| Event | Date | Location | Significance | |
| Lexington-Concord | April 1775 | Massachusetts | First armed conflict. Propaganda victory for U.S. Casualties: U.S.:95. British: 270 | |
| Ft. Ticonderoga | May 1775 | Lake Champlain | Ethan Allen captured fort and cannon later used in defense of Boston | |
| Breed's Hill (Bunker Hill) | June 1775 | Boston | 1/6 of all British officers killed in war die here. Only battle in long siege of Boston | |
| Invasion of Quebec | Winter 1775-76 | Maine/Canada | Gens. Arnold and Montgomery failed in invasion attempt of Canada | |
| Dorchester Heights | March 1776 | Boston | British forced to evacuate New England | |
| Declaration of Independence | July 1776 | Philadelphia | 2nd Continental Congress issues formal declaration of separation from British | |
| Long Island | August 1776 | New York | U.S. forces forced to retreat to Manhattan, then New Jersey | |
| Trenton | December 1776 | New Jersey | Hessian army crushed in Washington's raid across the Delaware River. Casualties: U.S. :4, British: 900 | |
| Princeton | January 1777 | New Jersey | U.S. recovers New Jersey from British in 10 days. British retreat to New New York, where they remain for the war. | |
| Brandywine Creek Germantown | September 1777 October 1777 | Pennsylvania | British seize Philadelphia after these victories | |
| Saratoga | October 17, 1777 | Upstate New York | Turning point of war. Convinced French of U.S. strength. Burgoyne surrenders 5800 men. | |
| Monmouth | June 1778 | New Jersey | U.S. army almost captured British but cowardice allowed British forces to escape | |
| Savannah | December 1778 | Georgia | Beginning of British push in the South | |
| Vincennes | February 1779 | Western territories | Clark captures British forts which proved important in negotiations with British after the war | |
| Charleston | December 1779 | South Carolina | British gain control of South with victory here | |
| King's Mountain | October 1780 | South Carolina | Bloody victory for U.S. | |
| Yorktown | October 19, 1781 | Virginia | Cornwallis surrenders to Washington as French and American forces trap British on peninsula. |
Please cite this source when appropriate:
Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources"
http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).
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