REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War

According to Rossiter (1963), the Revolutionary War was bound to happen. The Americans and the British anticipated it. For years and years the American colonies were forced to endure an increasingly harsh rule by their mother country. The opposition to that rule had flamed hotter with each passing year, finally reaching such a heat that the colonists were ready to rebel. The colonists' victory in the Revolutionary War can be attributed to three main occurrences. The first is the Battle of Concord which was the first victory for the colonists. The second contributing factor in the colonists' victory is the great military leadership, and the third factor is the British surrendering at Yorktown.

April 19, 1775 some seventy minutemen stood on the village common at Lexington, Massachusetts waiting for the British redcoats to come by on their way to Concord. In the Massachusetts colony the minutemen had spent months storing military supplies at Concord. The minutemen knew that the British commander General Thomas Gage was aware of their supply and would send out troops to destroy it. That day had dawned. Gage's troops came galloping into Lexington and there stood the minutemen led by Captain John Parker. The British outnumbered the minutemen by a great deal and Parker ordered his men to disband. Abruptly afterwards shots rang out, no one knew from which side the shots had fired but the redcoats were ordered to open fire. Eight Americans died, and ten fell wounded. The redcoats rode onto Concord. Waiting at Concord were 400 minutemen, they lay concealed in the woods around town. The British troops entered the town and burned houses and destroyed ammunition they found. The minutemen drew closer and closer to the redcoats at the bridge. The redcoats opened fire. Their first shots fell short. The minutemen spread out and returned fire, nine fell wounded and three were killed. The British were ordered to withdraw. The British troops left Concord exhausted and thinking the fighting was over. They were wrong. The minutemen dogged the redcoats every move. The Americans sniped at the redcoats throughout the miles to Boston. The British column reached Boston with nearly 300 dead and wounded comrades. Word of the Concord victory swept throughout the colonies. The leaders of the colonies began to unite behind Massachusetts. The Americans began to feel hopeful of Independence and the militia increased and gained extraordinary talented military leaders.

The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. They realized that the colonies must now unite and fight for their rights. They began by establishing the continental Army and choosing the officer who would lead it. They chose George Washington. Washington commanded the Continental Army throughout the War. Washington later went on to become the Nation's first president. Several foreign officers had come to America's aid, among them Germany's Baron Friedrich von Steuben, and France's the Marquis de Lafayette. They were both experienced military men and they spent the winter months sharpening the fighting skills of the ...