[#reidD2017|Reid, D. 2017]], p. </ref> In the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain ceded control of the disputed lands between the Great Lakes and the [[Ohio River]], but the Indian inhabitants were not a part of the peace negotiations.<ref name=carrol24>[[#carrol2001|Carrol, 2001]], p. 24</ref> Tribes in the [[Northwest Territory]] [[Western Confederacy|banded together]] and allied with the British to resist American settlement; their conflict continued after the Revolutionary War as the [[Northwest Indian War]].<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 354–355</ref><ref>[[#downes1940|Downes, 1940]], p. 276</ref> Early in July 1776, [[Cherokee]] allies of Britain attacked the [[Washington District, North Carolina|western frontier areas]] of [[North Carolina Colony|North Carolina]]. Their defeat resulted in a splintering of the Cherokee settlements and people and was directly responsible for the rise of the [[Chickamauga Cherokee]], bitter enemies of the American settlers who carried on a [[Cherokee–American wars|frontier war]] for decades following the end of hostilities with Britain.<ref name=finger2001>[[#finger2001|Finger, 2001]], pp. 43-64</ref> [[Muscogee people|Creek]] and [[Seminole]] allies of Britain fought against Americans in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1778, a force of 800 Creeks destroyed American settlements along the [[Broad River (Georgia)|Broad River]] in Georgia. Creek warriors also joined [[Thomas Brown (loyalist)|Thomas Brown's]] raids into South Carolina and assisted Britain during the [[Siege of Savannah]].<ref name="Ward1999">[[#ward1999|Ward, 1999]], p. 198</ref> Many Indians were involved in the fighting between Britain and Spain on the Gulf Coast and up the Mississippi River, mostly on the British side. Thousands of Creeks, [[Chickasaw]]s, and [[Choctaw]]s fought in major battles such as the [[Battle of Fort Charlotte]], the [[Battle of Mobile (1781)|Battle of Mobile]], and the [[Siege of Pensacola]].<ref name="O'Brien2008">[[#o'brien2008|O'Brien, 2008]], pp. 123–126</ref> {{clear}} == Global war and Diplomacy == ;North Ministry collapses <small>{{See also|Fox-North coalition}}</small> [[Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford|Lord North]] had been the King's Prime Minister in Parliament since 1770. By the end of 1777 with the [[Battles of Saratoga|loss of the first British army]], King George III had determined that in the event of his initiating a separate war with France, he would have to redeploy most of the British and German troops in America to threaten French and Spanish Caribbean settlements. In the King's judgment, Britain could not possibly fight on all three fronts without becoming weak everywhere. At the news of the French-US treaties for [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–France)|trade]] and [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|defense]] arrived at London, British negotiators proposed a second peace settlement to Congress.<ref>[[#hibbert2000|Hibbert, 2000]], p. 160</ref> {|align=right |<gallery perrow=2 heights=150> File:Nathaniel_Dance_Lord_North_cropped.jpg|alt=Portrait of Lord North, war Prime Minister for King George III.|<center>'''[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]]'''<br />Tory for American war<br />and territorial Empire </center> File:2nd_Marquess_of_Rockingham_cropped.jpg|alt=Portrait of Lord Rockingham, peace Prime Minister for George III.|<center>'''[[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]]'''<br />Whig for peace, trade<br />and US independence</center> </gallery> |} The [[Carlisle Peace Commission]] was sent across the Atlantic to make a formal presentation to Congress. Firstly, virtual self-government by a kind of "home-rule" was contemplated. It would recognize Congress, suspend all objectionable acts of Parliament, surrender Parliament's the right to taxation, and perhaps allow American representatives to the House of Commons. But secondly, all property would be restored to loyal subjects, their debts honored, with locally enforced martial law, Parliament to regulate trade, and the Declaration of Independence withdrawn. Parliament's commission was rebuffed by a Congress which knew the British were about to evacuate Philadelphia. Before it returned to London in November 1778, the commission directed a change in British war policy. Sir Henry Clinton, the new British Commander-in-Chief in America was to stop treating rebels as subjects whose loyalty might be regained – now they were to be routinely treated as enemies.<ref name=hibbert161>[[#hibbert2000|Hibbert, 2000]], p. 160–61</ref> Those standing orders would be in effect for three years until Clinton was relieved.<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 325</ref> [[File:Gainsborough George III of the United Kingdom.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|alt=Three-quarter portrait of King George III in his parliamentary robes, a blue suit with a leopard cape.|<center>[[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]], 1785<br />in his parliamentary robes</center>]] Prior to the surrender of Cornwallis's army at Yorktown, George III still had hoped for victory in the South. He believed a majority of American colonists still supported him there, especially among thousands of black slaves. When news of the surrender at Yorktown however reached Lord North he exclaimed, “Oh God! It is all over." Nevertheless, Lord North rebutted the Whig resolution in Commons to end offensive operations in America. The speech postponed the inevitable several weeks.<ref>[[#hibbert|Hibbert, 2008]], p. 333</ref> But the mood of the country in Great Britain had changed since the 1770s. Member of Parliament [[Edward Gibbon]] had believed the King's cause in America to be just, and the British and German soldiers there fought bravely. But after Yorktown, he concluded, "It is better to be humbled than ruined." There was no point in spending more money on Britain's most expensive war, with no hope of success. Whig [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]] argued that war on American colonists had brought nothing but ineffective victories or severe defeats. He condemned effort to retain the Americans as a "most accursed, wicked, barbarous, cruel, unjust and diabolical war."<ref name=hibbert161/> Lord North resigned. George III never forgave him.<ref>[[#hibbert2000|Hibbert, 2000]], p. 164</ref> From the time London learned of the surrender of a second British army, it was only two weeks before the Whig Opposition motion to end offensive war in America which was defeated by only one vote. On February 27, 1782, the Commons carried the motion by 19 votes.<ref>[[#namier1985|namier1985]], p. 246</ref> At a vote of no confidence against Lord North, the [[Rockingham Whigs]] came to power and opened negotiations for peace with the Americans. Rockingham died and was succeeded by the [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Earl of Shelburne]]. The British troops remaining in America were garrisoned in the three port cities of New York, Charleston, and Savannah.<ref>[[#mackesy93|Mackesy, 1993&nbsp;&nbsp;[1964] ]], p. 435</ref> General Clinton was recalled and replaced by [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carleton]] who was ordered to suspend offensive operations and agreed to evacuate New York on 25 November, 1783..<ref>[[#ketchum2014b|Ketchum, 2014]], p. 287</ref> English public will evaporated for continuing the government's war to suppress the Thirteen Colony rebellion. With the House of Commons vote against further offensive war in the US, overturning Lord North's policy to continue the war, the British government could then commit the British garrisons at New York and Charleston to holding her West Indies colonies under attack from France and Spain. Six weeks more, American General George Washington and British General Sir Guy Carleton entered into an end of hostilities between the belligerents at New York City.<ref>[[#ketchum2014b|Ketchum, 2014]], p. 275, 476-477</ref><ref>The History Place, American Revolution, "[https://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/revwar-77.htm An Unlikely Victory, 1777–1783]", viewed May 20, 2020</ref>{{efn|On March 5, 1782, Both Commons and Lords of Parliament authorized the government to make a US peace with independence.<ref>Abrams, Creighton W. "[https://armyhistory.org/the-yorktown-campaign-october-1781/ The Yorktown Campaign, October 1781]", National Museum of the United States Army, Army Historical Foundation. Viewed May 20, 2020</ref> Parliament began its negotiations in Paris, and a British-US-French-Spanish armistice was negotiated there, and subsequently honored in North America among all sides, thus ending conflict related to the American War for Independence.<ref>[[#jgreene|Greene & Pole]], p. 325</ref>}} {{clear}} ;Treaty of Paris :<small>See [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]] for the Anglo-American peace, formally in effect at the conclusive peace with Anglo-French peace.</small> The British surrender at Yorktown on 19 October 1781 “virtually settled” independence for the United States. All who contributed to any prolonging of offensive war in America were declared “enemies to the country [Britain]”.<ref>[[#a.ward1925|Ward and Prothero, 1925]], p. 456</ref> George III formally sent for peace Whig [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]], who had been a constant advocate in Parliament for the American cause since 1775. Before he agreed to serve, Rockingham required, and the King agreed to acknowledge American independence.<ref>[[#a.ward1925|Ward and Prothero, 1925]], p. 458</ref> Rockingham took office 27 March 1782.<ref>[[#a.ward1925|Ward and Prothero, 1925]], p. 460</ref>{{efn|As an indication of how the political climate of London had changed, as Rockingham put together his cabinet to form a government in Parliament, the formerly exiled John Wilkes, the radical Whig for American independence, wider British workingman suffrage, and a darling of the Patriot weeklies, returned to his seat in the House of Commons.}} Nevertheless, with the departure of the French fleet from American shores in November 1781, the Royal Navy was able to move in and re-assert a close blockade.<ref name="davisengerman2006">[[#davisengerman2006|Davis, L. and Engerman, 2006]], p. 64</ref> Following the death of Lord Rockingham on 1 July 1782 the new Prime minister Shelburne succeeded him. He sought to separate the US from warring France by strengthening the US so it would not depend on France militarily. The French long-term interest was a weak US to ensure a future military alliance against Britain.<ref name=cogliano85>[[#cogliano2003|Coglian, 2003]], p. 85</ref> The British strategy ultimately would prove successful.<ref>[[#black2011|Black 2011]], pp.117-18</ref> The US ministers negotiating the British-US peace were [[John Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[John Jay]], and for Britain, [[David Hartley (the Younger)|David Hartley]] of Parliament and [[Richard Oswald (merchant)|Richard Oswald]], Britain's Peace Commissioner.<ref name=ferling378>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], pp. 378–379</ref> [[File:Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West 1783.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of the four principle US ministers in Paris; left to right, John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and their secretary on the far right.|[[Treaty of Paris (1783)|American mission]] (l-r) [[John Jay|Jay]], [[John Adams|Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin|Franklin]], [[Henry Laurens|Laurens]] in ''[[Treaty of Paris (painting)|Treaty of Paris]]'' oil]] France and Spain floated distinctly different proposals for an "American Settlement" to apportion territory to the United States. The French had the most restrictive plan, with a western boundary for the US at the Appalachian Mountains, matching the British [[Royal Proclamation of 1763|1763 Proclamation Line]]. The Spanish allowed for some additional Mississippi River Basin upland just west of the Appalachians for the US. But it also required that the British cede its colony of [[Georgia in the American Revolution|Georgia]] to Spain in violation of the Franco-American alliance of 1778.<ref name=cogliano85>[[#cogliano2003|Coglian, 2003]], p. 85</ref> When the American delegation in Paris discovered France was negotiating with Britain unilaterally in early September 1782, the Americans followed suit. Shelburne met American demands for territory west to the Mississippi River in order 'to cheat the Spaniards'.<ref name="Harvey531"/> The agreement met four Congressional peace demands: independence, territory to the Mississippi, navigation to the sea, and fishing off Newfoundland.<ref name=ferling378>[[#ferling2003|Ferling, 2003]], pp. 378–379</ref> Meanwhile, by mid 1782 the British blockade of the American coast had tightened to the point that the Continental economy was suffering - coastal merchant ships were being taken at large rates by the Royal Navy.<ref name="davisengerman2006"/> This led to rising inflation made worse by the fact that France was unable to provide anymore loans. As a result, congress financier [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] was unable to pay soldiers of the Continental Army.<ref name="Rappleye300">[[#Rappleye2010|Rappleye, 2010]], pp. 300–313</ref> To speed the US negotiators, Britain offered Newfoundland fishing rights to the US, denying France exclusive rights; France and Spain would now sign their treaties after the Anglo-American [[Glossary of French expressions in English#Fait accompli|fait accompli]].<ref>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], p. 359, quoting Jonathan R. Dull</ref> The Preliminary Peace was signed November 30, 1782. Congress endorsed it unanimously by law on April 15, 1783 and proclaimed that peace with independence was achieved in public broadsides. The “conclusive” treaty was signed on September 2, 1783 in Paris, effective the next day September 3, when Britain signed its treaty with France. John Adams, who was an early participant drafting the treaty, maintained that its negotiations represented "one of the most important political events that ever happened on the globe".<ref>[[#lskaplan1983|Kaplan,Lawrence S. 1983]], p. 431</ref> ;British America and Empire <small>{{main|Anglo-French War (1778)}}</small> [[File:Combat naval en rade de Gondelour, 20 juin 1783.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|[[Battle of Cuddalore (1783)|Battle of Cuddalore]], [[Bay of Bengal|off India]] - although a French victory it failed to regain territory in India<ref>[[#mahan|Mahan, 1890]], p. 257</ref>]] As a part of the Anglo-French [[Second Hundred Years' War]], beginning 1778–9, France and Spain again declared war on Britain. The British were forced to severely limit the number of troops and warships that they sent to America in order to defend the British homeland and key overseas territories.<ref name="Ketchum 1997, p. 405–448" /><ref>[[#higginbothm1983|Higginbotham, 1983]]&nbsp;[1971], pp. 175–88</ref> The immediate strategic focus of the three greatest European colonial powers, Britain, France, and Spain, all shifted to Jamaica.<ref>Dull, 1985, p. 244</ref> King George abandoned any hope of subduing America militarily while simultaneously contending with two European Great Powers alone.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 294</ref>{{efn|Europe's "Great Powers" of the late 1700s were the western powers of France, Spain and Britain, along with the eastern powers of Austria, Russia and Prussia. The three eastern powers all offered to mediate Great Power conflicts, Russia began as the mediator among the three Western powers until it showed favoritism to Britain, at which time the Austrians took over the role.}} The small size of Britain's army left them unable to concentrate their resources primarily in one theater of war with a Great Power ally as they had done before in the Seven Years' War allied with Prussia. That left them at a critical disadvantage.<ref>[[#pares|Pares, 1963]]&nbsp;[1936], pp. 429–65"</ref> London was compelled to disperse troops from America to Europe and the East Indies. These forces were unable to mutually support one other, exposing them to potential defeat everywhere.<ref name=mahan534/> Nevertheless, the British secured a preliminary peace settlement in America, and it was agreed to in Congress April 1783. British military successes worldwide from 1782 to 1784 led to their ability to dictate their [[Peace of Paris (1783)#Treaty with France|Treaty of Versailles (1783)]] with France, their [[Peace of Paris (1783)#Treaty with Spain|Treaty of Versailles (1783)]] with Spain, and their [[Treaty of Paris (1784)]] with the Dutch Republic. Following the end of British engagement in conflicts worldwide 1775–1784, the Empire had lost some of her most populous colonies in the short term. But in the long term, the economic effects were negligible. With expanding trade in America with the US, and expanding colonial territory worldwide, she became a global superpower 32 years after the end of her many conflicts throughout the American Revolution and Napoleonic Eras.<ref>[[#tellier2009|Tellier, 2009]], p. 463 </ref> {{clear}} ;Peace of Paris :<small>:See [[Peace of Paris (1783)]] for how the Anglo-American [[Peace of Paris (1783)#Peace with the United States|Preliminary Peace]] November 1782 was incorporated into the Anglo-French [[Peace of Paris#Treaty with France|1783 Treaty of Versailles]], the Anglo-Spanish [[Peace of Paris#Treaty with Spain|1783 Treaty of Versailles]], and the Anglo-Dutch [[Treaty of Paris (1784)]].</small> Internationally the British still faced three active European belligerents; France, Spain and the Dutch Republic. She was under attack around the world - in European waters, the Caribbean and in the East Indies Indian sub-continent. Britain's strategic reply was to center her offensive war in these areas. [[File:Battle-of-the-Saintes-12th-April-1782-William-Elliott-1784-871.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|alt=Two lines of sail warships sailing away from the viewer, firing broadsides at one another; in the center middle ground receding to the right background are the British in orderly line of battle; in the left-center middle ground receding into the left background are the French in orderly line of battle; but in the center to center-left middle ground is a melee of mixed flagged ships all firing and in moving in several directions.|<center>[[Battle of the Saintes]]. British defeat the French. The battle reasserted British control in the Caribbean and saved Jamaica from a Bourbon invasion</center>]] The French and Spanish kings had a royal House of Bourbon [[Pacte de Famille|Family Pact]] to pursue their 'War of 1778' against Britain. It was conceived for revenge at the humiliating [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]] that ended the [[Seven Years’ War]], and they sought imperial acquisition in trade and territory called out in their secret [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1779)|Treaty of Aranjuez]].<ref>[[#mahan1898|Mahan, 1898]], p. 507, 510</ref> France and Spain had also consorted in secret in that treaty to promise those two would fight until Spain gained Gibraltar, at the choke-point passage between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The resultant three year [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|Siege of Gibraltar]] became involved in the American Revolutionary War, as it took away British resources that could be employed in the war on the American continent and elsewhere.<ref>[[#ferling|Ferling, 2007]], p. 396</ref><ref>[[#mahan1898|Mahan, 1898]], p. 447</ref> British Admiral of the Fleet [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|George Rodney]]'s decisive defeat of French Admiral de Grasse in the Caribbean Sea at the [[Battle of the Saintes]] in April 1782 ultimately cancelled a Franco-Spanish invasion of [[Colony of Jamaica|Jamaica]]. The British victory also transferred the strategic initiative to them, allowing them to reassert dominance at sea not just in the Caribbean but also across the North Atlantic. This stiffened British resolve with a significant effect on the peace negotiations for the French and Spanish Versailles treaties.<ref name="Allison&Ferreiro220">[[#Allison&Ferreiro2018|Allison & Ferreiro, 2018]], pp.220-21</ref> Britain then objected to American claims on the [[Newfoundland]] fisheries and [[British North America|Canada]], and as a result the American negotiators led by [[John Jay]] became more amenable.<ref name="Harvey531">[[#Harvey2004|Harvey, 2004]], pp. 531-32</ref> From this, Britain's priority was for the disruption of her European belligerents, and for better relations with an independent America which would prove successful. [[File:John Singleton Copley - Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, 1783.jpg|thumb|right|alt=On the right foreground, British artillery positioned high in Fortress Gibraltar, direct plunging fire down onto covered barges with Bourbon Alliance cannon approaching a landing. The British used heated iron shot to catch them afire; the barges did not have water-soaked hides that might have saved them. |<center>Negotiations for France & Spain awaited a 'Final Assault' on [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|Gibraltar]]</center>]] More British victories followed, culminating in September 1782, when they inflicted a huge defeat on the anticipated [[Great Siege of Gibraltar#The Grand Assault|Franco-Spanish assault at Gibraltar]] - the largest battle in the entire war.<ref name="Allison&Ferreiro220"/> Not only did this strengthen British bargaining power in the peace talks, it also further weakened French and Spanish resolve for the war.<ref name=greene359-60>[[#jgreene2008|Greene & Pole, 2008]], pp. 359-60, quoting Jonathan R. Dull</ref> France now desperate for peace sought serious discussions on alternative exit strategies, and urged Spain to give up its claim on Gibraltar to make peace, which the latter acquiesced to.<ref name="Mahan225">[[#Mahan2020|Mahan, 2020]]&nbsp;[1913], pp. 225-226</ref> Britain also flatly refused American demands to cede land north of the old border with [[British North America|Canada]].<ref name="Harvey531"/> Gibraltar's ultimate fate however did not involve any settlements with the United States.<ref name=miller35>[[#miller1931|Miller, H. 1931]], p. 35</ref>{{efn|Negotiations over Gibraltar were not submitted to US ministers in Paris, neither by British, Spanish nor French governments. U.S. independence was recognized by [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|treaty with France]] February 6, 1778,<ref name=miller35/> by preliminary agreement with Britain in November 1782<ref>[[#avalon|Yale Law School, Avalon Project, Essay]]</ref> and George III announcement December 5, 1782, and by treaty with Spain in March 1783.<ref>[[#national|National Archives, Provisional Peace Treaty, 1783]], Essay</ref> None of them returned to the negotiation table with [[Benjamin Franklin]] or [[John Jay]] on how to dispose of Gibraltar.}} Britain signed preliminary agreements with France and Spain to end their European war in separate treaties, signing an additional conclusive [[Peace of Paris (1783)#Treaty with France|Anglo-French Treaty of Versailles]] on 20 January 1783 and then the conclusive [[Peace of Paris (1783)#Treaty with Spain|Anglo-Spanish Treaty of Versailles (1783)]].<ref>[[#locgoping|Library of Congress]], “Groping for Peace, 1781-1783</ref><ref name=cogliano85>[[#cogliano2003|Coglian, 2003]], p. 85</ref>{{efn|Note:Previously, French and Spanish ministers had insisted to continue their imperial war against Britain until concluding a comprehensive European peace prior to recognizing US independence. Also, the secret 1779 French-Spanish treaty first secured the Bourbon kings naval superiority over Britain in European and Mediterranean waters, but the price for Spanish commitment was continued French warfare against Britain until after Gibraltar had fallen to Spanish possession.}} This addressed issues of mutual Great Power concern, such as a European “continental balance of power", reciprocal colonial territory swaps, and trade agreements among their respective worldwide colonial empires.<ref>[[#davenport1917|Davenport, 1917]], vol. 1, p. vii</ref>{{efn|Preliminary peace articles to end the American Revolutionary War were signed in Paris between UK and US on November 30, 1782. The [[Congress of the Confederation|US Congress]] ratified the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] on April 13, 1783, securing independence from Britain in that treaty between the two belligerents as separate and equal nations.<ref name="avalon.law.yale.edu">[https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/prel1782.asp British-American Preliminary Articles of Peace; November 30, 1782]</ref> Congress then proclaimed an end to all hostilities that same day.<ref>[[#morrissey1997|Morrissey, 1997]], p. 87</ref>}} {{clear}} == Aftermath == {{main|American Revolution}} [[File:Evacuation Day and Washington's Triumphal Entry.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|alt=A New York City street scene with a mounted George Washington riding at the head of a parade.|<center>Washington entering New York City<br>at [[Evacuation Day (New York)|British evacuation]], November 25, 1783{{efn|St. Paul's Chapel is shown on the left. However, the parade route in 1783 did not pass by it, but went from Bull's Head Tavern on Bowery near Bayard, then continuing down Chatham, Pearl, Wall, and ending at Cape's Tavern on Broadway.}}</center>]] Washington expressed astonishment that the Americans had won a war against a leading world power, referring to the American victory as "little short of a standing miracle".<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 562</ref> The conflict between British subjects with the Crown against those with the Congress had lasted over eight years from 1775 to 1783. The last uniformed British troops [[Evacuation Day (New York)|departed]] their last east coast port cities in Savannah, Charleston, and New York City, by November 25, 1783. That marked the end of British occupation in the new United States.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], pp. 557–558</ref> As for British Indian allies in America, Britain never consulted them at any time prior to treaty negotiations, then it forced them to reluctantly accept the treaty. But the following year Britain underwrote formerly allied Indians for attacks against US settlers west of the Appalachians on territory that Britain had ceded by treaty. The largest sustained British ally Indian war of this period was the [[Northwest Indian War]] 1785–1795.<ref>Benn, 1993, p.&nbsp;17</ref> Britain's extended war policy on the US continued to try to establish an Indian buffer state below the Great Lakes as late as 1814 during the [[War of 1812]].<ref name="carrol24"/> On April 9, 1783, Washington issued orders that he had long waited to give, that "all acts of hostility" were to cease immediately. That same day, by arrangement with Washington, [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|General Carleton]] issued a similar order to British troops. British troops, however, were not to evacuate until a prisoner of war exchange occurred, an effort that involved much negotiation and would take some seven months to effect.<ref>[[#ferling2007|Ferling, 2007]], p. 553</ref> As directed by a Congressional resolution of May 26 1783, all non commissioned officers and enlisted were furloughed "to their homes" until the "definitive treaty of peace", when they would be automatically discharged.<ref name=armour350>[[#amour1941|Amour, 1941]], p. 350</ref> The US armies were directly disbanded in the field as of Washington's General Orders on Monday June 2, 1783.<ref name=armour350/> Once the conclusive Treaty of Paris was signed with Britain, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief at Congress, leaving for his Army retirement at Mount Vernon.<ref name=ferling378/> {{clear}} ;Territory The expanse of territory that was now the United States was ceded from its colonial [[Homeland#Motherland|Mother country]] alone. It included millions of sparsely settled acres south of the [[Great Lakes|Great Lakes Line]] between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The tentative colonial migration west became a flood during the years of the Revolutionary War. Virginia's Kentucky County counted 150 men in 1775. By 1790 fifteen years later, it numbered over 73,000 and was seeking statehood in the United States.<ref>[[#herring|Herring, 2011]], p 41</ref> {|align=right |- |<gallery perrow=2 heights=150> File:Gilbert Stuart - John Jay - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=Portrait of John Jay, US minister to Great Britain.|<center>[[John Jay]], whose [[Jay Treaty|treaty]]<br />evacuated British forts</center> File:James Wilkinson by John Wesley Jarvis.jpg|alt=Portrait of James Wilkinson, senior Continental Commander in Kentucky, later senior General in the US Army, posted in New Orleans.|<center>[[James Wilkinson]], US<br />Gen. and Spanish agent</center> </gallery> |} Western lands were still populated by a dozen or so Native American tribes that had been British allies for the most part. British forts on their lands had been ceded to either the French or the British prior to the creation of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/greenvil.asp |title=The Treaty of Greenville 1795 |last=Wayne |first=Anthony |date=3 August 1775 |website=Avalon Project |access-date=23 July 2020}}</ref> Although Indians were not referred to in its territorial cession to the US, the British refused to abandon their existing forts provisioning their former military allies and it sponsored the [[Northwest Indian War|Northwest Indian War (1785-1795)]] until the Anglo-American [[Jay Treaty]] went into effect.{{efn|For the next thirteen years until the Anglo-American commercial [[Jay Treaty]] of 1796 under President [[John Adams]], the British maintained five forts in New York state: two forts at northern Lake Champlain, and three beginning at [[Fort Niagara]] stretching east along Lake Ontario. In the Northwest Territory, they garrisoned [[Fort Detroit]] and [[Fort Michilimackinac]].<ref>[[#herring|Herring, 2011]], p 45</ref>}} The Spanish also sponsored war on the US by Indian proxies in its Southwest Territory.<ref>[[#herring|Herring, 2011]], p 41</ref> Of the European powers with American colonies, Spain was most threatened by United States independence, and it was correspondingly the most hostile to it.{{efn|There had been native-born Spanish (hidalgo) uprisings in several American colonies during the American revolution, contesting mercantilist reforms of Carlos III that had removed privileges inherited from the Conquistadors among [[encomienda]]s, and they also challenged Jesuit dominance in the Catholic Church there. American ship captains were known to have smuggled banned copies of the Declaration of Independence into Spanish Caribbean ports, provoking Spanish colonial discontent.}} Its territory adjacent the US was relatively undefended, so Spanish policy developed a combination of initiatives. Spanish soft power diplomatically challenged the British territorial cession west to the Mississippi and the previous northern boundaries of the Floridas.<ref>[[#herring|Herring, 2011]], p 46</ref> It imposed a high tariff on American goods, then blocked American settler access to the port of New Orleans. Spanish hard power extended war alliances and arms to Southwestern Indians to resist American settlement. A former Continental Army General, [[John Wilkinson]] settled in [[History of Kentucky#Kentucky in the American Revolution (1775–1783)|Kentucky County]] Virginia in 1784, and there he fostered settler secession from Virginia during the Spanish-allied [[Cherokee–American wars|Chickamauga Cherokee war]]. Beginning in 1787, he received pay as Spanish Agent 13, and subsequently expanded his efforts to persuade American settlers west of the Appalachians to secede from the United States, first in the Washington administration, and later again in the Jefferson administration.<ref>[[#herring|Herring, 2011]], p 46</ref> ;Casualties and losses [[File:Revolutionary War Cemetery, Salem, NY.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|alt=A cemetery; grave stones in the foreground in staggered, irregular rows; behind them grass covered mounds of dead; an American flag in the background along a tree line.|<center>Revolutionary graves in foreground,<br>mounds of [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga dead]] behind them</center>]] The total loss of life throughout the conflict is largely unknown. As was typical in wars of the era, diseases such as [[smallpox]] claimed more lives than battle. Between 1775 and 1782, a [[1775–82 North American smallpox epidemic|smallpox epidemic]] broke out throughout North America, killing an estimated 130,000 among all its populations in those revolutionary war years.<ref>[[#clodfelter|Clodfelter, 2017]], p 134</ref>{{efn|In addition to as many as 30% deaths in port cities, and especially high rates among the closely confined prisoner-of-war ships, scholars have reported large numbers lost among the Mexican population, and large percentage losses among the Native Americans along trade routes, Atlantic to Pacific, Eskimo to Aztec.}} Historian [[Joseph Ellis]] suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops [[Variolation|inoculated]] against the disease was one of his most important decisions.<ref>Ellis, 2004, p.&nbsp;87</ref> Between 25,000 and 70,000 American Patriots died during active military service.<ref name="Howard H. Peckham 1974" /> Of these, approximately 6,800 were killed in battle, while at least 17,000 died from disease. The majority of the latter died while [[prisoners of war]] of the British, mostly in the [[Prisoners in the American Revolutionary War|prison ships]] in New York Harbor.<ref name="Burrows" />{{efn|If the upper limit of 70,000 is accepted as the total net loss for the Patriots, it would make the conflict proportionally deadlier than the [[American Civil War]].<ref>[[#duncan1931|Duncan, 1931]], p. 371</ref> Uncertainty arises from the difficulties in accurately calculating the number of those who succumbed to disease, as it is estimated at least 10,000 died in 1776 alone.<ref name=medical />}} The number of Patriots seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000.<ref>[[#chambers1999|Chambers, 1999]] p. 849</ref> The French suffered 2,112 killed in combat in the United States.<ref name="frenchcasualtiesrevolution" />{{efn|Elsewhere around the world, the French lost another approximately 5,000 total dead in conflicts 1778-1784.<ref name="frenchcasualtiesrevolution" />}} The Spanish lost a total of 124 killed and 247 wounded in West Florida.<ref name="Necrometrics" />{{efn|During the same time period in the [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]], the Dutch suffered around 500 total killed, owing to the minor scale of their conflict with Britain.<ref name="Necrometrics" />}} A British report in 1781 puts their total Army deaths at 6,046 in North America (1775–1779).<ref name="books.google.com" />{{efn|British returns in 1783 listed 43,633 rank and file deaths across the [[British Armed Forces]].<ref name="Annual Register, 1783" /> In the first three years of the Anglo-French War (1778), British list 9,372 soldiers killed in battle across the Americas; and 3,326 in the West Indies (1778–1780).<ref name="books.google.com" /> In 1784, a British lieutenant compiled a detailed list of 205 British officers killed in action during British conflicts outside of North America, encompassing Europe, the Caribbean and the East Indies.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/pennsylvaniamaga27hist#page/176/mode/1up ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography''], Volume 27, 1903, p. 176</ref> Extrapolations based upon this list puts British Army losses in the area of at least 4,000 killed or died of wounds outside of its North American engagements.<ref name=medical />}} Approximately 7,774 [[Germans in the American Revolution#Allies of Great Britain|Germans]] died in British service in addition to 4,888 deserters; of the former, it is estimated 1,800 were killed in combat.<ref name=medical /> Around 171,000 [[sailors]] served in the [[Royal Navy]] during British conflicts 1775–1784; approximately a quarter of whom had been [[impressment|pressed]] into service. Around 1,240 were killed in battle, while an estimated 18,500 died from disease (1776–1780).<ref name="Parliamentary Register" /> The greatest killer at sea was [[scurvy]], a disease caused by [[vitamin C]] deficiency.<ref name=GARD2016>{{cite web|title=Scurvy|url=https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10406/scurvy|website=GARD|accessdate=September 26, 2016|date=June 5, 2017}}</ref>{{efn|It was not until 1795 that scurvy was eradicated from the Royal Navy after the Admiralty declared [[lemon juice]] and [[sugar]] were to be issued among the standard daily [[grog]] rations of sailors.<ref name="Vale, Brian 2008">Vale, Brian. 2008. "The Conquest of Scurvy in the Royal Navy 1793–1800: pp. 94, 160–175</ref>}} Around 42,000 sailors [[desertion|deserted]] worldwide during the era.<ref name="Mackesy 1964 pp. 6, 176"/> The impact on merchant shipping was substantial; 2,283 were taken by American privateers.<ref name="John Pike">[[#pike1907|Pike, 1907]], "Privateers"</ref>{{efn|Worldwide 1775-1784, an estimated 3,386 British [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|merchant ships]] were seized by enemy forces during the war among Americans, French, Spanish, and Dutch.<ref>[[#conway1995|Conway, 1995]], p. 191</ref>}} {{clear}} == See also == {{Portal bar|American Revolutionary War|Military History|United States|Great Britain}} {{div col}} * [[1776 in the United States]]: events, births, deaths & other years * [[Timeline of the American Revolution]] ;Topics of the Revolution * [[American Continental Army]] * [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)]] * [[Diplomacy in the American Revolutionary War]] * [[Financial costs of the American Revolutionary War]] * [[Flags of the American Revolution]] * [[Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War]] * [[Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War]] ;Social history of the Revolution * [[Black Patriot]] * [[Christianity in the United States#American Revolution]] * [[The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution]] * [[History of Poles in the United States#American Revolution]] * [[List of clergy in the American Revolution]] * [[List of Patriots (American Revolution)]] * [[Loyalists fighting in the American Revolution]] * [[Quakers in the American Revolution]] * [[Scotch-Irish Americans#American Revolution]] ;Others in the American Revolution * [[Nova Scotia in the American Revolution]] * [[Watauga Association]] ;Lists of Revolutionary military * [[List of American Revolutionary War battles]] * [[List of British Forces in the American Revolutionary War]] * [[List of Continental Forces in the American Revolutionary War]] * [[List of infantry weapons in the American Revolution]] * [[List of United States militia units in the American Revolutionary War]] ;"Thirteen Colony" economy * [[Economic history of the United States#Colonial economy to 1780s|Economic history of the US: Colonial economy to 1780]] * [[Shipbuilding in the American colonies]] * [[Slavery in the United States]] ;Legacy & related * [[American Revolution Statuary]] * [[Commemoration of the American Revolution]] * [[Independence Day (United States)]] * [[The Last Men of the Revolution]] * [[List of plays and films about the American Revolution]] * [[Museum of the American Revolution]] * [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution]] * [[United States Bicentennial]] * [[War of independence]] ;Bibliographies on Wikipedia * [[Bibliography of the American Revolutionary War]] * [[Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson]] * [[Bibliography of George Washington]] {{div col end}} == Notes == {{notelist}} {{Reflist|group=N}} ==Citations== :''Year dates enclosed in [brackets] denote year of original printing'' {{Reflist|20em}} ==Bibliography== {{main|Bibliography of the American Revolutionary War}} <!-- works cited in the notes --> {{Refbegin|30em}} <!-- A --> * {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Charles Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgALAAAAIAAJ |title=Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society: Campaign of 1777 |publisher=Massachusetts Historical Society |volume=44 |year=1911 |ref=adams1911}} * {{cite book |last=Adams|first=Charles Francis |editor=Jameson, J. Franklin |title=The American historical review |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Kraus Reprints |year=1963 |orig-year=1895–1896 |authormask=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanhistoric18951896jame/page/n7/mode/2up/search/mcclary |ref=adams63}} * {{cite book |first=John R. |last=Alden |authormask=2 |title=A History of the American Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gV0xAAAAQBAJ |year=1969 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-306-80366-6 |ref=alden1969}} * {{cite book |last=Alden |first=John R. |title=American Revolution, Seventeen Seventy Five to Seventeen Eighty-Three |url= https://www.amazon.com/American-Revolution-Seventeen-Eighty-Three-Torchbooks/dp/0061330116/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&qid=1601030950&refinements=p_27%3AJohn+R.+Alden&s=books&sr=1-14&text=John+R.+Alden |year=1976 |isbn= 978-0061330117 |publisher=Harpercollins |ref=alden1976}} * {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Leslie |title=Encyclopedia of African American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uivtCqOlpTsC&pg=PA356 |year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=356 |isbn=978-1-85109-774-6 |ref=alexander2010 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Allison |editor1-first=David K |editor2-last=Ferreiro |editor2-first=Larrie D. |title=The American Revolution: A World War |date=2018 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=9781588346599 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlpnDwAAQBAJ&vq=|ref=Allison&Ferreiro2018}} * {{cite book |last=Ammerman |first=David |title=In the Common Cause: American Response to the Coercive Acts of 1774 |publisher=Norton |year=1974 |isbn=9780813905259|location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Eh2AAAAMAAJ |ref=ammerman}} * {{cite journal |last=Armour |first=Alexander W. |title=Revolutionary War Discharges |journal=William and Mary Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=4 |date=October 1941 |publisher=Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture |pages=344-360 |jstor=1920145 |ref=amour1941}} * {{cite book |last=Andrews |first=Charles McLean |title=Guide to the materials for American history, to 1783, in the Public Record Office of Great Britain |authorlink= |publisher=Washington, D.C. : Carnegie Institution of Washington |year=1912 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/b31359759_0002 |ref=andrews1912}} * {{cite book |last1=Archuleta |first1=Roy A. |title=Where We Come from |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPE8yotFAT4C |isbn=<!--978-1-4243-0472-1-->9781424304721 |year=2006 |ref=roy2006}} * {{cite book |last=Atwood |first=Rodney |title=The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution |url=https://www.amazon.com/Hessians-Rodney-Atwood/dp/052152637X |year=2002 |isbn=978-0521526371 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=atwood2002}} * {{cite book |last=Axelrod |first=Alan |title=The Real History of the American Revolution: A New Look at the Past |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4027-6816-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iBvtuSWgt_QC |ref=axelrod}} <!-- B --> * {{cite web |url= https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-economics-of-the-american-revolutionary-war/ |title=The Economics of the American Revolutionary War |last=Baack |first=Ben |publisher=Economic History Association |isbn= |date= |website=EH.net |access-date=July 27, 2020|ref=baack}} * {{cite book |last=Babits |first=Lawrence E. |title=A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8078-8766-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUpBDwAAQBAJ&vq=Tarleton |ref=babits}} * {{cite book |last=Stone |first=Bailey |title=The Genesis of the French Revolution: A Global Historical Interpretation |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-5214-4570-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAZAhYVJwlUC |ref=stone1994}} * {{cite book |last=Baker |first=Mark Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gB3CQAAQBAJ |title=Spies of Revolutionary Connecticut: From Benedict Arnold to Nathan Hale |location=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=The History Press |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-62619-407-6 |ref=baker2014}} * {{cite journal |last=Bass |first=Robert D. |date=October 1957 |title=The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson |journal=The North Carolina Historical Review |publisher=North Carolina Office of Archives and History |volume=34 |issue=4 |jstor=23517100 |isbn= |pages=548–550 |ref=bass}} * {{cite book |last=Belcher |first=Henry |title=The first American Civil War, first period 1775–1778 |volume=1|isbn= |publisher=London, MacMillan |year=1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/firstamericanciv01belcuoft/page/n6/mode/2up |ref=belcher1}} * {{cite book |last=Bell |first=William Gardner |title=Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff, 1775–2005: Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xwyykzbi4pUC&pg=PA3 |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-1608-7330-0 |ref=bell2005}} * {{cite thesis|last=Bellot |first=LJ |title=Canada v Guadeloupe in Britain's old colonial empire: the Peace of Paris of 1763 |type=PhD |publisher=Rice Institute |date=1960 |url=https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/89064/RICE0099.pdf?sequence=1 |ref=bellot}} * {{cite book |last=Bemis |first=Samuel Flagg |last2=Ferrell |first2=Robert H. |title=The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy |authorlink= |publisher=Pageant Book Company |year=1958 |isbn= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENgUAAAAIAAJ |ref=bemis1958}} * {{cite book |last=Benn |first=Carl |title=Historic Fort York, 1793–1993 |publisher=Toronto: Dundurn Press Ltd. 1 |year=1993 |isbn=0920474799 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bf66Rh7QuMcC |ref=benn1993}} * {{cite book |last=Berkin |first=Carol |year=2005 |title=Revolutionary Mothers. Women in the Struggle for America's Independence |url=https://www.amazon.com/Revolutionary-Mothers-Struggle-Americas-Independence/dp/1400075327 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |isbn=1-4000-4163-5 |ref=berkin2005}} * {{cite book |last=Bicheno |first=Hugh |title=Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-0073-9091-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xw2hAgAAQBAJ |ref=bicheno14}} * {{cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |editor=Michael Duffy |chapter=Naval Power, Strategy and Foreign Policy, 1775–1791 |pages=95–120; here: p. 105 |title=Parameters of British Naval Power, 1650–1850|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysC9rOCxGhgC |year=1992 |place=Exeter, UK |publisher=University of Exeter Press |isbn=978-0-85989-385-5 |ref=black1992}} * {{cite book|last=Black |first=Jeremy |authorlink=Jeremy Black (historian) |title=War for America: The Fight for Independence, 1775–1783 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owQaAQAAIAAJ |year=2001 |orig-year=1991 |isbn=978-0750928083 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |ref=black2001 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |title=Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519–1871 |date=2011 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-America-Struggle-Mastery-1519-1871/dp/0253356601 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253005618|ref=Black2011 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Boatner |first=Mark M. |title=Encyclopedia of the American Revolution' |publisher=D. McKay Company |year=1974 |orig-year=1966 |isbn=978-0-6795-0440-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQN2AAAAMAAJ |ref=boatner74}} * {{cite book |last=Bonwick |first=Colin |title=The American Revolution |year=1991 |isbn=9780813913476 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8tKlNRnc_wC |ref=bonwick}} * {{cite book |last=Boyer |first=Paul |title=The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDAaCgAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-19339-7 |ref=boyer}} * {{cite book |last=Buchanan |first=John |title=The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-4711-6402-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHh2AAAAMAAJ |ref=buchanan97}} * {{cite book |last=Burgoyne |first=John |title=A state of the expedition from Canada : as laid before the House of commons |authorlink=John Burgoyne |publisher=London : Printed for J. Almon |year=1780 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/stateofexpeditio00burg |ref=burgoyne1780}} * {{cite book |last=Burgoyne |first=John |editor=O'Callaghan, E. B. |title=Orderly book of Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne, from his entry into the state of New York until his surrender at Saratoga, 16th Oct. 1777 |authorlink=John Burgoyne |publisher=Albany, N.Y., J. Munsell |year=1860 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/orderlybookoflie00burg |ref=burgoyne1860 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |editor=Burke, Edmond |title=Annual Register: World Events, 1783 |year=1785 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Annual_Register.html?id=c5tNAAAAcAAJ |isbn= |place=London |publisher=Jay Dodsley |ref=Burke1785}} * {{cite journal|last=Burrows |first=Edwin G. |author-link=Edwin G. Burrows |title=Patriots or Terrorists |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/patriots-or-terrorists |journal=American Heritage |isbn= |accessdate=November 29, 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323233806/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/patriots-or-terrorists |archivedate=March 23, 2013 |date=Fall 2008 |series=58 |issue=5 |url-status=live |ref=burrows2008}} * {{cite book |last=Burrows |first=Edwin |title=Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War |publisher=Basic Books. New York |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpUs4J8XEXoC |isbn=978-0-7867-2704-9 |ref=forgotten2008 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Butterfield |first=Consul W. |title=History of George Rogers Clark’s Conquest of the Illinois and the Wabash Towns 1778-1779 |year=1903 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007936660 |publisher=Heer |place=Columbus, Ohio |ref=butterfield |quote=online at Hathi Trust}} <!-- C --> * {{cite book |last=Cadwalader| first=Richard McCall |title=Observance of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Anniversary of the Evacuation of Philadelphia by the British Army: Fort Washington and the Encampment of White Marsh, November 2, 1777 |publisher=Press of the New Era Printing Company |url=https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniasoc00socigoog |isbn= |year=1901 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniasoc00socigoog/page/n26 20]–28|accessdate=January 7, 2016 |ref=cadwalader1901}} * {{cite book |last=Callahan |first=North |title=Flight of the Tories from the Republic, The Tories of the American Revolution |year=1967 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Flight-Republic-Tories-American-Revolution/dp/B0006BQPQG |asin= B0006BQPQG |publisher=Bobb-Merrill |ref=callahan}} * {{cite book |last=Calloway |first=Colin G. |title=The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America |isbn= 978-0195331271 |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtxG369-VHQC&vq=mercenaries |ref=calloway2007}} * {{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=John |last2=Crowcroft |first2=Robert |title=The Oxford Companion to British History |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2 |isbn=978-0-1996-7783-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vL8CgAAQBAJ |ref=cannon2015}} * {{cite book |last=Carp |first=E. Wayne |title=To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775–1783 |publisher=UNC Press Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-8078-4269-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL66YCXMbZ8C |ref=carp1990}} * {{cite web |last=Cashin |first=Edward J. |title=Revolutionary War in Georgia |url= https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/revolutionary-war-georgia |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |date=26 March 2005 |access-date=21 September 2020 |ref=cashin |quote=Revolution & Early Republic, 1775-1800}} * {{cite book |last=Cate |first=Alan C. |title=Founding Fighters: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence |url=https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Fighters-Battlefield-Independence-International/dp/0275987078 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2006 |ref=cate2006}} * {{cite book |last= Caughey |first= John W. |title=Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana 1776–1783 | url=https://www.amazon.com/Bernardo-Galvez-Louisiana-1776-1783-Histories/dp/1565545176 |location=Gretna| publisher= Pelican Publishing Company | year=1998 | isbn=978-1-56554-517-5 |ref=caughey1998}} * {{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Francis M. |title=A Good and Wise Measure: The Search for the Canadian-American Boundary, 1783–1842|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZiEkygEACAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=U of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8358-6 |ref=carrol2001}} * {{cite book |last=Chambers |first=John Whiteclay II, ed. in chief |title=The Oxford Companion to American Military History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-1950-7198-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O69xjgEACAAJ |ref=chambers1999}} * {{cite journal |last=Chandler |first=Jonathan |year=2017 |title=To become again our brethren': Desertion and community during the American Revolutionary War, 1775–83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PEvdvQEACAAJ&output=html_text&source=gbs_navlinks_s|journal=Historical Research |publisher= Oxford University Press |volume=90 |issue=March 2017 |pages=363–380 |doi=10.1111/1468-2281.12183 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |ref=chandler|doi-access=free }} * {{cite book |last=Chávez |first=Thomas E. |title=Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift |publisher=UNM Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8263-2795-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z96CAwAAQBAJ&vq=ireland |ref=chavez}} * {{cite book |last1=Christie |first1=Ian R. |last2=Labaree |first2=Benjamin W. |title=Empire or independence, 1760-1776 |publisher=Phaidon Press |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-7148-1614-2 |ref=christie}} * {{cite book |last=Chartrand |first=René |title=Gibraltar 1779–1783: The Great Siege |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-8417-6977-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUQ8vgAACAAJ |ref=chartrand63}} * {{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Anthony |title=The British Officer: Leading the Army from 1660 to the present |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-3178-6444-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlDJAwAAQBAJ |ref=clayton2014}} * {{cite book |last=Clode |first=Charles M. |title=The military forces of the crown ; their administration and government |volume=1 |isbn= |publisher=London, J. 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Murray |year=1869 |url=https://archive.org/details/militaryforcesc00clodgoog/page/n7/mode/2up |ref=clode1869'v2 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Clodfelter |first=Micheal |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015, 4th ed. |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4766-2585-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNzCDgAAQBAJ |ref=clodfelter}} * {{cite book |last=Conway |first=Stephen |title=The British Isles and the War of American Independence |url=https://www.amazon.com/British-Isles-War-American-Independence/dp/0199254559 |date=2002 |isbn=978-0199254552 |ref=conway}} * {{cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis D. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Revolutionary_America_1763_1815/QMAKWDQt1LAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |title=Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History |year=2003 |publisher=Francis and Taylor |isbn=978-1-1346-7869-3 |ref=cogliano2003}} * {{cite book |last=Cook |first=Fred J. |title=What Manner of Men |id=59-11702 |publisher=William Morrow and Co. |year=1959 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatmannerofmen001544mbp/page/n3/mode/2up |ref=cook1959 |quote=Allan McLane, Chapter VIII, pp. 275–304}} * {{cite book |last=Corwin |first=Edward Samuel |title=French policy and the American Alliance of 1778 |url= https://archive.org/details/frenchpolicyamer00corwuoft |date=1916 |publisher=Princeton University Press |ref=corwin |quote=online at Internet Archive}} * {{cite book |first=H.W. |last=Crocker |title=Don't Tread On Me: A 400-year History of American at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Don_t_Tread_on_Me/bQNwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |year=2006 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |page=51|isbn=978-1-4000-5364-3 |ref=crocker}} * {{cite book |first=Edward E. |last=Curtis |title=The Organization of the British Army in the American Revolution, Conclusion |id= |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1926 |ref=curtis1926 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.89355/page/n165/mode/2up?q=The+failure+of+British+arms}} <!-- D --> * {{cite book |last=Dale |first=Anderson |title=The Battle of Yorktown |location=New York |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8368-5393-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofyorktown0000ande |ref=dale2005}} * {{cite book |last=Daughan |first=George |title=If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy – from the Revolution to the War of 1812 |url=https://www.amazon.com/If-Sea-American-Navy-Revolution/dp/0465025145#:~:text=George%20Daughan's%20book%20If%20By,birth%20of%20the%20US%20Navy.&text=He%20brought%20the%20American%20revolution,and%20burnt%20a%20coal%20ship. |publisher=Basic Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-465-02514-5 |oclc=701015376 |orig-year=2008 |ref=daughan2011}} * {{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Lance E |last2=Engerman |first2=Stanley L |title=Naval Blockades in Peace and War: An Economic History since 1750 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Naval-Blockades-Peace-War-Economic/dp/052185749X |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139458481 |ref=daviesengerman2006}} * {{cite book |last1=Davenport |first1=Frances G |first2=Charles O. |last2=Paullin |title=European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies |year=1917 |volume=l |id= |url=https://archive.org/details/europeantreaties01daveuoft/page/n4/mode/2up |ref=davenport1917}} * {{cite book |last1=Davenport |first1=Frances |last2=Paulin |first2=Charles O. |title=European Treaties bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies |volume=IV 1716-1815 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89058310004&view=1up&seq=7 |year=1937 |publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington |ref=davenport1937 |quote=online at Haithi Trust |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Davis |first=Burke |title=George Washington and the American Revolution |publisher=Random House |year=1975 |url=https://www.amazon.com/George-Washington-American-Revolution-Burke/dp/0394463889 |isbn=978-0394463889 |ref=burke75}} * {{cite web |last1=Dawson |first1=Warrington |title=The 2112 Frenchmen who died in the United States from 1777 to 1783 while fighting for the American Independence |url=http://w3r-archive.org/history/rosters/frgraves.htm |publisher=Journal de la societe des Americanistes |accessdate=June 4, 2017 |ref=dawson}} * {{cite book |editor=Debrett, J. |url=https://archive.org/details/parliamentaryre11parlgoog/page/n2/mode/2up |title=Parliamentary Register |volume=1 |year=1781 |ref=parliamentaryreg}} * {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKYOAAAAQAAJ |title=Liberty and Property: Political Ideology in Eighteenth-century Britain – H.T. 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T |ref=dickinson1977}} * {{cite book |last=Downes |first=Randolph C. |title=Council Fires on the Upper Ohio: A Narrative of Indian Affairs in the Upper Ohio Valley until 1795 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Council-Fires-Upper-Ohio-Narrative/dp/B07GH35VCG |location=Pittsburgh |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |year=1940 |isbn=0-8229-5201-7 |ref=downes1940}} * {{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Christopher |title=The Military Experience in the Age of Reason, 1715–1789 |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |orig-year=1987 |isbn=978-1-1357-9458-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZiRAgAAQBAJ |ref=duffy1987}} * {{cite book |last=Dull |first=Jonathan R |title=The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787 |location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Princeton University Press |orig-year=1975 |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-691-06920-3 |oclc=1500030 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WF9BgAAQBAJ |ref=dull1975}} * {{cite book |last=Dull |first=Jonathan R. |title=A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution |url=https://www.amazon.com/Diplomatic-History-American-Revolution/dp/0300038860 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-3000-3886-6 |ref=dull |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Dunaway |first=Stewart |title=Land Confiscation Records of North Carolina |year=2015 |volume=1 (1779-1800) |url=https://www.amazon.com/Land-Confiscation-Records-North-Carolina/dp/0557646596 |edition=2 |publisher=Lulu.com |place=Washington, D.C. |isbn= 978-0-557-64659-3 |ref=dunaway}} * {{cite book |last=Duncan |first=Francis |title=History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery |authorlink= |publisher=London: John Murray |year=1879 |isbn= |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofroyalre02duncuoft |ref=duncan1879}} * {{cite book |last=Duncan |first=Louis Caspar |title=Medical Men in the American Revolution, 1775–1783 |id= |publisher=Medical field service school |year=1931 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tj0JAAAAIAAJ |ref=duncan1931}} * {{cite web |last=Dunkerly |first=Robert M. |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/8-fast-facts-about-camp-followers/ |date=April 2, 2014 |title=8 Fast Facts about Camp Followers |publisher=Journal of the American Revolution |accessdate=August 23, 2019 |ref=dunkerly}} <!-- E --> * {{cite book |last=Edler |first=Friedrich |url=https://archive.org/details/dutchrepublic00edlerich/page/n8/mode/2up |title=The Dutch Republic and The American Revolution |publisher=University Press of the Pacific |orig-year=1911 |year=2001 |isbn=089-8-7526-98 |ref=edler}} * {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |authorlink=Joseph J. Ellis |title=His Excellency: George Washington |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4000-3253-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y9Rko9sT3kC |ref=ellis2004}} * {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |title=Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4RqZJzho1QC |year=2013 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-307-70122-0 |ref=ellis2013 |authormask=2}} <!-- F --> * {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John E. |author-link=John E. Ferling |title=Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |orig-year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-513409-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lifQ0G0m9WwC&vq=lafayette |ref=ferling2002}} * {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-1997-2870-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrsQVkg6-rgC |ref=ferling2003 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John E. |title=Almost a Miracle|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-1997-5847-0| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyjjEsqlqo0C |ref=ferling2007 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-6204-0173-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P0fCBwAAQBAJ |ref=ferling2015 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Fernández y Fernández |first= Enrique |title=Spain's Contribution to the independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift |url=https://www.amazon.com/Spain-Independence-United-States-Intrinsic/dp/082632794X |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |date=2004 |isbn=978-0826327949 |orig-year=1885 |ref=fernández1885}} * {{cite book |last=Field |first=Edward |title=Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy During the American Revolution, 1775 to 1778: Master Mariner, Politician, Brigadier General, Naval Officer, and Philanthropist |year=1898 |publisher=Preston & Rounds Company |ref=field}} * {{cite book |last=Finger |first=John |title=Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-2531-0872-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u-0OMQw4N_sC |ref=finger2001}} * {{cite book |last=Fischer |first=David Hackett |title=Washington's Crossing |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1951-7034-4 |author-link=David Hackett Fischer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oreq1YztDcQC |ref=fischer2004}} * {{cite book |last=Fischer |first=Joseph R. |title=A Well-Executed Failure: The Sullivan Campaign against the Iroquois |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-5700-3837-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7ikGwAACAAJ |ref=fischer2008}} * {{cite book|last=Fleming |first=Thomas |editor=Barbara J. Mitnick |title=New Jersey in the American Revolution |isbn=0-8135-3602-2 |publisher=Rivergate Books, Rutgers University Press |year=2005 |orig-year=1973 |ref=fleming}} * {{cite book |last=Fortescue |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GlKAAAAYAAJ&dq=Bednore%201783&pg=PA489#v=onepage |id= |title=A history of the British army |volume=3 |year=1902 |ref=fortescue}} * {{cite book |last=Fredriksen |first=John C.|year=2006 |title= Revolutionary War Almanac Almanacs of American wars Facts on File library of American history. |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7468-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZIdNNZVDzgC |ref=fredriksen}} * {{cite book |last=Freedman |first=Russell |title=Washington at Valley Forge |url= https://www.amazon.com/Washington-Valley-Forge-Russell-Freedman/dp/0823420698 |date=2008 |isbn= 978-0823420698 |publisher=Holiday House |ref=freedman}} * {{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Douglas Southall |last2=Harwell |first2=Richard Barksdale |title=Washington |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2011 |quote=An abridgement in one volume by Richard Harwell of the seven-volume biography of George Washington |isbn=978-1-4391-0533-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hWBcg2iLooC |ref=harwell2011}} * {{cite book |last=French |first=Allen |title=General Gage's Informers |id= |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYwGAQAAIAAJ |ref=french1932}} * {{cite book |last=Frothingham |first=Richard |title=History of the Siege of Boston, and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill: also an Account of the Bunker Hill Monument |year=1903 |publisher=Little, Brown, & Company |url= https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_the_Siege_of_Boston_and_of_th.html?id=Cu9BAAAAIAAJ |ref=Frothingham |quote=Google Books ebook}} <!-- G --> * {{Cite book |last=Gabriel |first=Michael P. |title=The Battle of Bennington: Soldiers and Civilians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xpx2CQAAQBAJ&vq=mercenaries |isbn=978-1609495152 |publisher=The History Press |year=2012 |ref=gabriel2012}} * {{cite book |last=Gaff |first=Alan D. |title=Bayonets in the Wilderness. Anthony Waynes Legion in the Old Northwest |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8061-3585-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEI11WSV3WcC&vq=Augustin |ref=gaff}} * {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Alan |title=Black Patriots and Loyalists: Fighting for Emancipation in the War for Independence |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0226101552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-c7-udZhrvgC |ref=Gilbert}} * {{cite book |last=Gladney |first=Henry M. |title=No Taxation without Representation: 1768 Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGbmoQEACAAJ |isbn=978-1-4990-4209-2 |ref=gladney}} * {{cite book |last=Glattharr |first=Joseph T. | title=Forgotten Allies |year=2007 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Allies-Indians-American-Revolution/dp/0809046008 |isbn=978-0809046003 |publisher=Hill & Wang |ref=glatthaar}} * {{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=John W. |last2=Keegan |first2=John |title=South Carolina and the American Revolution: A Battlefield History |year=2007 |isbn=9781570034800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYqYDMxOcc4C |ref=gordon}} * {{cite book |last=Grainger |first=John D. |title=The Battle of Yorktown, 1781: A Reassessment |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-8438-3137-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUO8ulaX2PsC |ref=grainger2005}} * {{cite book |last=Greene |first=Francis Vinton |title=General Greene |id= |publisher=New York : D. Appleton & Co. |year=1913 |url=https://archive.org/details/generalgreene00greeuoft/page/n8/mode/2up |ref=fgreene1913}} * {{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Jack P. |last2=Pole |first2=J.R. |title=A Companion to the American Revolution |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |year=2008 |orig-year=2000 |isbn=978-0-4707-5644-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xK1NuzpAcH8C |ref=jgreene2008 |quote=Collection of essays focused on political and social history.}} * {{cite book |last=Grenier |first=John |title=The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607–1814 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-1394-4470-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGCin1JJp8cC&vq=bird |ref=grenier}} * {{cite map |last1=Gutman |first1=Alejandro |last2=Avanzati |first2=Beatriz |title=Native North American Languages Distribution |url= http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Northmap.html |publisher=A. Gutman & B. Avanzati |date=2013 |accessdate=3 September 2020 |ref=gutman}} <!-- H --> * {{cite journal |last=Hagist |first=Don N. |date=Winter 2011 |title=Unpublished Writings of Roger Lamb, Soldier of the American War of Independence |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |publisher=Society for Army Historical Research |volume=89 |issue=360 |jstor=44232931 |pages=280–290 |ref=hagist2011}} * {{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lowell Hayes |title=George Rogers Clark and the War in the West |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8131-9014-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKsQ7yKYkaoC&vq=Henry+Hamilton |ref=harrison2001}} * {{cite book |editor1-first=William W. |editor1-last=Hening |title=General Assembly Interregnum, December 1775, Hening's Statutes, Laws of Virginia from 1619, Vol. IX, Chapter II, June 12, 1776 |year=1821 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036018375&view=1up&seq=7 |ref=hening1821}} * {{cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Robert |title=A Few Bloody Noses: The American Revolutionary War |date=2004 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Few-Bloody-Noses-Mythologies-Revolution/dp/1585672734 |publisher=Robinson |isbn=9781841199528|ref=Harvey2004}} * {{cite book |last=Hazard |first=Samuel |publisher=W.F. Geddes |year=1829 |url=https://archive.org/details/B-001-003-105/mode/2up |title=Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania |volume=4 |ref=hazard54}} * {{cite book |last=Hibbert |first= Christopher |publisher=Basic Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShQAtAEACAAJ |title= George III: A Personal History |year=2000 |isbn=978-0465027248 |ref=hibbert2000}} * {{cite book |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |title=Redcoats and Rebels |publisher=Pen and Sword |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-8441-5699-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwGSAwAAQBAJ |ref=hibbert |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |authorlink=Don Higginbotham |last=Higginbotham |first=Don |title=The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789 |url=https://www.amazon.com/WAR-AMERICAN-INDEPENDENCE-Attitudes-1763-1789/dp/B001TF10UY |publisher=Northeastern University Press |year=1983 |orig-year=1971 |isbn=0930350448 |ref=higginbotham1983}} * {{cite book |last=Higginbotham |first=Don |title=George Washington and the American Military Tradition |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-8203-2400-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzZD0Wh99HEC |ref=higginbotham1987 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Ronald |title=Diplomacy and Revolution: The Franco-American Alliance of 1778 |url= https://www.amazon.com/Diplomacy-Revolution-Franco-American-Alliance-1778/dp/0813908647|date=1981 |isbn= 978-0813908649 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |ref=hoffman}} * {{Cite journal |last=Hunt| first=Paula D. |date=June 2015 |title=Sybil Ludington, the Female Paul Revere: The Making of a Revolutionary War Heroine |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=187–222 |url=https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/TNEQ_a_00452 |doi=10.1162/tneq_a_00452 | s2cid=57569643 |issn=0028-4866 |ref=hunt2015}} <!-- J --> * {{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Kenneth T. |last2=Dunbar |first2=David S. |title=Empire City: New York Through the Centuries |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-2311-0909-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rI_S-HgFdccC |ref=jackson2005}} * {{cite book |last=James |first=James Alton |title=The Life of George Rogers Clark |publisher=Literary Licensing |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4941-1892-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoUUngEACAAJ |ref=james2013}} * {{cite book |last=Jasanoff |first=Maya |title=Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World |authorlink= |publisher=Vintage Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4000-7547-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGKsn09oVwQC |ref=jasanoff2012}} * {{cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |title=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4: October 1780 to February 1781 |editor=Julian P. Boyd |authorlink=Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-6911-8469-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_5ZDwAAQBAJ |ref=jefferson1780}} * {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Merrill |title=The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution 1763–1776 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Nation-American-Revolution-1763-1776/dp/0872207056 |authorlink= |publisher=Hackett Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-87220-705-9 |ref=jensen}} * {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=Henry Phelps |title=The Battle of Harlem Heights |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1897 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofharlemhe00john_0/page/n10/mode/2up |ref=johnston1897}} * {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=Henry Phelps |url=https://archive.org/details/yorktowncampaign00johnrich |page= 34 |title=The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis, 1781|location=New York|publisher=Harper & Bros |year=1881 |oclc=426009 |ref=johnston1881 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Howard |title = Crucible of Power: A History of American Foreign Relations to 1913 |publisher = Scholarly Resources Inc. |year=2002 |page = 5 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TFyLOUrdGFwC&dq=crucible+of+power&printsec=frontcover#PPP1,M1 |isbn = 978-0-8420-2916-2 |ref=jones2002}} <!-- K --> * {{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=Rodger |date=January 1990 |title=The Hidden War: British Intelligence Operations during the American Revolution |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |publisher= Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture |volume=47 |issue=1 |jstor=2938043 |pages=115–138 |doi=10.2307/2938043 |ref=rkaplan1990}} * {{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=Lawrence S. |title=The Treaty of Paris, 1783: A Historiographical Challenge |journal=International History Review |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|date=September 1983 |volume=5 |number=3 |pages=431–442 |doi=10.1080/07075332.1983.9640322 |jstor=40105317 |ref=lskaplan1983}} * {{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=James |last2=Smith |first2=Barbara Clark |title=Jamestown, Quebec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings |date=2007 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jamestown_Quebec_Santa_Fe/4wMaAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |isbn= 9781588342416 |publisher=Smithsonian |ref=kelly}} * {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Frances H. |title=The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTSTAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford UP |page=163 |isbn=978-0-1993-2422-4 |ref=kennedy2014}} * {{cite journal |title=A British View of the Siege of Charleston, 1776 |last=Kepner |first=K. |journal=The Journal of Southern History |volume=11 |issue=1 |date=February 1945 |pages=93–103 |publisher=Southern Historical Association |doi=10.2307/2197961 |jstor=2197961 |ref=kepner1945}} * {{cite book |last=Ketchum |first=Richard M |title=The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton |authorlink=Richard M. Ketchum |publisher=Henry Holt and Company (reprint of 1973) |orig-year=1973 |year=2014 |isbn=9781466879515|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWf2AwAAQBAJ |ref=ketchum73}} * {{cite book |last=Ketchum |first=Richard M |title=Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War |authormask=2 |publisher=Macmillan |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8050-4681-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w00MBAAAQBAJ |ref=ketchum97}} * {{cite book |last=Ketchum |first=Robert M. |title=Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill |authormask=2 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4668-7950-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGf2AwAAQBAJ&vq=frontal |ref=ketchum2014}} * {{cite book |last=Ketchum |first=Richard M. |title=Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution |authormask=2 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4668-7953-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwEDBAAAQBAJ&vq=6,000 |ref=ketchum2014b}} * {{cite book |last1=Kilmeade |first1=Brian. |last2=Yaeger |first2=Don |title=George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-6981-3765-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-8QE2uCbScC |ref=kilmeade}} <!-- ref>[[#Kilmeade|Kilmeade & Yaeger, 2013]], p. x</ref --> * {{cite book |last=Kolchin |first=Peter |title=American Slavery: 1619–1877 |publisher=New York: Hill and Wang |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-8090-1554-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3nMRwAACAAJ |ref=kolchin1994}}, p.&nbsp;73 * {{cite book |last=Knesebeck |first=Ernst von dem |title=Geschichte der kurhannoverschen Truppen: in Gibraltar, Menorca und Ostindien |publisher=Im Verlage der Helwingschen Hof-Buchhandlung |year=2017 |orig-year=1845 |isbn=9789925057382 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNF3DgAAQBAJ&vq=Hanover |ref=ernst}} * {{cite book |first=Peter |last=Knight |title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA184 |year=2003 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=184–85 |isbn=978-1-57607-812-9 |ref=knight}} * {{cite book |last=Kohn |first=George C. |title=Dictionary of Wars, 3d edition |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=9781438129167 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Dictionary_of_Wars.html?id=OIzreCGlHxIC |ref=kohn}} * {{cite book |last=Kupperman |first=Karen Ordahl |title=The Jamestown Project |year=2009 |isbn=9780674027022 |publisher=Harvard University Press |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jamestown_Project/lIp7_e8KMJ0C?hl=en&gbpv=0 |ref=kupperman}} <!-- L --> * {{cite book|title=Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783|first=Gustave|last=Lanctot|year=1967|author2=Cameron, Margaret M. [translator]|publisher=Harvard University Press|oclc=70781264|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |ref=lanctot}} * {{cite book |last=Landrum |first=John Belton O'Neall |title=Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Carolina |publisher=Shannon |year=1897 |location=Greenville, SC |oclc=187392639 |url=https://archive.org/details/colonialandrevo00landgoog|ref=landrum1897}} * {{cite book |last=Lanning |first=Michael |title=American Revolution 100: The Battles, People, and Events of the American War for Independence, Ranked by Their Significance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GEs53wMr7EC&pg=PA193|year=2009|publisher=Sourcebooks|pages=195–96|isbn=978-1-4022-4170-3 |ref=lanning}} * {{cite book |last=Lecky |first=William Edward Hartpole |title=A History of England in the Eighteenth Century |volume=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofengland03leck/page/n6/mode/2up |publisher=London: Longmans, Green |year=1892 |ref=lecky}} * {{cite book |last=Lecky |first=William Edward Hartpole |title=A History of England |volume=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m3cUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA70 |pages=70–78 |year=1891 |ref=lecky4 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Lefkowitz |first=Arthur S. |title=Benedict Arnold's Army: The 1775 American Invasion of Canada during the Revolutionary War |year=2007 |publisher=Savas Beatie |isbn=978-1-9327-1403-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCcRAQAAMAAJ |ref=lefkowitz2007}} * {{cite book |first=Georges Édouard |last=Lemaître |title=Beaumarchais|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlxAFMQs4kYC&pg=PA229|year= 2005|publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=9781417985364 |ref=Lemaître2005}} * {{cite book |last=Lengel |first=Edward |authorlink=Edward G. Lengel |title=General George Washington| location=New York |publisher=Random House Paperbacks|year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8129-6950-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHTGAAAACAAJ |ref=lengel2005}} * {{cite book |last=Levy |first=Andrew |title=The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter |year=2007 |publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks |isbn=978-0-375-76104-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/firstemancipator0000levy/page/74 74] |url=https://archive.org/details/firstemancipator0000levy/page/74 |ref=levy}} * {{cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Earnest Marsh |title=A review of the history of infantry |authorlink= |publisher=New York: Longmans, Green, and co. |year=1908 |url=https://archive.org/details/reviewofhistoryo00lloyrich |ref=lloyd1908}} * {{cite book |last=Lockhart |first=Paul Douglas |title=The Drillmaster at Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army |url= https://www.amazon.com/Drillmaster-Valley-Forge-Steuben-American/dp/0061451649 |date=2010 |isbn=978-0061451645 |publisher=Harper Perennial |ref=lockhart}} * {{cite book |last=Lowell |first=Edward Jackson |title=The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war |place=New York |publisher=Harper & Brothers. |year=1884 |url=https://archive.org/details/hessiansotherger00lowe/page/n4/mode/2up |ref=lowell84}} * {{cite book |last= Lowenthal |first=Larry |title=Hell on the East River: British Prison Ships in the American Revolution |authorlink= |publisher=Purple Mountain Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-9163-4676-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPEQAQAAMAAJ |ref=lowenthal2009}} <!-- M --> * {{cite book |last=Mackesy |first=Piers|title=The War for America: 1775–1783 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1993 |orig-year=1964 |isbn=978-0-8032-8192-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKJ2AAAAMAAJ |ref=mackesy93}}&nbsp;–&nbsp;Highly regarded examination of British strategy and leadership. * {{cite book |last=Mahan |first=Alfred Thayer |title=The influence of sea power upon history, 1660-1783 |authorlink=Alfred Thayer Mahan |publisher=Boston : Little, Brown and Company |year=1890 |url=https://archive.org/details/seanpowerinf00maha/page/n6/mode/2up |ref=mahan1890}} * {{Cite book |last=Mahan |first=Alfred T. |year=1898 |url=https://archive.org/details/majoroperationso00maha |title=Major Operations of the Royal Navy, 1762–1783: Being Chapter XXXI in The Royal Navy. A History |authormask=2 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston|oclc=46778589|ref=mahan1898}} * {{cite book |last1= Mahan |first1=Alfred Thayer |title=The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence |year=2020 |orig-year=1913|publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=9780486842103 |url=https://archive.org/details/majoroperationso1913maha |ref=mahan2020 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Maier |first=Pauline |title=American scripture: making the Declaration of Independence |authorlink=Pauline Maier |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-6797-7908-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvsCEY5oI8sC |ref=maier1998}} * {{cite book |last=Mays |first=Terry M. |title=Historical Dictionary of the American Revolution |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-5381-1972-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e35_DwAAQBAJ |ref=mays2019}} * {{cite book |last=McCrady |first=Edward |title=The history of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 |publisher=New York, The Macmillan Company; London, Macmillan & Co., ltd. |year=1901 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthca00mccr |ref=mccrady1775}} * {{cite book |authorlink=David McCullough |last=McCullough |first= David |title=1776 |publisher=New York: Simon & Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7432-8770-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uu1mC6zWNTwC |ref=mccullough2005}} * {{cite book |last=McCusker |first=John J. |title=Essays in the economic history of the Atlantic world |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-16841-0 |location=London |oclc=470415294 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2-GAgAAQBAJ&vq=mercenaries |ref=mccusker1997}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-guilford-courthouse/ |title=Battle of Guilford Courthouse |first=Nick |last=McGrath |website=George Washington's Mount Vernon: Digital Encyclopedia |publisher=Mount Vernon Ladies' Association |access-date=January 26, 2017 |ref=mcgrath2017}} * {{cite book |last=McGuire |first=Thomas J. |title=Stop the Revolution: America in the Summer of Independence and the Conference for Peace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OsNi7Byog6kC&pg=PA166|year=2011|publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-4508-6 |ref=mcguire2011}} * {{cite book |last=McIlwain |first=Charles Howard |title=The American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPCOs3MBUUEC |year=2005 |orig-year=1938 |isbn=978-1-58477-568-3 |ref=McIlwain}} * {{Cite journal |last=Middleton | first=Richard |date=2014 |title=Naval Resources and the British Defeat at Yorktown, 1781 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00253359.2014.866373 |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=29–43| doi=10.1080/00253359.2014.866373| s2cid=154569534 |ref=middleton2014}} * {{cite journal |last=Middleton |first=Richard |date=July 2013 |title=The Clinton–Cornwallis Controversy and Responsibility for the British Surrender at Yorktown |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-229X.12014 |journal=[[History (journal)|History]] |publisher=Wiley Publishers |volume=98 |issue=3 |jstor=24429518 |pages=370–389 |doi=10.1111/1468-229X.12014 |ref=middleton2013 |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Middleton |first=Richard |title=The War of American Independence, 1775–1783 |publisher= London: Pearson |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-5822-2942-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9MFBAAAQBAJ |ref=middleton2014b |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Middlekauff |first=Robert |title=The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789 |publisher=Oxford University Press |authorlink=Robert Middlekauff |orig-year=1984 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-1997-4092-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nya0ODz-B-cC |ref=middlekauff}} * {{cite book |editor=Miller, Hunter |title=Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America: 1776-1818 &nbsp;<small>(Documents 1-40)</small> |volume=II|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1931 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huu6xgEACAAJ |ref=miller1931}} * {{cite book |last=Miller |first=John C. |title=Origins of the American Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlmrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA410 |year=1959 |publisher=Stanford UP |isbn=9780804705936 |ref=miller1959}} * {{cite journal | last = Mitchell | first = Barbara A. | title = America's Spanish Savior: Bernardo de Gálvez |journal = MHQ (Military History Quarterly) | pages = 98–104 | date = Autumn 2012 | url = http://www.historynet.com/americas-spanish-savior-bernardo-de-galvez.htm |ref=mitchell2012}} * {{Cite book |last=Montero |first=Francisco Maria |title=Historia de Gibraltar y de su campo |publisher=Imprenta de la Revista Médica |year = 1860 |language=Spanish |page=356 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHRmkdBONd0C |ref=montero}} * {{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Edmund S. |title=The Birth of the Republic: 1763-1789 |year=2012 |orig-year=1956 | url=https://www.amazon.com/Republic-1763-89-Chicago-American-Civilization/dp/0226923428 |edition=fourth |isbn=978-0226923420 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |ref=morgan |quote=foreward by Joseph J. Ellis}} * {{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Edmund S. |last2=Morgan |first2=Helen M. |title=The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution |date=1995 |orig-year=First published 1963|url=https://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Act-Crisis-Revolution-University/dp/0807845132 |publisher= University of North Carolina Press |isbn= 978-0807845134 |ref=morganmorgan}} * {{cite book |last=Morley |first=Vincent |title=Irish Opinion and the American Revolution, 1760–1783 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iBrJz9XYzNgC&pg=PA154 |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge UP |isbn=978-1-1394-3456-0 |ref=morley2002}} * {{cite book|last=Morrill |first=Dan|title=Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution|publisher=Nautical & Aviation Publishing |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-8778-5321-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXh2AAAAMAAJ |ref=morrill}} * {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Richard B.|title=The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_sXbxwEACAAJ |isbn=978-1299106598 |year=1983 |origyear=1965 |ref=morris1965}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=Richard B. |editor2-last=Morris |editor2-first=Jeffrey B. |title=Encyclopedia of American History |year=1982 |edition=6 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-American-history-Richard-Morris/dp/0061816051/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&qid=1601061682&refinements=p_27%3AJeffrey+B.+Morris&s=books&sr=1-5&text=Jeffrey+B.+Morris|isbn= 978-0061816055 |publisher=Harper & Row |ref=Morris1982 |quote=with Henry Steele Commager as chief consulting editor}} * {{cite book |last=Morrissey |first=Brendan |title=Yorktown 1781: The World Turned Upside Down |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-8553-2688-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eR9WvgAACAAJ |ref=morrissey1997}} * {{cite book |last=Mulhall |first=Michael G. |title=Mulhall's Dictionary of Statistics |publisher=George Boutleddge and Sons, London |url=https://archive.org/details/newdictionaryofs00webb |year=1884 |orig-year=1884 |ref=mulhall}} <!-- N --> * {{cite book |last1=Namier |first1= Lewis |last2=Brooke |first2=John |title=The House of Commons 1754–1790 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Taw7DVGrbRcC&pg=RA1-PA246 |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-4363-0420-0 |ref=namier1985}} * {{cite book |last=Naravane, M.S. |year=2014 |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-8-1313-0034-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxsa3jtHoCEC |ref=naravane}} * {{cite book |author1=Gary B. Nash |author2=Carter Smith |title=Atlas Of American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tyzmAJfLKs8C&pg=PA64|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=64|isbn=978-1-4381-3013-2 |ref=nash}} * {{cite book |last=Nelson |first= Larry L. |title=A Man of Distinction among Them: Alexander McKee and the Ohio Country Frontier, 1754–1799 |publisher=Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8733-8700-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y1KekDaaKKAC |ref=nelson1999}} * {{cite book |last=Nester |first=William R. |title=The Frontier War for American Independence |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8117-0077-1 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Frontier-American-Independence-William-Nester/dp/0811700771 |ref=nester2004}} * {{cite book |last=Nicolas |first=Paul Harris |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalrecor00harrgoog/page/n167 |quote=port praya suffren 1781. |title=Historical record of the Royal Marine Forces, Volume 2 |year=1845 |publisher=Thomas and William Boone |location=London |ref=nicolas1845}} <!-- O --> * {{cite book|last=O'Brien|first=Greg|title=Pre-removal Choctaw history: exploring new paths|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGFmNPevedUC&pg=PA123 |accessdate=March 25, 2011|date=April 30, 2008 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3916-6|ref=o'brien2008}} * {{cite web |last=Ortiz |first=J.D. |title=General Bernardo Galvez in the American Revolution |isbn= |year= |access-date= 9 September 2020 |url=http://www.thecajuns.com/galvezrw.htm |ref=ortiz}} * {{cite book |last1=Otfinoski |first1=Steven |title=The New Republic |date=2008 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-2938-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqAaRdNGCYIC |ref=otfinoski}} * {{cite book |last1=O'Shaughnessy |first1=Andrew |title=The Men Who Lost America |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFc-UCp6ZQsC |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-3001-9107-3 |ref=nessy}} <!-- P --> * {{cite book |last=Paine |first=Thomas |editor=Kramnick, Isaac |year=1982 |title=Common Sense |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0-1403-9016-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xNAMDp9NasC |ref=kramnick82}} * {{cite book |last=Pancake |first=John |title=This Destructive War |publisher=University of Alabama Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-8173-0191-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/thisdestructivew00panc |ref=pancake1985}} * {{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Dave Richard |title=George Washington and Benedict Arnold: A Tale of Two Patriots |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-5969-8164-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zANrP6rOOJkC |ref=palmer2010}} * {{cite book |last=Pares |first=Richard |title=War and Trade in the West Indies, 1739-1763 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001314334 |date=1963 |orig-year=1936 |publisher=F. Cass Press |ref=pares |quote=online at Hathi Trust}} * {{cite book |first=Thomas G. |last=Paterson |title=American Foreign Relations, Volume 1: A History to 1920 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-alDgRk-IYC&pg=PA13|year= 2009|publisher=Cengage Learning|pages=13–15|isbn=978-0547225647|display-authors=etal |ref=paterson2009}} * {{cite book |last=Paullin |first=Charles |title=The navy of the American Revolution: its administration, its policy and its achievements Oscar|publisher=The Burrows Brothers Co |year=1906|url=https://archive.org/details/navyamericanrev01paulgoog |quote=paullin massachusetts navy.|ref=paullin}} * {{cite book |last=Peckham|first=Howard Henry |title=The Toll of Independence: Engagements & Battle Casualties of the American Revolution |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-2266-5318-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khuuQgAACAAJ |ref=peckham74}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Peters |editor1-first=Richard |title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875: Treaty of Alliance with France 1778, "Article II". |publisher= Library of Congress archives |year=1846|url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=008/llsl008.db&recNum=21 |ref=loc1846}} * {{cite book |last=Philbrick |first=Nathaniel |title=Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-6981-5323-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ1iCgAAQBAJ |ref=philbrick2016}} * {{cite web |last=Pike |first=John |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/privateer.htm |title=Privateers |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=October 18, 1907 |accessdate=May 8, 2013 |ref=pike1907}} * {{cite journal |last=Pybus |first=Cassandra |year=2005 |title=Jefferson's Faulty Math: The Question of Slave Defections in the American Revolution |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=243–264 |doi=10.2307/3491601 |jstor=3491601 |ref=cassandra}} <!-- R --> * {{cite book |last=Raab |first=James W. |title=Spain, Britain and the American Revolution in Florida, 1763–1783 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCc8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 |year=2007 |page=135|isbn=978-0-7864-3213-4 |ref=raab}} * {{cite book |last=Ramsay |first=David |title=Universal History Americanised: Or, An Historical View of the World, from the Earliest Records to the Year 1808 |volume=4 |authorlink=David Ramsay (historian) |publisher=Philadelphia : M. 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Blackwelder |title=North Carolina in the American Revolution |url= https://www.amazon.com/North-Carolina-American-Revolution-Rankin/dp/1258093405/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=9781258199135&linkCode=qs&qid=1601421473&s=books&sr=1-1 |year=2011 |orig-year=1996 |isbn= 978-1258093402 |ref=rankin |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last1=Rappleye |first1=Charles |title=Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution |date=2010 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/robertm_rap_2010_00_1148 |isbn=978-1-4165-7091-2 |ref=Rappleye2010}} * {{cite book |last=Reeve |first=John L. |title=Strategy in the American War of Independence: A Global Approach |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3k9_AgAAQBAJ |year=2009 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-21039-8 |chapter=British Naval Strategy: War on a Global Scale |editor-last=Hagan |editor-first=Kenneth J.|editor2-last=McMaster |editor2-first=Michael T.|editor3-last=Stoker |editor3-first=Donald |ref=reeve}} * {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALDbuNPu_IQC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Carlisle+Commission#PPA121,M1| title=British friends of the American Revolution |last=Reich |first=Jerome R. |page=121|publisher=M.E. 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Putnam’s Sons |place=New York & London |ref=smithJ1907a}} * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Justin Harvey |title=Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony: Canada and the American Revolution |year=1907 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourstruggleforf03smitgoog |volume=1 |publisher=G.P. Putnam’s Sons |place=New York & London |ref=smithJ1907b |authormask=2}} * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Merril D. |title=The World of the American Revolution: A Daily Life Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqxmCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA374 |year=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=374 |isbn=978-1-4408-3028-0 |ref=smithM2015}} * {{cite book |last=Southey |first=Robert |title= The life of Lord Nelson |publisher=Henry Chapman Publishers |year=1831 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeoflordnelson00sout_0/page/n2/mode/2up |ref=southey31}} * {{cite book |editor1-first=Jared |editor1-last=Sparks |last1=Franklin |first1=Benjamin |last2=Lee |first2=Arthur |last3=Adams |first3=John |title=The diplomatic correspondence of the American Revolution |volume=1 |publisher=Boston: Hale, Gray & Bowen |year=1829 |url=https://archive.org/details/diplomaticcorres01sparuoft/page/n7/mode/2up/search/Portugal |ref=sparks1829}} * {{cite book|title=Canada Invaded 1775–1776|first=George|last=Stanley|year=1973|publisher=Hakkert |isbn=978-0-88866-578-2|location=Toronto|oclc=4807930|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/canadainvaded17700stan |ref=stanley}} * {{cite book |last=Stedman |first=Charles |title=The history of the origin, progress, and termination of the American war |volume=1 |publisher=Dublin : Printed for Messrs. P. Wogan, P. Byrne, J. Moore, and W. Jones |year=1794 |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125010928733/page/n6/mode/2up |ref=stedman1}} * {{cite book |title=Dictionary of national biography |editor=Stephen, Leslie |editor2=Lee, Sidney |volume=2 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |year=1885–1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnat02stepuoft/page/64/mode/2up?q=Aruthnot |ref=stephen1885}} * {{cite book |editor=Stewart, Richard W. |title=American Military History Volume 1 The United States Army And The Forging Of A Nation, 1775–1917 |year=2005 |volume=4 |url=http://history.army.mil/books/AMH-V1/ch04.htm |publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |place=Washington, D.C. |isbn= 0-16-072362-0 |ref=stewartR}} * {{cite book |last=Stockley |first=Andrew |title=Britain and France at the Birth of America: The European Powers and the Peace Negotiations of 1782-1783 |publisher=University of Exeter Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8598-9615-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHoaiPKTKvwC |ref=stockley2001}} * {{cite book |last=Syrett |first=David |title=The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War|url=https://archive.org/details/royalnavyineurop00syre|url-access=registration |year=1998| publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-57003-238-7 |ref=syrett1998}} <!-- T --> * {{cite book |last=Taafe |first=Stephen R. |title=The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777-1778 |url= https://www.amazon.com/Philadelphia-Campaign-1777-1778-Modern-Studies/dp/070061267X |date=2003 |isbn= 978-0700612673 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |ref=taffe}} * {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Alan |title=American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804 |authorlink=Alan Taylor (historian) |publisher=WW Norton & Company |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-3932-5387-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E92aCwAAQBAJ |ref=taylor2016}} * {{cite book |last=Tellier |first=L.-N. |year=2009 |title=Urban World History: an Economic and Geographical Perspective |publisher=Quebec: PUQ |isbn=978-2-7605-2209-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC |ref=tellier2009}} * {{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Molly |url=https://myfloridahistory.org/frontiers/article/184 |title=The Last Naval Battle of the American Revolution |date=November 9, 2017 |publisher=Florida Frontiers Article, The Florida Historical Society |accessdate=May 21, 2020 |ref=thomas2017}} * {{cite web |last=Tolson |first=Jay |title=How George Washington’s Savvy Won the Day :Despite his share of errors, the commander in chief prevailed as a strategist and a politician |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/06/27/how-george-washingtons-savvy-won-the-day?context=amp |date=27 June 2008 |access-date=29 September 2020 |ref=tolson}} * {{cite book |last=Trevelyan |first=George Otto |title=George the Third and Charles Fox: the concluding part of The American revolution |date=1912 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hw20mv&view=1up&seq=7 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company |quote=Archived online at HaithiTrust.org |ref=trevelyan}} * {{cite book |last=Trew |first=Peter |title=Rodney and the Breaking of the Line |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-8441-5143-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxAAAAMAAJ |ref=trew}} * {{cite web |last=Trickey |first=Erick |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/little-remembered-ally-who-helped-america-win-revolution-180961782/ |title= The Little-Remembered Ally Who Helped America Win the Revolution |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine January 13, 2017 |accessdate=April 28, 2020 |ref=trickey2017}} * {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Mary |title=Washington Crossing the Delaware |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZUx6QnUxxQC&pg=PA22|date=March 1, 2002 |publisher=Lorenz Educational Press|pages=22–23 |isbn=978-0-7877-8564-2 |ref=tucker2002}} <!-- U --> <!-- V --> * {{cite book |last= Volo |first= M. James |title=Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7425-6120-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gw8grU4NcoC |ref=volo}} <!-- W --> * {{cite book |author=[[James W. St. G. Walker]] |title=The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870 |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8020-7402-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BMY79c675JsC |ref=walker1992}} * {{cite book |first=Willard M. |last=Wallace |title=Traitorous Hero: The Life and Fortunes of Benedict Arnold |isbn=978-1199083234 |place=New York |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y192AAAAMAAJ |ref=wallace54}} * {{cite web |url= https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution | title=American Revolution |last1=Wallace |first1=Willard M. |last2=Ray |first2=Michael |date=21 September 2015 | website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=24 August 2020 |ref=wallaceray |authormask=2 |quote=American Revolution, (1775-83, insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America.}} * {{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/writ-of-assistance |title=Writ of assistance, British-American colonial history |last=Wallenfeldt |first=Jeff |date=29 May 2015 |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=25 August 2020 |quote=Customhouse officers were authorized to search any house for smuggled goods without specifying either the house or the goods. |ref=wallenfeldt}} * {{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=A.W. |last2= Prothero |first2=G.W. |title=Cambridge Modern History, vol.6 (18th Century) |year=1925 |publisher=University of Oxford, The University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107358/page/n503/mode/2up?q=Van+Tyne |quote=Digital Library of India Item 2015.107358 |ref=a.ward1925}} * {{cite book |last=Ward |first=Christopher |title=The War of the Revolution (2 volumes) |publisher=New York: Macmillan |year=1952 |isbn=9781616080808 |quote=History of land battles in North America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ut5DCgAAQBAJ |ref=ward1952}} * {{cite book |last=Ward |first=Harry M. |title=The war for independence and the transformation of American society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgqa4_OBcIkC&pg=PA198 |year=1999 |publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-85728-656-4 |ref=ward1999}} * {{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=J. Steven |last2=Clark |first2=Sir George |title=The Reign of George III, 1760-1815 |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22810670 |year=1960 |isbn=978-0198217138 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ref=watsonclark}} * {{cite book |last=Weigley |first= Russell F. |title=The American Way of War |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-2532-8029-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77wNLMJn8CEC |ref=weigley1977}} * {{cite book |last=Weir |first=William |title=The Encyclopedia of African American Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WEXj4gHHARgC&pg=PA32|year=2004 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-831-6 |ref=weir2004}} * {{cite book |last1=Westlager |first1=Clinton Alfred |title=The Stamp Act Congress |date=1976 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Stamp_Act_Congress/0KV2AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn= 9780874131116 |ref=weslager}} * {{Cite journal |last=Whaples |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Whaples |journal=[[The Journal of Economic History]] |volume=55 |issue=1 |page=144 |title=Where Is There Consensus Among American Economic Historians? The Results of a Survey on Forty Propositions |date=March 1995 |jstor=2123771 |doi=10.1017/S0022050700040602| quote=There is an overwhelming consensus that Americans' economic standard of living on the eve of the Revolution was among the highest in the world. |citeseerx=10.1.1.482.4975 |ref=whaples}} * {{cite web |last=White |first=Matthew |year=2010 |url= http://necrometrics.com/wars18c.htm#AmRev |title= Spanish casualties in The American Revolutionary war |publisher= Necrometrics |ref=necro}} * {{cite book |title=The Southern Strategy: Britain's Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775–1780 |first=David K |last=Wilson |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57003-573-9 |location=Columbia, SC |oclc=232001108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2GrR0Eyh-4C |ref=wilson2005}} * {{cite book |last=Winfield |first=Rif |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714–1792 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-8441-5700-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJCCAwAAQBAJ |ref=winfield}} (See also:[[British Warships in the Age of Sail]]) * {{cite book |last=Wood |first=W. J. |title=Battles of the Revolutionary War, 1775–1781 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Battles-Revolutionary-War-1775-1781-Campaigns/dp/0306813297 |publisher=Da Capo Press |orig-year=1995 |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-306-80617-9 |ref=wood1995}} <!-- Y --> * {{cite web |last=Yaniz |first=Jose I. |title= The Role of Spain in the American Revolution: An Unavoidable Mistake |publisher=Marine Corps University |date=2009 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a519344.pdf |ref=yaniz |quote=Spain declared war on Great Britain in June 1779 as an ally of France but not of America … <u>The Bourbon Family Compact obligated Spain with commitments to France</u>; and the Spanish Crown answered the call. Madrid thus took an unavoidable political strategic mistake.}} * {{cite book |last=Young |first=Alfred F. |title=The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution |publisher=Beacon Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8070-5405-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqHkAYjlz5kC&vq=indians |ref=young}} <!-- Z --> * {{cite web |last=Zeller-Frederick |first=Andrew A. |title=The Hessians Who Escaped Washington’s Trap at Trenton |url= https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/04/the-hessians-who-escaped-washingtons-trap-at-trenton/ |date=18 April 2018 |website=Journal of the American Revolution |publisher=Bruce H. Franklin |quote=Citing William M. Dwyer and Edward J. Lowell, <u>The Hessians and the other German Auxiliaries n the Revolutionary War</u>, 1970 |ref=zellerfrederick}} ;Websites without authors, alphabetically by publisher * {{cite web |last=Editors |first=Journal of the American Revolution |title=Which Side Benefitted the Most from the Native Americans |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/11/which-side-benefited-the-most-from-the-native-americans/ |date=30 November 2015 |website=Journal of the American Revolution |publisher=Bruce H. Franklin |quote= ‘During the war, both sides recruited Native soldiers and allies’ – J.L. Bell; ‘Britain’s Indian allies …Americans … Indian allies’ – Daniel J. Tortora |ref=jareditors2025}} * {{cite web |title="The Road to Peace, A Chronology: 1779-1784 |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdstatehouse/html/road_peace.html |publisher=William L. Clements Library / The Maryland State House |year=2007 |accessdate=June 3, 2020 |ref=clements2007}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/nov08/women_revarmy.cfm |title=Women's Service with the Revolutionary Army : The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site |publisher=History.org |date=November 5, 2009 |accessdate=August 9, 2015 |ref=womens2009}} * {{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/peace/ |title=Revolutionary War: Groping Toward Peace, 1781-1783 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Library: Library of Congress |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=24 August 2020 |ref=locgroping}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/spar/historyculture/french-field_4pdr.htm |title=Springfield Armory |publisher=Nps.gov |date=April 25, 2013 |accessdate=May 8, 2013 |ref=armory2013}} * {{cite web |website=The History Place |title=An Unlikely Victory 1777-1783 |url=https://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/revwar-77.htm |access-date=16 September 2020 |ref=unlikelyvictory |quote=American Revolution timeline}} * {{cite web |title=Red Coats |publisher=Totallyhistory.com |year=2012 |accessdate=March 23, 2020 |url=http://totallyhistory.com/red-coats/ |ref=redcoatsfacts}} * {{cite web |title=Privateers and Mariners in the Revolutionary War |publisher=U.S. Merchant Marine |year=2012 |accessdate=May 25, 2017 |url=http://www.usmm.org/revolution.html |ref=usmm}} <!-- ref>[[#usmm|U.S. Merchant Marine, 2012]]</ref --> * {{cite web |title=Continental Congress: Remarks on the Provisional Peace Treaty |year=1783 |accessdate=July 15, 2020 |publisher=U.S. National Archives|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-03-02-0186#ARHN-01-03-02-0186-fn-0001 |ref=national}} * {{cite web |year=1788 |title=Treaty of Alliance between Louis XVI, King of France & United States Congress |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fr1788-2.asp |publisher=The Avalon Project, Yale Law School |section= |access-date=24 August 2020 |ref=treatyofalliance}} * {{cite web |title=British-American Diplomacy — Preliminary Articles of Peace; November 30, 1782 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/prel1782.asp |year=1782 |publisher=Yale Law School, Avalon Project |accessdate=July 15, 2020 |ref=avalon}} * {{cite web |title=Great Britain : Parliament - The Massachusetts Government Act; May 20, 1774 |publisher=Yale Law School: The Avalon Project |year=2008 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/mass_gov_act.asp |ref=yale'mga}} {{Refend}} == Further reading == <!-- books about the war in general that are not cited above --> {{Refbegin|30em}} {{Main|Bibliography of the American Revolutionary War|Bibliography of George Washington}} These are some of the standard works about the war in general that are not listed above; books about specific campaigns, battles, units, and individuals can be found in those articles. * [[George Bancroft|Bancroft, George]]. ''History of the United States of America, from the discovery of the American continent.'' (1854–78), vol. 7–10. * Billias, George Athan. ''George Washington's Generals and Opponents: Their Exploits and Leadership'', 1994, scholarly studies of key generals on each side. * Black, Jeremy. "Could the British Have Won the American War of Independence?." ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research.'' (Fall 1996), Vol. 74 Issue 299, pp 145–154. [http://hdl.handle.net/1811/30022 online video lecture, uses Real Player] * Bobrick, Benson. ''Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution''. Penguin, 1998 (paperback reprint) * {{cite journal |last=Davies |first=Wallace Evan |date=July 1939 |title=Privateering around Long Island during the Revolution |journal=New York History |publisher=Fenimore Art Museum |volume=20 |issue=3 |jstor=23134696 |pages=283–294 |ref=0}} * Chartrand, Rene. ''The French Army in the American War of Independence'' (1994). Short (48pp), very well illustrated descriptions. * {{cite book |last=Clarfield |first=Gerard |title=United States Diplomatic History: From Revolution to Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/United_States_Diplomatic_History_Since_1.html?id=t-OhkgEACAAJ |isbn=9780130292322 |place=New Jersey |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1992 |ref=0}} * [[Henry Steele Commager|Commager, Henry Steele]] and [[Richard B. Morris]], eds. ''The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six': The Story of the American Revolution as told by Participants''. (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958). [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.234145 online] * Conway, Stephen. ''The War of American Independence 1775–1783''. Publisher: E. Arnold, 1995. {{ISBN|0340625201}}. 280 pp. * {{cite book| last=Creigh |first=Alfred |title=History of Washington County |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwashing00crei/page/49 |isbn= |publisher=B. Singerly |year=1871 |quote=ann hupp indian.|page=49 |ref=0}} * Fremont-Barnes, Gregory, and Ryerson, Richard A., eds. ''The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (ABC-CLIO, 2006) 5 volume paper and online editions; 1000 entries by 150 experts, covering all topics * Frey, Sylvia R. ''The British Soldier in America: A Social History of Military Life in the Revolutionary Period'' (University of Texas Press, 1981). * {{Cite journal |jstor=2716777|title = Black Immigrants into Nova Scotia, 1776–1815 |journal=The Journal of Negro History|volume = 58|issue = 3|pages = 253–270|last1 = Grant|first1 = John N.|year = 1973 |doi =10.2307/2716777 |ref=none}} * Kwasny, Mark V. ''Washington's Partisan War, 1775–1783''. Kent, Ohio: 1996. {{ISBN|0873385462}}. Militia warfare. * May, Robin. ''The British Army in North America 1775–1783'' (1993). Short (48pp), very well illustrated descriptions. * Neimeyer, Charles Patrick. ''America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army'' (1995) {{JSTOR|j.ctt9qg7q2}} * {{cite book |last=Perkins |first=James Breck |title=France in the American Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/franceinamerican00perk |date=2009 |orig-year=1911 |asin=B002HMBV52 |publisher=Cornell University Library |ref=0}} * Symonds, Craig L. ''A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution'' (1989), newly drawn maps emphasizing the movement of military units * {{cite book |last=Vibart |first=H. M |year=1881 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QyxFAAAAYAAJ&dq=wandiwash%201781&pg=PA157#v=onepage |title=The military history of the Madras engineers and pioneers, from 1743 up to the present time |volume=1 |ref=vibart}} * {{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.180904/2015.180904.South-Of-India-History-Of-Mysoor--Vol-1.pdf|title=Historical Sketches of the South of India, in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysoor|last=Wilks|first=Mark|date=|website=|access-date=June 4, 2017 |ref=wilks}} * Zlatich, Marko; Copeland, Peter. ''General Washington's Army (1): 1775–78'' (1994). Short (48pp), very well illustrated descriptions. * Zlatich, Marko. ''General Washington's Army (2): 1779–83'' (1994). Short (48pp), very well illustrated descriptions. ;Primary sources * Emmerich, Adreas. ''[[The Partisan in War]]'', a treatise on light infantry tactics written by Colonel Andreas Emmerich in 1789. {{Refend}} == External links == {{Wiktionary|American Revolutionary War}} {{Commons category}} * [https://westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/american-revolution Maps of the Revolutionary War from the United States Military Academy] ;Bibliographies for reference * [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/revolution/home.html Library of Congress Guide to the American Revolution] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130508072510/http://www.history.army.mil/reference/revbib/revwar.htm Bibliographies of the War of American Independence] compiled by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061205224555/http://revolution.h-net.msu.edu/bib.html Political bibliography] from Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture {{American Revolutionary War}} {{Continental Army}} {{American conflicts}} {{British colonial campaigns}} {{US history}} {{United States topics}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:American Revolutionary War| ]] [[Category:Global conflicts]] [[Category:Wars between the United Kingdom and the United States]] [[Category:Rebellions against the British Empire]] [[Category:Wars of independence]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1775]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1776]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1777]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1778]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1779]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1780]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1781]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1782]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1783]] [[Category:Militia generals in the American Revolution]] [[Category:French people of the American Revolution]] [[Category:Huguenot participants in the American Revolution]]'