Stories, history, and reflections from a nation 250 years in the making
From the first shots at Lexington to the final surrender at Yorktown — the campaigns that turned a declaration into a nation.
Independence was declared on paper in 1776, but it was won on the battlefield over eight long years. The Revolutionary War stretched from the rolling hills of Massachusetts to the swamps of the Carolinas, fought by a citizen army against the most powerful military in the world.
These are the decisive engagements — the defeats that nearly ended the cause, the victories that revived it, and the climactic siege that secured the United States its place among the nations of the earth.
The shot heard round the world. · Massachusetts
British troops marching to seize colonial arms met armed militia on Lexington Green and at Concord's North Bridge. The first shots of the Revolution sent the Redcoats on a bloody retreat to Boston and proved the colonists would fight.
A costly British victory. · Boston, Massachusetts
Though the British took the high ground above Boston, they suffered staggering casualties against entrenched colonial defenders — famously told to hold fire "until you see the whites of their eyes." The battle showed the rebellion could stand against regulars.
A desperate gamble that revived the cause. · New Jersey
After a string of defeats, Washington crossed the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night and surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton. The stunning victory rescued a collapsing army and restored American morale.
Washington outmaneuvers the British. · New Jersey
Days after Trenton, Washington slipped around Cornwallis's force and struck at Princeton, driving British troops from New Jersey and confirming that the Continental Army was far from beaten.
The turning point of the war. · New York
The surrender of British General John Burgoyne's entire army at Saratoga was the Revolution's decisive victory. It convinced France to enter the war as America's ally, transforming a colonial rebellion into a global conflict — and giving the patriots the resources to win.
Not a battle, but a forging. · Pennsylvania
Through a brutal winter encampment, Washington's ragged army endured hunger and disease — and emerged a disciplined fighting force under the drilling of Baron von Steuben. The Continental Army that left Valley Forge was transformed.
Proof of a professional army. · New Jersey
In one of the war's largest engagements, the newly disciplined Continentals stood toe-to-toe with British regulars and held the field. The fight demonstrated how far the American army had come.
A tactical masterpiece in the South. · South Carolina
General Daniel Morgan used a brilliant double-envelopment to destroy a feared British force under Banastre Tarleton. Cowpens crippled British strength in the South and set the stage for their retreat toward Virginia.
A victory that bled the British white. · North Carolina
Cornwallis won the field but lost a quarter of his army to General Nathanael Greene's stubborn defense. So ruinous was the cost that it drove the British to march toward the Virginia coast — and toward Yorktown.
The siege that won the war. · Virginia
Trapped against the sea by Washington's combined American and French armies, and cut off by the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, Cornwallis surrendered nearly 8,000 men on October 19, 1781. As his troops marched out, a band reportedly played "The World Turned Upside Down." The fighting was effectively over; American independence was secured.