Timeline of the Revolutionary War

Oct. 10: Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia (disputed as to whether it was a battle of the American Revolution or the culmination of Lord Dunmore's War)

Oct. 20: The Association (prohibition of trade with Great Britain)

Oct. 24: Galloway's Plan rejected

1775

March 23: Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech

Apr. 18: The Rides of Paul Revere,William Dawes, Israel Bissell, Sybil Luddington, and others

Apr. 19: Minutemen and redcoats clash at Lexington and Concord "The shot heard 'round the world."

May 10: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga

May 10: The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

June 15: George Washington named Commander in Chief

June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill: The British drive the Americans from Breed's Hill

July 3: Washington assumes command of the Continental Army

Nov. 10-21: Ninety Six, SC, Patriots sieged

Nov. 13: The patriots under Montgomery occupy Montreal in Canada

Dec. 11: Virginia and NC patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn Norfolk

Dec. 22: Col. Thomson with 1,500 rangers and militia capture Loyalists at Great Canebrake, SC

Dec. 23-30: Snow Campaign, in SC, so-called because patriots are impeded by 15" of snow

Dec. 30-31: American forces under Benedict Arnold fail to seize Quebec

1776

Jan. 1: Daniel Morgan taken prisoner in attempt to take Quebec City

Jan. 15: Paine's "Common Sense" published

Feb. 27: The patriots drive the Loyalists from Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolina

March 3: The Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas

March 17: The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada

June 8: Patriots fail to take Three Rivers, Quebec

June 12: The Virginia Declaration of Rights

June 28: Sullivan's Island, SC, failed British naval attack

June 29: The First Virginia Constitution

June 28: Patriots decisively defeat the British Navy at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina

July 1: At the instigation of British agents, the Cherokee attack along the entire southern frontier

July 1-4: Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence. See Chronology of the Declaration

July 4: Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence; it's sent to the printer

July 8: The Declaration of Independence is read publicly

July 15: Lyndley's Fort, SC, Patriots fend off attack by Indians and Tories dressed as Indians

Aug. 1: Ambushed by Cherokees, Patriots are saved by a mounted charge at Seneca, SC

Aug. 2: Delegates begin to sign The Declaration of Independence

Aug. 10: Tugaloo River, SC, Andrew Pickens defeats Cherokees

Aug. 12: Andrew Pickens' detachment surrounded by 185 Cherokee Indians, forms a ring and fires outward. It is known as the "Ring Fight."

Aug. 12: Col. Williamson and Andrew Pickens defeat Cherokee Indians and burn Tamassy, an Indian town

Aug. 27: Redcoats defeat George Washington's army in the Battle of Long Island. Washington's army escapes at night.

Sept. 15: The British occupy New York City

Sept. 16: Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam triumphantly hold their ground at the Battle of Harlem Heights

Sept. 19: Col. Williamson's patriots attacked by Cherokees at Coweecho River, NC

Oct. 11: Benedict Arnold defeated at the Battle of Valcour Island (Lake Champlain), but delayed British advance

Oct. 28: The Americans retreat from White Plains, New York. British casualties (~300) higher than American (~200).

Nov. 16: The Hessians capture Fort Washington, NY

Nov. 20: Lord Cornwallis captures Fort Lee from Nathanael Greene

Dec. 26: Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton from Hessians

1777

Jan. 3: Washington victorious at Princeton

Jan. 6-May 28: Washington winters in Morristown, NJ

Apr. 27: Benedict Arnold's troops force a British retreat at Ridgefield, Connecticut.

May 20: Treaty of DeWitt's Corner, SC: Cherokees lose most of their land east of the mountains

June 14: Flag Resolution

July 5: St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British

July 27: Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia

Aug. 6: The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back at Oriskany, NY, but then have to evacuate

Aug. 16: American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle of Bennington, VT (actually fought in Walloomsac, New York, several miles to the west)

Aug. 23: British withdraw from Fort Stanwix, NY, upon hearing of Benedict Arnold's approach

Aug. 25: British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland

Sept. 11: The British win the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania

Sept. 16: Rain-out at the Battle of the Clouds, Pennsylvania

Sept. 19: Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's Farm, NY. This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga."

Sept. 21: Paoli Massacre, PA

Sept. 26: British under Howe occupy Philadelphia

Oct. 4: Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown

Oct. 7: Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, NY (at Bemis Heights). This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga."

Oct. 17: Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga, NY

Oct. 22: Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed

Nov. 16: British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania

Dec. 5-7: Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania

Dec. 19: Washington's army retires to winter quarters at Valley Forge

1778

Feb. 6: The United States and France sign the French Alliance

March 7: British General William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton

May 20: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania. Lafayette with 500 men and about 50 Oneida Indians successfully evade British onslaught

June 18: British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York

June 19: Washington's army leaves Valley Forge

June 28: The Battle of Monmouth Court House ends in a draw

July 4: George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia, a French village south of St. Louis

Aug. 8: French and American forces besiege Newport, RI

Dec. 29: The redcoats occupy Savannah

1779

Feb. 3: Maj. Gen. Moultrie defeats British detachment at Port Royal Island, SC

Feb. 14: Patriots Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke beat Loyalists at Kettle Creek, GA

Feb. 23-24: American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (in what is now Indiana) on the Wabash in the Western campaign

March 3: British Lt. Col. Jacques Marcus Prevost defeats Americans under Gen. John Ashe at Brier Creek, GA

May 11-13: Maj. General Augustin Prévost (brother of Jacques, see above) breaks his siege when American forces under Maj. Gen. Lincoln approaches

June 20: Stono River, SC, Maj. Gen. Lincoln inflicts extensive British casualties in indecisive battle

June 21: Spain declares war on Great Britain July 8: Fairfield, CT, burned by British July 11: Norwalk, CT, burned by British July 15-16: American "Mad" Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, NY

Aug. 19: "Light Horse" Harry Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ

Aug. 29: Newtown, NY, after two massacres, American forces burn Indian villages

Sept. 23: John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures British man-of-war Serapis near English coast Sept. 28: The Tappan Massacre ("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet)

Oct. 9American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails

Nov.-June 23, 1780Washington's 2nd winter at Morristown, NJ (the harshest winter of the 18th century)

1780

May 12: British capture Charleston, SC

May 29: British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC

June 20: Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur's Mill, NC

July 11: French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American cause

Aug. 6: Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC

Aug. 16: British rout Americans at Camden, SC

Sept. 23: John André arrested, leading to the exposure of Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British

Oct. 7: King's Mountain, SC: battle lasts 65 minutes. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Maj. Patrick Ferguson and one-third of General Cornwallis's army

Oct. 14: Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army

1781

Jan. 1: Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers

Jan. 17: Patriot Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Col. Tarleton at Cowpens, SC

Feb. 1: The Battle of Cowan's Ford, Huntersville, NC

March 2: Articles of Confederation adopted

March 15: British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC

April 25: Greene defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, SC

May 15: British Major Andrew Maxwell cedes Fort Granby, SC to patriot Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee

June 6: Americans recapture Augusta, GA

June 18: British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC

July 6: "Mad" Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm, VA

Sept. 8: Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC

Sept. 15: French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay

Oct. 19: Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA

1782

March 20: Lord North resigns as British prime minister

July 11: British evacuate Savannah, GA

Nov. 30: British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace

Dec. 14: British leave Charleston, SC

1783

April 19: Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty

Sept. 3: The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris

Nov. 25: British troops leave New York City

Dec. 23: Washington resigns as Commander

1787

Sept. 17: U.S. Constitution signed

1788

June 21: U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it

(Source: ushistory.org)