Page 59 - ASM Book 9/2020

Redcoats Go Into High Gear
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1777
• JANUARY 3 - AMERICAN ACTION: Washington’s Continental Army defeated the British at Princeton, New Jersey, and drove them back toward New Brunswick.
• JANUARY 6 - AMERICAN ACTION: General Washington marched the Continental Army to Morristown, New Jersey, where they set up winter camp.
• MARCH 12 - AMERICAN ACTION: The Continental Congress returned to Philadelphia from Baltimore after the American victory in New Jersey.
• APRIL 27 - AMERICAN ACTION: American troops, under the command of Benedict Arnold, defeated British forces at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
• JUNE 14 - AMERICAN ACTION: Congress authorized the first American flag with 13 stars and stripes.
• JUNE 17 - BRITISH ACTION: A British force, led by General John Burgoyne, invaded the American colonies from Canada by sailing toward Lake Champlain. They linked up with General Howe’s forces that were heading north from New York City. The plan was to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies.
• JULY 6 - BRITISH ACTION: After a five day British siege, General John Burgoyne’s troops stunned the Americans when they captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. The loss of the fort’s military supplies, which were needed by Washington’s forces, was a tremendous blow to American morale.
• JULY 23 - BRITISH ACTION: British General William Howe, with 15,000 soldiers, sailed from New York to the Chesapeake Bay to capture Philadelphia. Howe decided to go to Philadelphia instead of sailing north to support General Burgoyne’s mission.
First United States Flags
The Grand Union Flag also known as the Continental Colors, Congress Flag, Cambridge Flag, and the First Navy Ensign is considered to be America’s first national flag. This flag was used during the years when the colonists acknowledged their allegiance to Great Britain and hoped their differences could be reconciled.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States
be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” This remained the official Star Spangled Banner until 1795 when two states joined the union.