The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the military conflict of the American Revolution. American Patriot forces, organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington, defeated the British, leading to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which Great Britain recognized the independence and sovereignty of the United States. In the war, American Patriot forces eventually gained the support of France and Spain. The British and Loyalist forces also included Hessian soldiers from Germany. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution based on the principles of the American Enlightenment in which the Second Continental Congress, representing the Thirteen Colonies, convened in what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia, ultimately declaring their total independence from the British Empire, authorizing the creation of the Continental Army, and electing George Washington as its commander in the ensuing American Revolutionary War.
The Invasion of Quebec was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to seize the Province of Quebec from Great Britain, and persuade French-speaking Canadiens to join the revolution on the side of the Thirteen Colonies. One expedition left Fort Ticonderoga under Richard Montgomery, besieged and captured Fort St. Johns, and very nearly captured British General Guy Carleton when taking Montreal. The other expedition, under Benedict Arnold, left Cambridge, Massachusetts, and traveled with great difficulty through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec City. The two forces joined there, but they were defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775.
The Battle of Oriskany was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the bloodiest battles in the conflict between Patriot forces and those loyal to Great Britain. On August 6, 1777, several hundred of Britain's Indigenous allies, accompanied by Loyalists of the King's Royal Regiment of New York and the British Indian Department, ambushed a Patriot militia column which was marching to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix. This was one of the few battles in which the majority of the participants were American colonists. Patriots and allied Oneidas fought against Loyalists and allied Iroquois and Mississaugas. No British regulars were involved; however, a detachment of Hessians was present.
The Oneida people are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area of upstate New York, particularly near the Great Lakes.
Joseph Plumb Martin was a soldier in the Connecticut Militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and was mustered out as a 23-year-old Sergeant in a Sapper company. His published narrative of his experiences, re-discovered in the 1950s, has become a valuable resource for historians in understanding the conditions of a common soldier of that era, as well as the battles in which Martin participated.
The Battle of the Cedars was a series of military confrontations early in the American Revolutionary War during the Continental Army's invasion of Canada that had begun in September 1775. The skirmishes, which involved limited combat, occurred in May 1776 at and around the Cedars, 45 km (28 mi) west of Montreal, British America. Continental Army units were opposed by a small force of British troops leading a larger force of First Nations warriors and militia.
Colonel Marinus Willett was an American military officer, politician and merchant who served as the mayor of New York City from 1807 to 1808. Willett is best known for his actions during the American Revolution, where he served as an important Patriot leader in colonial New York before enlisting in the Continental Army and serving in numerous campaigns in the Revolutionary War throughout the Northwest.
The Boot Monument is an American Revolutionary War memorial located in Saratoga National Historical Park, New York. Erected in 1887 by John Watts de Peyster, it commemorates Major General Benedict Arnold's service at the Battles of Saratoga in the Continental Army, but does not name him because of Arnold's betrayal to the British army. Instead, it commemorates Arnold as the "most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army".
Johannes Justus Schuyler was a Tory with patriot roots, who was used by American General Benedict Arnold to repel the British and Indian forces of Colonel Barry St. Leger and Joseph Brant from their siege of Fort Stanwix following the Battle of Oriskany during the American Revolution.
Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War.
The Battle of Ridgefield was a series of American Revolutionary War skirmishes in Danbury, Connecticut and Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Polly Cooper was an Oneida woman from the New York colony who took part in an expedition in 1777 to aid the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Troops were camped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in winter quarters during 1777–78.
The siege of Fort Stanwix began on August 2, 1777 and ended on August 22, 1777. Fort Stanwix, at the western end of the Mohawk River Valley, was a primary defense point for the Continental Army against the British and indigenous forces aligned against them during the American Revolutionary War. The fort was occupied by Continental Army forces from New York and Massachusetts under the command of Colonel Peter Gansevoort. The besieging force was composed of British regulars, Loyalist soldiers, Hessians, and indigenous warriors, under the command of Brigadier General Barry St. Leger. St. Leger's expedition was a diversion in support of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne's campaign to take control of the Hudson River Valley to the east.
Joseph Louis Cook, or Akiatonharónkwen (Mohawk), was an Iroquois leader and commissioned officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Born to an African father and an Abenaki mother in what is now Schuylerville, New York, he and his mother were taken captive in a French-Mohawk raid and taken to Kahnawake, a Mohawk village south of Montreal. They were adopted by a Mohawk family. His mother soon died and he served Catholic missionaries, learning French. He became an influential leader among the Mohawk and distinguished himself as a warrior for their allies the French during the French and Indian War.
Louis Saint Ange Morel, chevalier de la Colombe (1755–1825) was an aide de camp to Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, during the Revolutionary War.
Tyonajanegen was an Oneida woman who fought in the August 6, 1777 Battle of Oriskany during the American Revolutionary War. Armed with two pistols, she rode into battle and fought alongside her husband, Han Yerry, and her son, Cornelius. Tyonajanegen helped her husband reload his gun after a musket ball struck him in the wrist. After the battle she rode on horseback to bring news of the outcome to local rebels and Indians.
The following bibliography includes notable books concerning the American Revolutionary War. These books are listed in the bibliographies of books by prominent historians as shown in the footnotes.
Han Yerry Tewahangarahken was also known as Honyery Doxtator. Han Yerry was born into his mother's Wolf clan, as the Iroquois had a matrilineal society with women holding property and hereditary leadership passing through their lines, children took the nationality and clan of their mother, as they gain social status through her.
Paul Powless Tegahsweangalolis was a warrior and chief of the Oneida people and hereditary sachem of the Bear clan. Like many of his people, he joined the American side during the Revolutionary War and served as a spy and messenger.
