1781 to 1782

1781

x - Immanuel Kant *+ [b.1724 d.1804] writes his The Critique of Pure Reason *
x - Los Angeles founded.
jan 03 - Mutiny among Americans in New Jersey as troops from Pennsylvania set up camp near Princeton and choose their own representatives to negotiate with state officials back in Pennsylvania. The crisis is eventually resolved through negotiations, but over half of the mutineers abandon the army.
jan 17 - An American victory at Cowpens, South Carolina, as Gen. Daniel Morgan defeats British Gen. Tarleton.
jan 20 - Mutiny among American troops at Pompton, New Jersey. The rebellion is put down seven days later by a 600-man force sent by Gen. Washington. Two of the leaders are then hanged.
mar 15 - Forces under Gen. Cornwallis suffer heavy losses in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina. As a result, Cornwallis abandons plans to conquer the Carolinas and retreats to Wilmington, then begins a campaign to conquer Virginia with an army of 7500 men.
may 21 - Gen. Washington and French Gen. Rochambeau meet in Connecticut for a war council. Gen. Rochambeau reluctantly agrees to Washington's plan for a joint French naval and American ground attack on New York.
jun 04 - Thomas Jefferson narrowly escapes capture by the British at Charlottesville, Virginia.
jun 10 - American troops under Marquis de Lafayette, Gen. Anthony Wayne and Baron von Steuben begin to form a combined force in Virginia to oppose British forces under Benedict Arnold and Gen. Cornwallis.
jun 11 - Congress appoints a Peace Commission comprised of Benjamin Franklin ?*+, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and Henry Laurens. The commission supplements John Adams as the sole negotiator with the British.
jul 20 - Slaves in Williamsburg, Virginia, rebel and burn several buildings.
aug 01 - After several months of chasing Gen. Greene's army without much success, Gen. Cornwallis and his 10,000 tired soldiers arrive to seek rest at the small port of Yorktown, Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. He then establishes a base to communicate by sea with Gen. Clinton's forces in New York.
aug 14 - Gen. Washington abruptly changes plans and abandons the attack on New York in favor of Yorktown after receiving a letter from French Admiral Count de Grasse indicating his entire 29-ship French fleet with 3000 soldiers is now heading for the Chesapeake Bay near Cornwallis. Gen. Washington then coordinates with Gen. Rochambeau to rush their best troops south to Virginia to destroy the British position in Yorktown.
aug 30 - Count de Grasse's French fleet arrives off Yorktown, Virginia. De Grasse then lands troops near Yorktown, linking with Lafayette's American troops to cut Cornwallis off from any retreat by land.
sep 01 - The troops of Washington and Rochambeau arrive at Philadelphia.
sep 05-08 - Off Yorktown, a major naval battle between the French fleet of de Grasse and the outnumbered British fleet of Adm. Thomas Graves results in a victory for de Grasse. The British fleet retreats to New York for reinforcements, leaving the French fleet in control of the Chesapeake. The French fleet establishes a blockade, cutting Cornwallis off from any retreat by sea. French naval reinforcements then arrive from Newport.
sep 06 - Benedict Arnold's troops loot and burn the port of New London, Connecticut.
sep 14-24 - De Grasse sends his ships up the Chesapeake Bay to transport the armies of Washington and Rochambeau to Yorktown.
sep 28 - Gen. Washington, with a combined Allied army of 17,000 men, begins the siege of Yorktown. French cannons bombard Gen. Cornwallis and his 9000 men day and night while the Allied lines slowly advance and encircle them. British supplies run dangerously low.
oct 17 - As Yorktown is about to be taken, the British send out a flag of truce. Gen. Washington and Gen. Cornwallis then work out terms of surrender.
oct 19 - As their band plays the tune, "The World Turned Upside Down," the British army marches out in formation and surrenders at Yorktown. Hopes for a British victory in the war against America are dashed. In the English Parliament, there will soon be calls to bring this long costly war to an end.
oct 24 - 7000 British reinforcements under Gen. Clinton arrive at Chesapeake Bay but turn back on hearing of the surrender at Yorktown.
x - William Herschel [b.1738-d.1822] discovers Uranus.

1782

x - The Irish Parliament won legislative independence from the British Parliament.
x - Governer Morris suggests the idea of decimalizing the American coinage, and Thomas Jefferson takes up the idea based off the Spanish dollar.
jan 01 - Loyalists begin leaving America, heading north to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
jan 05 - The British withdraw from North Carolina.
feb 27 - |ENGLAND| The House of Commons votes against further war in America.
mar 05 - The British Parliament empowers the King to negotiate peace with the United States.
mar 07 - American militiamen massacre 96 Delaware Indians in Ohio in retaliation for Indian raids conducted by other tribes.
mar 20 - British Prime Minister, Lord North, resigns, succeeded two days later by Lord Rockingham who seeks immediate negotiations with the American peace commissioners.
apr 04 - Sir Guy Carleton becomes the new commander of British forces in America, replacing Gen. Clinton. Carleton will implement the new British policy of ending hostilities and withdraw British troops from America.
apr 12 - Peace talks begin in Paris between Ben Franklin ?*+ and Richard Oswald of Britain.
apr 16 - Gen. Washington establishes American army headquarters at Newburgh, New York.
apr 19 - The Dutch recognize the United States of America as a result of negotiations conducted in the Netherlands by John Adams.
jun 11 - The British evacuate Savannah, Georgia.
jun 20 - Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States of America.
aug 19 - Loyalist and Indian forces attack and defeat American settlers near Lexington, Kentucky.
aug 25 - Mohawk Indian Chief Joseph Brant conducts raids on settlements in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
aug 27 - The last fighting of the Revolutionary War between Americans and British occurs with a skirmish in South Carolina along the Combahee River.
nov 10 - The last battle of the Revolutionary War occurs as Americans retaliate against Loyalist and Indian forces by attacking a Shawnee Indian village in the Ohio territory.
nov 30 - A preliminary peace treaty is signed in Paris. Terms include recognition of American independence and the boundaries of the United States, along with British withdrawal from America.
dec 14 - The British evacuate Charleston, South Carolina.
dec 15 - In France, strong objections are expressed by the French over the signing of the peace treaty in Paris without America first consulting them. Ben Franklin ?*+ then soothes their anger with a diplomatic response and prevents a falling out between France and America.