The battle of Lexington was considered the first battle of the American Revolution. It was here that the 'shot heard round the world" occurred. During this time patriots were gathering weapons hoping to arm themselves for if the British started attacking. The colonists were practicing shooting and forming small militias preparing for the worst. However, British had heard about the arms and were coming to seize the weapons. Paul Revere had learned of this and came to warn the patriots. When the British arrived the colonists were ready, colonists fought the British before being forced to retreat. This gave time for the weapons to be moved to another location.
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Americans had set up a fort on Sullivan's Island, which is surrounded by a sand bar that led straight to Charleston Harbor, made up of logs filled with sand. This fort was led by William Moultrie by which the fort, Fort Moultrie, was named after. British troops, led by Henry Clinton, had come to capture the fort. They fired cannons upon the fort but the sand filled logs protected the soldiers inside. The Americans won after British were forced to retreat after a rush of high water required them to board their ships and sail away.
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George Washington and his Continental army had set up camp on the South side of the Assanpink Creek. He had ordered some of his men to build fortifications while he led the rest to Princeton. Charles Cornwallis and his British soldiers were positioned in Trenton on the other bank. Lt. Colonel Charles Mawhood was ordered by Charles to lead 1,400 soldiers to Princeton. During the night, Washington led a night attack on Mawhood and defeated the British troop. Washington and his army left Princeton before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements.
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After the battle at Princeton General John Burgoyne planned to meet with General Howe and dividing New England from the rest of the colonies. The two would never meet. General Howe was held back by the Continental Army. They were defeated and forced in a different direction. Meanwhile, General Burgoyne choose a 20 mile long trek through marshes and wilderness. Combined with his abundance of luggage the army was moving at an extremely slow pace occasionally needing to build bridges to cross certain terrain. To add on the misery Daniel Morgan and his band of sharpshooters were constantly harassing the British. Morgan and his men would use Guerilla Warfare on the British troops till Burgoyne and his army were forced to surrender. 6,222 British were captured and Burgoyne was never given another command. This immense victory for the Americans was a major turning point in the American Revolution. Also, after seeing this victory the Americans gained an alliance with France.
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