Battles of the American Revolution Quiz

Answer: Bunker Hill

In mid June, 1775, the Rebel leaders learned that the British were planning on seizing and fortifying the hills surrounding Boston. On the night of June 16, the Rebels erected an earthen fort on Breed's Hill on the Charlestown Peninsula. The following day, British troops attacked the fort, but it took three assaults to drive the Rebels off and take the position.

While victorious, the British losses were very high, and they were from then on hesitant to attack the Rebels in fortified positions.

Answer: To destroy the Iroquois Confederacy

In 1779, while the British switched their main war effort to conquering the Southern colonies, General John Sullivan led an expedition into the country of the Iroquois Confederacy. Four of the Six Nations, the Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk, had sided with the British and attacked American settlements, while the Oneida and Tuscarora fought for the Rebels.

The Sullivan Expedition destroyed most of the enemy Iroquois villages and drove the people to seek refuge with the British along the Great Lakes area.

Answer: Bennington

Short of horses for his cavalry and draft animals to pull his wagons, British General Burgoyne sent a force of British, Hessians, and Iroquois to raid the town of Bennington, Vermont. This force of 800 men was intercepted some ten miles short of Bennington by a force of 2,500 American militia led by veteran General John Stark. Both sides received reinforcements during the battle, but the British were overwhelmed, with only a few hundred men escaping.

This was a heavy loss to Burgoyne and helped insure an American victory in the Saratoga campaign.

Answer: Brandywine

British General William Howe landed his army in Maryland on July 23, 1777, and drove towards the American capital at Philadelphia. General Washington placed his army behind Brandywine Creek, blocking Howe's route to the city. The armies met on September 11, 1777 near Chadd's Ford, where Howe feinted a frontal assault but sent the bulk of his army to attack the American right flank. Washington was able to shift his forces to meet this attack, but the outnumbered Rebels were forced to retreat.

The British took Philadelphia on September 26, 1777.

Answer: Quebec City

From the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, it was assumed that Canada would join the rebellion if British forces could be expelled from the country. General Richard Montgomery captured Montreal on November 13, 1775, and then joined Benedict Arnold's small army, which had marched through the Maine wilderness.

The Americans attacked Quebec on December 31, 1775, using a snowstorm as cover, but Montgomery was killed and a large number of Americans were captured. Arnold and the surviving troops fled south.

Answer: King's Mountain

The British enacted their "Southern Strategy" beginning in 1779, believing that Loyalist sentiment was stronger in the Southern colonies. British Major Patrick Ferguson was sent to the backwoods areas of North and South Carolina in 1780 to raise Loyalist troops to support the regulars of General Cornwallis. Patriot militia units had also been gathering, and they met on October 7, 1780 near King's Mountain, located in present day Cherokee County in the northwest part of South Carolina.

The Rebels were victorious and Ferguson was killed in the battle. Both forces were made up of militia units only, with no regular troops involved.

Answer: Newport

France recognized the United States and entered the war in February, 1778. One of the first offensive operations by French troops was the attack on Newport, Rhode Island on August 29, 1778. A French fleet and a small army was sent to assist the Americans in May, 1778, but the crossing was delayed by bad weather.

After discussing their options, it was decided that the French would join the Americans besieging Newport, Rhode Island. The French and Rebel commanders did not get along, and the combined attack failed.

The French then sailed for the West Indies, while the Rebels withdrew further into the interior of the state.

Answer: Daniel Morgan

After the American defeat at Camden in August, 1780, the new commander in the South, Nathaniel Greene, divided his forces to find supplies and harass the British. British General Cornwallis sent a force under Colonel Banastre Tarleton to attack American General Daniel Morgan's troops in northwest South Carolina. Morgan skillfully used his militia to draw the British in, then counterattacked with his Continental regulars.

The British were defeated, and the victory inspired many more Southerners to join the Rebel army.

Answer: Trenton

Defeated at Long Island and chased out of New York by General Howe's forces, Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776 and surprised the Hessian garrison of Trenton, New Jersey. The Americans suffered very light casualties while killing or capturing two thirds of the Hessian force of 1,500 men and capturing badly needed supplies.

The victory also helped with recruitment and persuaded many American troops to re-enlist.

Answer: Stony Point

The British occupied New York City after the American defeats at Long Island and Kip's Bay. British troops set up outposts north along the Hudson River. On the night of July 16, 1779, a specially trained force of 1,500 American troops attacked the post at Stony Point, which was surrounded by swampy ground, and quickly overpowered the British garrison, capturing over 500 prisoners out of a total of 750 men.

While the post was abandoned by the Americans soon afterwards, the British never occupied the ground again.