The Treaty of Paris

I bet you are thinking that how does the war ended or when it ended. Also that you think that after the Battle of Yorktown everything was already over. Well for a war to be over it is necesary to sign a Treaty that states that a war is over, and to know what are the deals in which both parts will agree.


The Treaty that ended "The War for Independence"  is the Treaty of Paris. The delegates from the United States were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. They negociated a peace treaty directly with British.

In the treaty Great Britain accepted the United States Independence.


The boundaries of the United States were: from the Great Lakes to Florida, and as far west as the Mississippi River. In an exchange the United States accepted to respect the properties in posetion of the Loyalists, and to allow tax collectors to collect debts that were owed to them.

The Battle of Yorktown (Final Battle)

This was the final battle of War for Independence, and it could be said that it was the shortest one. Before the battle had even started General Cornwallis planed to go to the middle colonies from the South; he was going towards Yorktown to wait for the ships sent by British forces in New York. As he was going North, George Washington and his army along with French were marching South towards Yorktown to attack the British Army. Washington was hoping that the French fleet would arrive in the Chesapeake Bay at the right time to block the entrance of the British ships. 

As they were waiting their occurred a big Naval battle between De Grasse (French) and Admiral Hood (British). That battle ended up with British forces forced to surrender after another French fleet leaded by De Barras (French) arrived. This defeat doomed Cornwallis because he would have no way out of the trap. 

British army was of 9,000 men, but it was outnumbered by the allied forces that were of 19,000 soldiers. Cornwallis made a desesperate attempt to escape from Yorktown but it was useless. On October 17 at 10 A.M. a white flag appeared over the British lines. Later papers were given to Washington to negotiate the British surrender. Next day the ceremony began when British soldiers walked through two lines of allied soldiers. The war was finally over and the Americans won it.

The Siege of Charleston

Charleston Map

British Cannons

The battle of Charleston began on March 20 1779 when British ships enter the harbor of the city. British formed a line and rested when they were 250 yards from the city where General Clinton (British) ordered a bombardment to the city. The result of the bombardment was that every day Patriots lost 10 soldiers. During all the duration of the battle Patriot General Lincoln sent to Clinton terms to surrender, but one time was rejected and two other times Lincoln don’t liked Clinton’s terms until the lost was imminent. The British army won the Battle and captured 5,700 American soldiers and 1,000 sailors. This was the Pariots biggest defeat of the entire war.

Troops position

The Battle of Vincennes

Well al the battle began when in October 7, 1778, a group of 175 settlers and 60 indians left for Vincennes.  They arrived on December 17, 1778, but they actually didn't fight because the fort was only protected by Captain Lord Helm and other three Virginians. Frenchmen surrounded them, and they surrender with firing any shot.

Soldiers walking toward Vincennes

Lt. Colonel Hamilton made a big mistake by believing that no one would attempt to attack the fort so he let the Indians and the militiamen go back to their homes. He lost Vincennes again to the British.
On February 5, 1779 Lt. Colonel Clark gave the order to do an expedition, with the objective of recapturing Vincennes. The trip to Vincennes was very harsh because of the rain that fall down during the Winter. Lt. Clark developed the plan of attacking during the night of the 23rd. Something interesting is that Lt. Hamilton didn't realize they were under attack until he was informed that a Colonel was wounded. During all that night they continued to fire. Hamilton was forced to surrender because reinforcements were 500 miles away. Also because he thoght that they were surrounded by 500 men when they were actually surrounded by 172 men. Lt. Hamilton surrendered on February 25, 1779.

The Battle of Saratoga

Battle map

The Battle of Saratoga occurred during September and October 1777.  The Battle occurred because British forces leaded by Burgoyne wanted to capture Albany, but the American waited them at Bemis Heights (a place chosen by Thaddeus Kosciusko). Bemis Heights was in a perfect spot because in ones side they have the Hudson River and in the other one there was a very dense forest. Burgoyne sent first an attack with 2,000 men leaded by General Fraser. And after that he send a frontal attack on the western part of the Americans. Burgoyne made two attempts to cross the defensive lines, but both failed.

British Attack  on September 19

American attack on October 7

After those attempts he decided to retreat toward Saratoga, but he left all his wounded and most of the supplies at Bemis Heights. After his retreat when he arrived at Saratoga he notice that General Gates was following them, and he realized that there was no way he could support the attack by the Americans that surrounded him. In his last move he called for a Council of War with his officers, and they decided to surrender. At that moment one fourth of British forces were captured, and the victory convinced European powers that an American victory was possible.

Burgoyne surrenders on October 13

The Battle of Princeton

Washingot inspiring his troops to fight

The battle of Princeton occurred on January 3, 1777. At the start general Howe send troops to Trenton to recapture the city. Washington and his army crossed the Delaware again on December 31, 1776. Even though they crossed the Delaware Washington was worried because many of his troops ended their terms on January 1; to avoid staying without troops he promised $10 in bonus to anyone who wanted to stay with him.

General Howe sent 8,000 troops with General Cornwalis to regain Trenton, but Cornwalis mistake was to send frontal attacks to a solid defensive line made by the Americans. During the day in Trenton 500 British soldiers were killed (365 in the frontel attacks and 135 killed by snipers in the road). Overnight Washington and his advisors decided to outflank the British and go to capture Princeton.

When they were arriving to Princeton they found British forces going to Trenton. They started to fight and it looked that the British were going to be, but they returned to Princeton because they were outnumbered. When they were in the city they tried to make a resistance, but it didn’t work. During both days British lost 950 soldiers and Americans only 37.

Washington in his horse

The Battle of Trenton

The Battle of Trenton occurred on December 26, 1776 it was a surprise attack by Washington and his army of 2,400 men. Washington decided to make a last attack before they enter into the winter camp because he didn’t want to lose New Jersey. So Washington made a council that decided that they would attack in the day after Christmas, and will cross the Delaware River in Christmas day without British being able to notice it.

George Washington crossing the Delaware

The town of Trenton was secured by 1,500 Hessians that were commanded by Colonel Rall. In the morning he didn’t send a patrol unit so they never realized that they were going to be attacked. At 8 o’clock in the morning Washington ordered the attack. When they attacked the Hessians tried to resist, but they were surrounded. The Americans killed Colonel Roll, but also killed or injured 150 Hessians, captured 900 of them. 500 Hessians escaped through the Delaware River. 

This was the first victory of the Americans in the war, and it also restored the American morale.

Map with the location of trrops