After the evacuation of Boston General Wash ington, with the greater portion of his army, had hastened to New York, which was the centre of hostilities during the following summer. Gen eral Howe, having been joined by his brother, Ad miral Lord Howe, and Sir Henry Clinton, defeated the Americans in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776 (see LONG ISLAND, BATTLE OF), and thus was enabled to compel the evacu ation of New York and secure the possession of its harbo• and of the lower Hudson River. In spite of the gallantry of the Ameri cans at the Battle of Harlem Heights, the Brit ish retained secure control of the city, and then sent a force from Long Island Sound into West chester County, where was fought the battle of White Plains (October 28, 1776). after which Washington, with the larger part of his army, crossed over into New Jersey, leaving, however, a considerable force in the upper portion of Alan hattan Island. There, on November 16th, Fo•t Washington (q.v.) was captured, along with its entire garrison of about 2600 men. Washington then retreated across New Jersey toward Phila delphia, closely followed by the British. under Cornwallis, into whose hands Newark, New Brunswick, and Princeton successively fell. The British then awaited the freezing of the Dela ware in order to be able to occupy Philadelphia. On Christmas night General Washington crossed in boats amid floating ice, and early on the follow ing morning surprised and captured a Hessian force at Trenton (q.v.). On January 3, 1777, he fought the successful battle of Princeton (q.v.), by which the waning confidence of the colonists was to a large extent restored, and the prospects of the American arms materially im proved. The British thereupon retired to New York, where they spent the rest of the winter.
In the meantime Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin had been sent to France to solicit recog nition and aid, and although formal recognition was delayed, important assistance was privately given in money and supplies, and European volun teers—the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron Steuben. Baron de Kalb, Kosciuszko, and Pulaski—ren dered most important services. Efforts were also made, but without success, to induce the British colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia to unite in the struggle for independence, and diplo matic agents in Europe attempted to secure recognition and material assistance from various Powers. Late in September, 1777, after the defeat of the Americans on the 11th at Chadd's Ford on the Brandywine (see BRANDYWINE, BATTLE OF) , the British, who under Howe had come by water from New York to the head of Chesapeake Bay, took possession of Phila delphia; and Washington, after attacking the British unsuccessfully on October 4th, at Ger mantown (q.v.). went into winter quarters early in December at Valley Forge (q.v.), where his troops suffered greatly from cold and hunger.
In the meanwhile General Burgoyne was lead ing an army of 7000 British and Hessian troops with probably a larger force of Cana dians and Indians, from Canada into northern New York, in order to form a junction with the British on the lower Hudson, and thus, by gain ing virtual control of New York, separate New England from the rest of the Confederacy. In co operation with him another force, mostly of Loyalists and Indians, under Saint Leger, was to proceed from Canada by way of Oswego and the _Mohawk Valley to the Hudson. but this force was unable to capture Fo•t Stanwix on its line of march, and after the battle of Oriskany withdrew. (See SAINT LEGER ; FORT STANWIX ; and ORISKANY, BATTLE OF.) Burgoyne's march was delayed by felled trees and destroyed roads; the defeat of a large force of foragers at Ben nington (Augnst, 16, 1777) was a severe reverse (see BENNINGTON, BATTLE OF) ; and after the two sharp battles of Saratoga (q.v.)—on Sep tember 19th and October 7th—he was compelled to capitulate to General Gates, October 17, 1777, and England heard with dismay of the loss of an entire army. The Americans took between 5000
and 6000 prisoners and much artillery.
This victory has been regarded as the turning point of the war. Almost equally important with its military results was its effect upon in ternational relations, in that it gave to the Euro pean Powers the first definite proof of the pos sibility and even the probability of colonial suc cess, and made it feasible for France, with a greater degree of propriety, to recognize formal ly the new nation, and to enter into a treaty of alliance with the United States on February (1, 1778. a step which largely altered both the mili tary and political situation, and hastened the final sueeess of the Americans. The recognition of the new nation by France prompted Lord North to a policy of reconciliation, but his coin missioners, though empowered to grant virtually everything for which the colonists had originally taken up arms, were unable to secure a favorable reception without a prior recognition of the in dependence of the United States.
In the summer of 1778 the Americans were strengthened by the presence of a French tleet and of a considerable land force, and after the abandonment of Philadelphia by Sir Henry Clinton, who had replaced Howe in May, 1778, their opponents in the north were confined to Newport and to the region around New York City. As Clinton withdrew from Philadelphia and marched across New .Jersey toward New York, he was followed by Washington, who gained a qualified success at Monmouth on June 25, 1778. (See MoNmouni, BATTLE OF.) There after the greater energy on both sides was de voted to the campaign in the South, though in 1778-79 George Rogers Clark (q.v.) achieved a virtual conquest of the Northwest. Savannah was taken (December 29, 1778) by the British, who in the following two years, under Clinton and Cornwallis, secured control of Georgia and South Carolina, taking Charleston May 12, 1780. In June, 1780, General Gates was placed in com mand of the Southern Department, and on Au gust 16th was badly defeated by Cornwallis at Camden (q.v.). Soon afterwards, on September 23, 1780, General Benedict Arnold's treasonable plot to surrender West Point was frustrated through the capture of Major Andr6. The first real reverse of the British forces in the South was that experienced at the hands of the hurriedly gathered backwoodsmen at King's Mountain (q.v.). October 7, 1780. In the following De cember General Gates was superseded by General Greene as commander of the American army in the South, and a more active campaign was there after undertaken. At the C'owpens, January 17, 1781, the force of Tarleton, the British cavalry leader, was overwhelmed by the Americans under Morgan, while Cornwallis, after a dearly bought victory over Greene at Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781, was compelled to retire to Wil mington. Two more important battles, at Hob kirk's Hill (April 25, 1781) and Eutaw Springs (September S. 1781) , marked the contest for the control of the Southern territory. Finally the army of Cornwallis was confined between the York and James rivers, where, with the French controlling the sea, the British commander was unable to hold out long against the Americans and French under Washington and Rochambeau. His surrender at Yorktown (q.v.) on October 19, 1781, assured the triumph of the American cause. The provisional treaty of peace was signed at Paris in November, 1782, a cessation of hostilities was declared by Washington in Janu ary, 1783, and on September 3, 1783, the definitive Treaty of Paris was signed. (See PARIS, TREATIES OF.) This treaty, besides recognizing the independence of the 'United States, secured to the country the territory between the Alle ghanies and the Mississippi. On November 25, 1783, New York was evacuated by the British.