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Lexington and Concord
Commanding officers/militia: John Parker (American) and Francis Smith (British)
Strategic importance: British troops marched from nearby Boston to Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Kicked off the Revolutionary War. -
Fort Ticonderoga
Commanding officers/militia: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont- joined by Benedict Arnold (American) against the sleeping British garrison
Strategic importance: Served as a key point of access to both Canada and the Hudson River Valley -
Bunker (Breed's) Hill
Commanding officers/militia: Colonel William Prescott (American) and Major General William Howe (British)
Strategic importance: On a hill that overlooked Boston and was located on the Charlestown Peninsula. American troops were low on supplies so they waited until they could see into the eyes of the British troops to fire. -
Trenton/Princeton (NJ Campaign)
Commanding officers/militia: General Georfe Washington (American) and General William Howe (British)
Strategic importance: reasserted American control over New Jersey and greatly boosted American morale -
Saratoga (Bemis Heights, the second battle)
Commanding officers/militia: Major General Benedict Arnold (American) and General John Burgoyne (British)
Strategic importance: France officially recognized the cause of American independence and began to openly give military assistance to the rebels -
Siege of Charleston
Commanding officers/militia: Major General Benjamin Lincoln (American) and Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000
Strategic importance: British captured more than 3,000 Patriots and a great quantity of munitions and equipment, losing only 250 killed and wounded in the process -
King's Mountain
Commanding officers/militia: Colonel William Campbell (American Patriot) and Major Patrick Ferguson (British Loyalist)
Strategic importance: Ferguson positioned his force in defense of a rocky, treeless ridge named King’s Mountain. The Patriots charged the hillside multiple times, demonstrating lethal marksmanship against the surrounded Loyalists. Ended in a win for the Patriots. -
Yorktown
Commanding officers/militia: General George Washington (American) with a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops and General Lord Charles Cornwallis (British) and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia
Strategic importance: ended fighting in the American colonies