The Revolutionary WarBy Mr. Stahl

and The Internet

Advantages for Both Sides

AmericansHome Field

AdvantageHad Something to

Fight ForDidn’t Have to Win

BritishBigger Army (Best in

the World)More and Better

SuppliesTrained SoldiersBetter Tactics and

GeneralsBest Navy in the

World

Weapons

Pistol

Musket

Bayonet

Cutlass

Gun Powder Horn

Musket Balls

Bullet Pack

Colonial Soldier

The Making of Bullets

• First, you melt lead into liquid. You pour the lead into the form and close.

• Next, you let the lead cool in the form until completely cool and solid. Next you pop the bullets out of the form and clip off the excess lead to create a circular bullet. Make sure to save all the lead clippings.

• Finally, take a small hammer and try to carefully knock out any imperfections in its shape.

Weapons

Tactics - British

Standing in a big line!

Many Continuous Lines

Naval Blockade

Why did they do that?

British Brown Bess• 42 inch barrel• 18 inch bayonet• .75 caliber musket ball• Could be reloaded in

under 20 seconds• Could be shot and

reloaded for 4 minutes before needing to be cleaned

• No Rifling• Accurate up to about 50

yards

Muzzle Loading Cannons• Usually 3,4, or 6 pound

guns used in the Rev War• Refers to weight of

cannon ball• 12 pound cannons were

pretty common to navies and forts

• Accurate up to 750 yards• Could be loaded with

cannon balls, grape shot, or shells filled with gun powder or lead balls

Tactics - Americans

• Guerrilla Warfare• Hit and Run• Surprise Attacks• Kill the Officers• Night Movements• Un-Gentlemanly

Conduct

People – George Washington

• Born in 1732 on February 22nd.• Died December 14th, 1799• He was born in Virginia• Fought as a General for the British in the French and

Indian War• Was the Head Commander for the Americans during

the Revolutionary War• He Commanded the Americans during the Battle of

Princeton, Trenton, Long Island, and Yorktown• From beginning to end George Washington was the

heart and soul of the American colonial military. He was smart enough to understand that the British could beat them if he played by their rules. He also was trusting enough to allow the people below him to do their jobs (macro-managing).

Charles Cornwallis

• Born: Dec. 31, 1738• Died: Oct. 5, 1805• He was born in England• Was the Head Commander for the British during most of the

Revolutionary War• He Commanded the British during the Battle of Princeton,

Trenton, Long Island, in the South and at Yorktown• Cornwallis was consumed with gentlemanly warfare. This was

inevitably his downfall as he could not adjust his pride and fight Washington outside of the field of battle. He got trapped in the South near the end of the war due to the Americans guerilla tactics and was surrounded at Yorktown with most of the British forces in North America. He wouldn’t even admit defeat as he made his underlings deliver his surrender to Washington and the French.

Francis Marion

• Born: February 26, 1732• Died: February 27, 1795• He was born in South Carolina• He fought for the Americans in the South in no

particular battles• He is known as one of the fathers of modern

guerrilla warfare. He was known as the Swamp Fox as his favorite hideout was in a swamp that the British would not enter. He was known for his hit and run tactics to disrupt enemy supply lines and kept the British from fully conquering the South and moving north to help control the rest of the country. If it wasn’t for him, we probably would have lost the war.

George Rogers Clark

• Born November 19, 1752• Died February 13, 1818• Born in Virginia by where Thomas Jefferson

was born• He fought on the side of the Americans in the

west mostly in places like Kentucky• He was a thorn in the side of the British as

he would take over forts throughout the west and then disappear moving on to the next fort. The British could not find him and when he attacked he caused much damage and casualties than he received.

John Paul Jones

• Born: July 6, 1747• Died: July 18, 1792• He was born in Scotland but lived here in America• He was one of the only leaders of the American “navy” during

the war and is known as the father of the navy here in the US.• During one of the only battles at sea between the British and

Americans, John Paul Jones using a privateer boat attacked the British flagship, the Serapis. The battle was epic with the British just pounding the daylights out of the American boat. With his mast destroyed and his ship on fire, the British pulled up alongside and asked for his surrender. “I have not yet begun to fight!” was his reply as the remaining men jumped off his ship and onto the Serapis fighting the British by hand until he had either killed or beaten them into submission. He then took the Serapis and attacked Britain. He was crazy!

William Howe

• Born: August 10, 1729• Died: July 12, 1814• He was born in England and served as the governor

of Massachusetts• He fought on the side of the British at the battles of

Long Island and Bunker Hill. Both battles he was victorious.

• His biggest downfall and the reason he was replaced as head commander of the British army was that he had the chance to capture George Washington and the American army after the Battle of Long Island, but he allowed them to escape during the night as he slept.

Nathan Hale

• Born: June 6, 1755• Died: September 22, 1776• Born in Connecticut• Did not fight in any battles but was a spy for

the Americans in the North. He was captured and hung for treason, but his famous quote sparked patriotism and a renewed desire to fight the British with everything the Americans had.

• “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

Benedict Arnold

• Born: January 14, 1741• Died: June 14, 1801• Born in Connecticut • Fought on the American side during the battles of

Saratoga and Fort Ticonderoga. He became a traitor handing over West Point to the British midway through the war becoming a general for the British.

• He fought a drinking problem as well as low self esteem which caused him to get into some trouble. He was greedy and the British offered him money and a higher position in their army if he gave them West Point, so he did. Boo

Thomas Gage

• Born: 1719• Died: April 2, 1789• Born in England• Fought on the side of the British at the Battles of

Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill• He basically started the Revolutionary War by going

to arrest a couple of colonial leaders hiding in Concord. Along the way, colonial minutemen attacked his men and he fought back killing many colonists.

• He then went on to attack Bunker Hill outside of Boston killing hundreds of colonists whiling losing three times more of his men before he won the battle by sheer numbers. After this battle the war was on!

Richard Montgomery

• Born: December 2, 1738• Died: December 31, 1775• Born in Ireland and fought on the side of the

Americans during the invasion of Canada• He and Benedict Arnold led an American

invasion into Canada where they took over many forts, captured over 10,000 British soldiers and kept them at bay in Canada so that their forces could not come down and take over the US. He died during the siege on Quebec in 1775.

Molly Pitcher

• Born: October 13, 1754• Died: January 22, 1832• Born in Pennsylvania• Fought on the American side as a helper of the

troops and a cannon operator• During the Battle of Monmouth her husband, a

cannon shooter, collapsed from heat exhaustion. She was getting water for the different soldiers when she found him and instead of grieving his problems she took his place firing the cannon.

• She became the first woman to receive a military stipend for her contributions to the war effort.

Uniforms

• Colonists’ uniforms were blue and earthy colors like gray, brown, and tan.

• By Valley Forge many colonists didn’t even have shoes to wear let alone the same uniforms.

• British uniforms were bright red making them stick out.

As a unit the British Red coats were the most feared army in the world!

Navy

The Colonists used merchant (cargo) ships to fight the British Navy. They were called Privateers.

Since the British had the strongest navy in the world, a favorite tactic was a blockade (not allowing ships to or from a country).