Portal:American Revolutionary War

War and the military Military of  Ancient Rome  Australia Bangladesh Canada Germany  Greece Pakistan Turkey United Kingdom (British Army Royal Air Force Royal Navy) United States ( Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard) … Military history of  Africa France the Ottoman Empire …… American Civil War American Revolutionary War Cold War Crusades Italian Wars Napoleonic Wars War of 1812 World War I World War II …… Battleships Biological warfare Submarine Tank Weapons of mass destruction …… NATO  Terrorism The American Revolutionary War began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies on the North American continent, and ended in a global war between several European great powers. The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution and intellectual American Enlightenment, whereby the colonists rejected the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them without representation. In 1775, revolutionaries gained control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up an alliance called the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army. Petitions to the king to intervene with the parliament on their behalf resulted in Congress being declared traitors and the states in rebellion the following year. The Americans responded by formally declaring their independence as a new nation, the United States of America, claiming sovereignty and rejecting any allegiance to the British monarchy. In 1777 the Continentals captured a British army, leading to France entering the war on the side of the Americans in early 1778, and evening the military strength with Britain. Spain and the Dutch Republic – French allies – also went to war with Britain over the next two years. Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army. French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a second British army at Yorktown in 1781. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west. More about American Revolutionary War... The naval Battle of Cape St Vincent took place off the coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle, because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over its European enemies in the war, and proved the value of copper sheathing the hulls of warships. Admiral Rodney was escorting a fleet of supply ships to relieve Gibraltar with a fleet of about 20 ships of the line when he encountered Lángara's squadron south of Cape St. Vincent, the southwestern tip of Portugal. When Lángara saw the size of the British fleet, he attempted to make for the safety of Cadiz, but the copper-sheathed British ships chased his fleet down. In a running battle that lasted from mid-afternoon until after midnight, the British captured four Spanish ships, including Lángara's flagship. Two other ships were also captured, but their final disposition is unclear: some Spanish sources indicate they were retaken by their Spanish crews, while Rodney's report indicates the ships were grounded and destroyed. Featured articles 1 Featured lists 1 A-Class articles 1 After the Battles of Saratoga, John Burgoyne surrendered to Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777 Molly Brant (c.1736 – April 16, 1796), also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a prominent Mohawk woman in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, with whom she had eight children. Joseph Brant, who became an important Mohawk leader, was her younger brother. After Johnson's death in 1774, Brant and her children returned to her native village of Canajoharie on the Mohawk River. A Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War, she fled to British Canada, where she worked as an intermediary between British officials and the Iroquois. After the war, she settled in what is now Kingston, Ontario. In recognition of her service to the Crown, the British government gave Brant a pension and compensated her for her wartime losses. Since 1994, Brant has been honored as a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada. She was long ignored or disparaged by historians of the United States, but scholarly interest in her increased in the late 20th century. She has sometimes been controversial, criticized for being pro-British at the expense of the Iroquois. A devout Anglican, she is commemorated on April 16 in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada. No portraits of her are known to exist; an idealized likeness is featured on a statue in Kingston and on a Canadian stamp issued in 1986. Riflemen engage the British at the Battle of Saratoga The Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment, most commonly known as Rawlings' Regiment was a specialized light infantry unit of riflemen in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was one of a few rifle units that complemented the predominant, musket-equipped, line infantry forces of the army. Units of the regiment, with their long-range marksmanship capability, were typically deployed with the line infantry as forward skirmishers and flanking elements, and were loosely structured to provide flexibility in tactical situations. Scouting, escort, and outpost duties were also routine. Organized in 1776, the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment consisted of nine companies—four from Maryland and five from Virginia, and was managed as one of the Continental Army's Extra Continental regiments. Most of the newly formed regiment surrendered to British and German forces at the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. Elements of the regiment served with George Washington's Main Army and participated in the army's major engagements of late 1776 through 1778. Select members of the regiment were also attached to Col. Daniel Morgan's elite Provisional Rifle Corps at its inception in mid-1777. The Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment was reorganized in January 1779 and was stationed at Fort Pitt in present-day western Pennsylvania primarily to help in the defense of frontier settlements from British-supported Indian raids. The unit was disbanded in January 1781; it was the longest serving Continental rifle unit of the war. Template:/box-header From the American Revolutionary War task force of the Military history WikiProject: Attention needed ...to referencing and citation  • ...to coverage and accuracy  • ...to structure  • ...to grammar  • ...to supporting materials  Cleanup needed   Add an article here! Requested articles  East Indies campaign • Central American campaigns • Quebec in the American Revolution • Maritime provinces in the American Revolution Expansion needed   many existing "<State> in/during the American Revolution" articles Images needed   Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of the American Revolutionary War Merging needed   Add an article here! Citations needed   Battle of Monmouth • Battles in {{Campaignbox American Revolutionary War: Gulf Coast}} Translation needed  Add an article here! 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