America 250 Monthly Timeline
This site developed and maintained by the America 250 SAR Programs Committee
Revolutionary War Monthly Timeline 1765-1788.
This includes programs for each of the 12 months on what happened during the Revolutionary War. Programs links (in red) and adding more each month.
Last updated August 24, 2023
January
Jan. 1: Daniel Morgan is taken prisoner during his attempt to take Quebec City 1776
Jan. 1: Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers 1781
Jan. 3: Washington victorious at Princeton 1777
Jan. 6–May 28: Washington winters in Morristown, NJ 1777
Jan. 15: Paine's Common Sense published 1776
Jan. 17: American General Daniel Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Colonel Tarleton at Cowpens, SC 1781
February
Feb. 1: The Battle of Cowan's Ford, Huntersville, NC 1781
Feb. 3: Major General Moultrie defeats British detachment at Port Royal Island, SC 1779
Feb. 6: The United States & France sign the French Alliance 1778
Feb. 14: Patriots Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke beat Loyalists at Kettle Creek, GA 1779
Feb. 23–24: American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (in what is now Indiana) on the Wabash in the Western
campaign 1779
Feb. 27: Revolutionaries drive the loyalists from Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolina 1776
March
March 2: Articles of Confederation adopted 1781
March 3: British Lt. Colonel Jacques Marcus Prévost defeats
Americans under General John Ashe at Brier Creek,
GA 1779
March 3: The Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas 1776
March 5: The Boston Massacre 1770
March 7: British General William Howe replaced by Henry
Clinton 1778
March 8: Gnadenhutten massacre, a.k.a. the Moravian
massacre. 1782
March 15: British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC 1781
March 17: The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to
Halifax, Canada 1776
March 18: The Declaratory Act 1766
March 20: Lord North resigns as British prime minister 1782
March 22: The Stamp Act 1765
March 23: Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death"
speech 1775
March 24: The Quartering Act of 1765
March 31: Boston Port Act, one of the "Intolerable Acts" 1774
April
Apr. 18: The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes 1775
Apr. 19: Minutemen and redcoats clash at Lexington and Concord, "the shot heard 'round the world." 1775
April 19: Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty 1783
April 25: Greene defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, SC 1781
Apr. 27: Benedict Arnold's troops force a British retreat at
Ridgefield, Connecticut. 1777
May
May 10: The Tea Act 1773
May 10: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort
Ticonderoga 1775
May 10: The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia 1775
May 11–13: Major General Augustin Prévost breaks his siege when
American forces under Major General Lincoln approach 1779
May 12: British capture Charleston, SC 1780
May 15: British Major Andrew Maxwell cedes Fort Granby, SC to
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee 1781
May 20: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania. Lafayette with 500 men
and about 50 Oneida Indians successfully evade British
onslaught 1778
May 20: Administration of Justice Act, one of the
"Intolerable Acts" 1774
May 20: Massachusetts Government Act, one of the "Intolerable
Acts" 1774
May 20: Treaty of DeWitt's Corner, SC: Cherokees lose most of their
land east of the mountains 1777
May 29: Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!"
speech 1765
May 29: British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC 1780
May 30: The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions 1765
June
June 2: Quartering Act of 1774, one of the "Intolerable Acts" 1774
June 6: Americans recapture Augusta, GA 1781
June 8: Revolutionaries fail to take Three Rivers, Quebec 1776
June 9: The Gaspee Affair 1772
June 12: The Virginia Declaration of Rights 1776
June 14: Flag Resolution 1777
June 15: George Washington named Commander-in-Chief 1775
June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill: The British drive the Americans from
Breed's Hill 1775
June 18: British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York 1778
June 18: British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC 1781
June 19: Washington's army leaves Valley Forge 1778
June 20: Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur's Mill, NC 1780
June 20: Stono River, SC, Major General Lincoln inflicts extensive
British casualties in indecisive battle 1779
June 21: Spain declares war on Great Britain 1779
June 21: U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies
it 1788
June 22: Quebec Act, one of the "Intolerable Acts" 1774
June 28: The Battle of Monmouth Court House ends in a draw 1778
June 28: Sullivan's Island, SC, failed British naval attack 1776
June 28: American forces decisively defeat the British Navy at
Fort Moultrie, South Carolina 1776
June 29: The Townshend Revenue Act 1767
June 29: The First Virginia Constitution 1776
July
July 1: At the instigation of British agents, the Cherokee attack along
the entire southern frontier 1776
July 1–4: Congress debates and revises the Declaration of
Independence. See Chronology of the Declaration 1776
July 3: Washington assumes command of the Continental Army 1775
July 4: Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence; it's sent to
the printer 1776
July 4: George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia, a French village
south of St. Louis 1778
July 5: St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British 1777
July 6: "Mad" Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm,
VA 1781
July 8: The Declaration of Independence is read publicly 1776
July 8: Fairfield, CT, burned by British 1779
July 11: Norwalk, CT, burned by British 1779
July 11: French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American
cause 1780
July 11: British evacuate Savannah, GA 1782
July 15–16: American "Mad" Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point,
NY 1779
July 15: Lyndley's Fort, SC, Patriots fend off attack by Indians and
Tories dressed as Indians 1776
July 27: Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia 1777
August
August 1: Boston Non-Importation Agreement 1768
Aug. 1: Ambushed by Cherokees, Patriots are saved by a mounted
charge at Seneca, SC 1776
Aug. 2: Delegates begin to sign The Declaration of Independence 1776
Aug. 6: The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back
at Oriskany, NY, but then have to evacuate 1777
Aug. 6: Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC 1780
Aug. 8: French and American forces besiege Newport, RI 1778 Aug. 10:
Tugaloo River, SC, Andrew Pickens defeats Cherokees 1776
Aug. 12: Andrew Pickens' detachment surrounded by 185 Cherokee
Indians, forms a ring and fires outward. It is known as the
"Ring Fight." 1776
Aug. 12: Colonel David Williamson and Andrew Pickens burn Tamassy,
Indian town 1776
Aug. 16: British rout Americans at Camden, SC 1780
Aug. 16: American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle
of Bennington, VT (actually fought in Walloomsac, New York,
several miles to the west) 1777
Aug. 19: Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ 1779
Aug. 23: British withdraw from Fort Stanwix, NY, upon hearing of
Benedict Arnold's approach 1777
Aug. 25: British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland 1777
Aug. 27: Redcoats defeat George Washington's army in the Battle of
Long Island. Washington's Army escapes at night. 1776
Aug. 29: Newtown, NY, after two massacres, American forces burn
Indian villages 1779
September
Sept. 3: The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of
Paris 1783
Sept. 5–Oct. 26: The First Continental Congress meets in
Philadelphia and issues Declaration and Resolves 1774
Sept. 8: Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC 1781
Sept. 11: The British win the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania 1777
Sept. 15: French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake
Bay 1781
Sept. 15: The British occupy New York City 1776
Sept. 16: Rainout at the Battle of the Clouds, Pennsylvania 1777
Sept. 16: Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel
Putnam triumphantly hold their ground at the Battle of
Harlem Heights 1776
Sept. 17: U.S. Constitution signed 1787
Sept. 19: Colonel David Williamson's Pennsylvania militia forces
attacked by Cherokees at Coweecho River, NC 1776
Sept. 19: Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's
Farm, NY. This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." 1777
Sept. 21: Paoli Massacre, PA 1777
Sept. 23: John André arrested, leading to the exposure of Benedict
Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British 1780
Sept. 23: John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures
British man-of-war Serapis near English coast 1779
Sept. 26: British under Howe occupy Philadelphia 1777
Sept. 28: The Tappan Massacre ("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by
bayonet) 1778
October
Oct. 4: Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown 1777
Oct. 7: Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, NY (at
Bemis Heights). This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." 1777
Oct. 7: King's Mountain, SC: battle lasts 65 minutes. American troops
led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Major Patrick
Ferguson and one third of General Cornwallis's army 1780
Oct. 7–25: The Stamp Act Congress 1765
Oct. 9: American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails 1779
Oct 10: Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia (disputed as to whether it
was a battle of the American Revolution or the culmination
of Lord Dunmore's War) 1774
Oct. 11: Benedict Arnold defeated at the Battle of Valcour Island
(Lake Champlain), but delayed British advance 1776
Oct. 14: Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the
Southern Army 1780
Oct. 17: Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga,
NY 1777
Oct. 19: Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and
French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA 1781
Oct. 20: The Association (prohibition of trade with Great Britain) 1774
Oct. 22: Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed 1777
Oct. 24: Galloway's Plan rejected 1774
Oct. 28: The Americans retreat from White Plains, New York. British
casualties (~300) higher than American (~200). 1776
November
Nov. 16: The Hessians capture Fort Washington, NY 1776
Nov. 16: British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania 1777
Nov. 20: Lord Cornwallis captures Fort Lee from Nathanael Greene
1776
Nov.–June 23, 1780: Washington's 2nd winter at Morristown, NJ (the
harshest winter of the 18th century) 1779
Nov. 25: British troops leave New York City 1783
Nov. 30: British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace 1782
December
Dec. 5–7: Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania
1777
Dec. 11: Virginia and NC patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn
Norfolk 1775
Dec. 14: British leave Charleston, SC 1782
Dec. 16: The Boston Tea Party 1773
Dec. 19: Washington's army retires to winter quarters at Valley Forge
1777
Dec. 22: Colonel Thomson with 1,500 rangers and militia capture
Loyalists at Great Canebrake, SC 1775
Dec. 23–30: Snow Campaign, in SC, so called because patriots are
impeded by 15" of snow 1775
Dec. 23: Washington resigns as Commander 1783
Dec. 26: Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton
from Hessians 1776
Dec. 29: The redcoats occupy Savannah 1778
Dec. 30–31: American forces under Benedict Arnold fail to seize
Quebec 1775
Source:
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/revwartimeline.html