History buff Samuel Brozina, from Millville, New Jersey, shares a brief timeline of the famous American War of Independence.
A licensed pilot and former Revolutionary War reenactor, Samuel Brozina, a graduate of Cumberland County College from Millville, New Jersey, delves into the famous war’s timeline from 1775 to 1783.
“Fought from 1775 to 1783, the American Revolutionary War is also known as the American War of Independence,” explains Brozina, a licensed pilot, landscaping service foreman, history buff, and lifelong resident of the New Jersey city of Millville. The Revolutionary War, he says, started with the confrontation encountered between troops from Britain and local militia stationed at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
“The Revolutionary War began following confrontation between troops from Britain and militia stationed at Lexington and Concord,” says Brozina, “in Massachusetts, now officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the most populous state in New England.”
According to the expert and former Revolutionary War reenactor, this initial confrontation occurred on April 19, 1775. “In the years that followed, state troops and local militia alike supplemented the Federal Army,” he explains.
The total number of men, however, who served is not known. “What we do know, though,” Brozina continues, “is that men aged anywhere between 16 and 60 may have served, whether in the Federal Army, the State Line Troops, or as part of a local militia mustered to assist the cause.”
What followed, later in 1775, were the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and the Battle of Bunker Hill, also in Massachusetts. “In 1776 and 1777, there was the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, and the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania,” adds Brozina, “before Washington’s army established its headquarters at Valley Forge.”
Valley Forge functioned as one of eight military encampments for the Federal Army’s main body, Samuel Brozina reveals, commanded by General George Washington. “In 1778,” he continues, “the U.S. and France entered into a military alliance, following which came the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.”
A year later, in June 1779, Spain declared war against the British, according to history buff Brozina. “Spain won the Battle of Baton Rouge in the same year, keeping the British out of the Mississippi Valley as a result,” he adds.
Charleston, South Carolina, was then captured by the British in 1780 and remained occupied until December 1782, Brozina reveals. “Around the same time, still in 1780, the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, occurred,” he notes, “followed by the Battle of Cowpens near the Broad River, and, in North Carolina, the Battle of Guilford Court House in 1781.”
The same year, the British lost the so-called Battle of Pensacola, Florida, and British Army general and official Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia. “Twelve months on, in November 1782, a preliminary peace treaty was signed in Paris, France,” adds Samuel Brozina, wrapping up, “before the final peace treaty was eventually signed, again in Paris, close to a year later on September 3, 1783.”