List of Revolutionary War Battles for 1778

List of Revolutionary War Battles, Raids & Skirmishes for 1778

In February 1778, a Prussian soldier called Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge. He convinced Washington that he could train the Continental Army in European military formations and bayonet charges.

By late spring, Steuben had created a disciplined fighting force. The Marquis de Lafayette, a young French soldier, also spent part of the winter at Valley Forge. Fired with enthusiasm for the revolution, Lafayette had joined Washington’s staff as a major general without pay.

France’s entry into the Revolutionary War in 1778 forced Great Britain to defend the rest of its empire. The British expected to fight the French in the West Indies and elsewhere, and so they scattered their military resources. As a result, Britain no longer had a force strong enough to battle the Americans in the North.

In 1778 General Sir Henry Clinton succeeded General Sir William Howe as chief commander in America. With fewer resources than his predecessor, he could accomplish practically nothing in the north.

In June 1778, he evacuated Philadelphia, with the intention of concentrating his forces in New York. Washington, overtook him at Monmouth, New Jersey, and in an action on June 28 both armies suffered about equal loss. The Battle of Monmouth was the last major Revolutionary War battle in the North. Thereafter (except for the winter of 1779 at Morristown) Washington made West Point on the Hudson the headquarters of his army, but Clinton felt he was too weak to attack him there.

A noteworthy movement, in 1778-1779, was the expedition of George Rogers Clark, under the authority of the state of Virginia, against the British posts in the northwest. With a company of volunteers Clark captured Kaskaskia, the chief post in the Illinois country, on July 4, 1778, and later secured the submission of Vincennes, which, however, was recaptured by General Henry Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit.

Washington hoped to drive the British from New York City in a joint operation with the French.

In July 1778, a French fleet under Admiral Charles Hector d’Estaing reached America. But the French warships were unable to cross a sandbar at the mouth of New York Harbor. Later that summer, a combined French and American effort to take Newport, R.I., also failed. In November, d’Estaing sailed southward to protect the French West Indies from British attack.

Problems along the western frontier also troubled Washington in 1778. That year, Loyalists and Iroquois Indians massacred frontier settlers in Pennsylvania and New York. Washington sent Major General John Sullivan to take revenge in 1779. Patriot troops burned Iroquois villages and destroyed crops. Many Iroquois starved to death as a result.

On December 29, 1778, Colonel Archibald Campbell with an expeditionary corps of 3,500 men from Clinton’s army in New York, captured Savannah, Georgia, defeating the American force under General Robert Howe (no known relationship to British General Sir William Howe). In the following month he pushed into the interior and occupied Augusta.

January of 1778

February of 1778

February 8, 1778 at Blue Licks, Kentucky

On February 8, Chief Blue Jacket of the Shawnee tribe, with 102 warriors, captured a salt-making party of 27 people at Blue Licks. Among the captives was Daniel Boone, before he became a famous figure.
Conclusion: British Victory

March of 1778

March 7, 1778 at the West Indies (USS Randolph vs. HMS Yarmouth)

On the afternoon of March 7, Randolph’s lookouts spotted sail on the horizon which proved to be the British, 64-gun ship of the line, HMS Yarmouth.

That evening, as Randolph engaged the British warship, the American frigate seemed to be on the verge of victory when some unknown cause, perhaps a chance spark in the chaos of battle, ignited her magazine and Biddle’s plucky ship disintegrated in one blinding flash.

Flaming debris from Randolph showered down on Yarmouth preventing her from pursuing the South Carolina ships which slipped away in the darkness.
Conclusion: British Victory
Casualties: American: 306 k (only 4 survived); British: 5k, 11w

April of 1778

April 4, 1778 at Ocracoke, North Carolina

In the Spring of 1778, the only British warship off the coast of North Carolina was the frigate HMS Ariel, and she patrolled between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. In two months, her crew captured six vessels, while two others were burned by their crews to avoid being taken. The Ariel left North Carolina in June with no other British ships to return until 1780.

On April 4, a seemingly well-recognized sloop came into Ocracoke bar and anchored. When the local pilots boarded the ship they discovered that it was really a British privateer from St. Augustine.

The captain told the pilots that they would help carry the ship over the bar to attack a French merchant ship and a brig. If the pilots refused then they would be shot – so, they were compelled to comply. The British privateer seized one hundred hogsheads of tobacco from the French ship and then captured a Bermuda sloop loaded with salt.

After this strange event, the state of North Carolina purchased a large row galley named the Caswell. After many months the new galley was outfitted and manned with 145 men for the protection of commerce passing near Ocracoke. Along with the Caswell, batteries were placed at Ocracoke Inlet and Cape Lookout Bay. The Caswell lasted for about a year, and then sunk due to being worm-eaten.
Conclusion: British Victory

April 27, 1777 at Whitehaven, England

At 11 p.m. on this day in 1778, Commander John Paul Jones leads a small detachment of two boats from his ship, the USS Ranger, to raid the shallow port at Whitehaven, England, where, by his own account, 400 British merchant ships are anchored. Jones was hoping to reach the port at midnight, when ebb tide would leave the shops at their most vulnerable.

Jones and his 30 volunteers had greater difficulty than anticipated rowing to the port, which was protected by two forts. They did not arrive until dawn. Jones’ boat successfully took the southern fort, disabling its cannon, but the other boat returned without attempting an attack on the northern fort, after the sailors claimed to have been frightened away by a noise. To compensate, Jones set fire to the southern fort, which subsequently engulfed the entire town.

Later that day Jones led a similar detachment against St Mary’s Isle, Scotland, hoping to capture the Earl of Selkirk to use as a hostage in order to negotiate for better treatment of American prisoners of war. Unfortunately the raiders found Selkirk was off on business and returned to the Ranger empty-handed.
Conclusion: American Victory

April 28, 1778 at Belfast, Ireland (USS Ranger vs. HMS Drake)

On April 28, Several cruisers were searching for Ranger, and Captain Jones sailed across the North Channel to Carrickfergus, Ireland, to induce HMS Drake of 20 guns, to come out and fight. Drake came out slowly against the wind and tide, and, after an hour’s battle, the battered Drake struck her colors, with two Americans and 40 British killed in the combat.
Conclusion: American Victory. Casualties: American: 2k; British: 40k

May of 1778

May 8, 1778, off the South Carolina Coast near Charleston (Pivateer St. Louis vs. HMS Industry)

Capt. Samuel Spencer commanded the St. Louis, a Georgia privateer operating out of Charlestown, when it captured the Industry bound from Jamaica.
Conclusion: American Victory

May 8, 1778 at Bordentown, New Jersey

In May, Gen. Clinton was preparing to evaculate Philadelphia and return to New York via New Jersey. To secure the crossing of the Delaware River, Clinton sent a corps of light infantry to destroy the Pennsylvania Navy that was moored at Bordentown and White Hill (Fieldsboro).

On May 8, the British Force landed at White Hill, finding a few of the Pennsylvania boats already scuttled. As the British Force marched from White Hill to Bordentown on the Burlington Road, they were met by two companies of militia with an artillery piece. As the British formed, the militia fired one volley and fled into Bordentown. The British immediately marched into Bordentown and destroyed those vessels that had not already been scuttled. Local loyalists directed the British to the homes of Colonel Borden and other influential rebels, which they burned. Their dark deed complete, the British retired to Philadelphia.
Conclusion: British Victory

May 12, 1778 at Topsail Inlet, North Carolina

Privateers plagued the North Carolina coast during 1778. In 1777, the Virginia privateer John Goodrich, Jr. was captured by men from Ocracoke, but he had returned to sea in 1778 and was one of the most notorious privateers to harrass the Outer Banks. Congress ordered the Continental frigate USS Raleigh and the brig USS Resistance to operate between Cape Henlopen and Cape Hatteras to stop Capt. Goodrich.

In May, Capt. Goodrich worked in concert with two other privateers – Captain McFarling and Captain Neale. This group captured several vessels near Ocracoke and then decoyed the pilots at Topsail Inlet. The Loyalist privateers came into Topsail Inlet and burned a brig that had just been captured by the Raleigh and sent to this location. On board the burning brig was 1,200 bushels of salt.

Because of Capt. Goodrich’s exploits earlier, the North Carolina legislature authorized the construction of Fort Hancock on Cape Lookout (Carteret County) to protect local shipping.
Conclusion: British Victory

May 24, 1778 at Warren, Rhode Island

On May 24, a British raiding party entered Warren and burned and plundered the town.
Conclusion: British Victory

May 25, 1778 at Bristol, Rhode Island

On May 25, a British raiding party entered the town of Bristol. They destroyed 22 dwellings and a church.
Conclusion: British Victory

May 25, 1778 at Freetown, Massachusetts

The Battle of Freetown, a skirmish between American colonists and a British naval ship, took place in the part of Freetown, Massachusetts, that later became the city of Fall River. Although Freetown was known as a Tory stronghold, a number of townspeople were becoming more engaged in the separation efforts by 1776.

On May 25, a British ship sailed up the former Quequechan River into lower Freetown. Spotted by a sentinel, the ship was fired upon by several local minutemen, their gunfire returned by cannonfire. Several soldiers disembarked to lay siege to the increasingly anti-royalist towns in southeastern Massachusetts. These soldiers proceded to burn a dwelling house, grist mill, and sawmill, before being fired upon by local Freetown Militia minutemen who had been keeping watch over the river and alerted by the sentinel. The British soldiers then took one resident as prisoner, set fire to his property, and retreated to their ship. The prisoner was eventually released after several days, and the British retreated from Freetown altogether.

The Freetown minutemen were aided by other colonist minutemen from the Tiverton outpost. The British suffered 2 casualties as a result of the light fighting. The colonists suffered no losses.
Conclusion: Draw

June of 1778

June ??, 1778 at Gilbert Town, Rutherford County, North Carolina

In 1778, Gilbert Town only consisted of one house, one barn, and a blacksmith shop. One year later, Tryon County was abolished and in its place were created Lincoln County and Rutherford County, and at that time Gilbert Town was named the new county seat for the newly-created Rutherford County. It was located several miles north and a little east of present-day Rutherfordton.

In 1778, Loyalist Lt. Col. Thomas Brown devised a plan to use the combined forces of Indians and Carolina Loyalists to assist a British invasion of south Georgia. On March 10, he led 100 Rangers and 10 Indians over the Altamaha River and captured Fort Howe (formerly Fort Barrington). Lt. Col. Brown took the fort with the loss of only one man, yet killing two of the defenders, wounding four, and capturing twenty-three. After this, the offensive fell apart due to internal bickering between the military and civilian leaders.

In April, some 500 “Scovelites” from the backcountry of South Carolina and Georgia began a march to St. Augustine to rendezvous with the British located there. Major General Robert Howe – the leader of the Continental Army in the South – knew that these Loyalists posed a serious threat and he dispatched Col. Samuel Elbert and his Georgia Continentals to intercept them. Major General Howe’s big problem was that he was attempting to fight a mounted force by using men on foot. Howe wrote, “they laugh at foot soldiers with scorn. Only cavalry troops can stop them.”

In the meantime, noted Loyalist David Fanning was living at his cabin at Raeburn’s Creek when he received word to rise and join the Loyalists. He was elected as a captain by the local militia and marched to the Savannah River. A Capt. York stopped Fanning and his men at the Savannah River and he refused to conduct them to East Florida because of the recent change of circumstances. Fanning and his men returned to South Carolina, but they had to live in the woods due to the Patriot patrols looking for them.

Capt. Fanning linked up with “Plundering Sam” Brown and lived in a cave 15 miles southwest of present-day Statesville. Sam Brown had ridden with his sister Charity and stole horses, clothes, pewter, money, and anything else they could – this is how he earned his nickname. Brown and Fanning remained in the cave for about six weeks living on what they killed in the wilderness. Tired of this meager existence, the two moved along the Green River then parted company.

Driven back to Green River, Capt. David Fanning met up with Col. Ambrose Mills, another noted Loyalist on the run. Here they conspired to raise 500 Loyalists and lead them to St. Augustine in East Florida. As the men were gathering, a Patriot force led by a Capt. Gowen surprised them and captured Col. Mills and 16 others. They headed for Salisbury, but were quickly pursued by Capt. David Fanning with 14 men for over 20 miles to Gilbert Town, where the Patriots recieved reinforcements. Now they decided to turn the tables and go after Fanning.

The next morning, Capt. Gowen continued his pursuit of Capt. Fanning and ran headlong into an ambush that Fanning had laid in the wee hours of the morning. They skirmished for about an hour, but both had had enough. The Patriots retreated to the Catawba River and Fanning went back home.
Conclusion: Inconclusive

June 5, 1778 at Coast off Charlestown, South Carolina

Philadelphia privateer Lively, commanded by Capt. Woolman Sutton, captured the Union, a brig bound from the Mississippi River to Ireland with a load of barrel staves.
Conclusion: American Victory

June 8, 1778 at Coast off Charlestown, South Carolina

Capt. David Squires outfitted his Loyalist privateer, the Enterprize, in New York and sailed to the South Carolina coast, a target-rich environment.

On June 8, he captured the sloop Little Sue, commanded by Capt. Samuel Stone, which was trying to get to the Charlestown Harbor with a load from St. Croix.

Capt. Squires pardoned Capt. Stone and his crew, then sent them ashore at North Edisto, making sure that they arrived safely.

For weeks afterwards, the Enterprize could be seen in the area, waiting for new prey. Capt. Squires lingered until June 23, and his last known act was to chase two pilot boats back into Charlestown Harbor.
Conclusion: British Victory

June 16-19, 1778 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fearing a blockade by French ships, British Gen. Clinton withdraws his troops from Philadelphia and marches across New Jersey toward New York City. Americans then re-occupy Philadelphia. On June 19, Gen. George Washington sends troops from Valley Forge to intercept Gen. Clinton.
Conclusion: American Victory

June 19, 1778 at Charlestown, South Carolina (USS Defence and Volant vs. 3 British St. Augustine privateers)

On June 19, the Connecticut brig Defence, commanded by Capt. Samuel Smedley, and the South Carolina sloop Volant, commanded by Capt. Oliver Daniel, sailed out from Charlestown Harbor to find the privateers in the area. By nightfall, they discovered a group of 3 St. Augustine privateers.

Two of the privateer ships were captured, the Governor Tonyn’s Revenge and the Ranger. The third privateer, the Active, managed to escape.
Conclusion: American Victory

June 28, 1778 at Freehold, New Jersey

On June 28, Major-General Charles Lee’s forces engaged a portion of the British army near Monmouth Court House (present-day Freehold, New Jersey). After a brief skirmish, Lee learned that British reinforcements under Lord Cornwallis were drawing near and ordered the withdrawal of his men. As he pulled back, Lee encountered an astonished George Washington. An angry exchange occurred between the two and Lee was relieved of his command. With the invaluable assistance of Baron von Steuben, Washington managed to re-form the American ranks and engage the enemy again; the fighting continued throughout the remainder of the day. During the night the British broke camp and marched on toward Sandy Hook in extreme northeast New Jersey.

July of 1778

July ??, 1778 at Salisbury, North Carolina

Two days after being put into jail at Ninety-Six, South Carolina, David Fanning escaped, stole a horse, and returned to his cabin on Raeburn’s Creek. Those pursuing him offered him four horses for the one he stole since it was quite valuable (to someone). Fanning struck a deal and was told he could return to Ninety-Six without fear of reprisal, however his captors lied to him and took him prisoner once again.

He was imprisoned this time in an undisclosed backwoods jail near the Tyger River. The Patriots took his clothes to ensure that he would not escape this time. The next morning, he was sent to the local magistrate and then released on bail. When he went back to get his clothes and his horse he was arrested again. Taken to yet another magistrate, this time he was again ordered back to jail.

Fanning was tied to another inmate and the two were taken to jail. When the guards stopped for lunch, Fanning grabbed a knife and cut his rope, then lept out of the window and ran for safety. He made his way to North Carolina where he joined Colonel Ambrose Mills and his North Carolina Loyalist Militia. Col. Mills was recruiting for those in East Florida at St. Augustine. One new recruit was actually a spy for the Patriots who informed Capt. Henry Connelly of Fanning’s location.

Capt. Henry Connelly was a volunteer who was given a commission so the he could specifically track down David Fanning. Capt. Connelly and his cavalry immediately took Col. Ambrose Mills and sixteen Loyalists prisoner – but David Fanning was not among them.

Fanning soon learned of Col. Mills’s capture and pursued Capt. Connelly to Gilbert Town, where Capt. Connelly obtained re-inforcements and reversed his course to now pursue Fanning and his fourteen men. After a night-long pursuit, Capt. Fanning and his men ambushed the Patriots near Salisbury. A skirmish ensued for about an hour, with no casualties on either side – the Loyalists finally fled the scene.

A short time later, Capt. David Fanning was captured again, and again sent to the Ninety-Six jail. Once again, Fanning escaped by cutting through the bars with “two files and a knife.” He would be captured several more times in 1778, but each time he made his escape.
Conclusion: American Victory

July 4, 1778 at Kaskaskia, Indiana

On July 4, an American force, commanded by Lt. Col. George R. Clark, arrived at Kaskaskia. They surprised a British post on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It was located just south of St. Louis, Missouri. The Americans captured the post without firing a single shot.
Conclusion: American Victory

July 4, 1778 at Fort Massac, Indiana

On July 4, an American force, commanded by Lt. Col. George R. Clark arrived at Fort Massac. He divided his force in half to give the impression that he had a larger force. The Patriots surrounded and surprised the British garrison in the fort. The fort surrendered without firing a shot.

July 14, 1778 at North Carolina coast, North Carolina

On July 14, the Enterprize, commanded by Capt. David Squires, took a French snow, laden with salt and dry goods. It was bound from Bordeaux to North Carolina. Capt. Squires sent it to St. Augustine with a prize crew.
Conclusion: British Victory

July 18, 1778 at Andrustown, New York

By 1776 Andrustown was tied religiously, culturally and economically to German Flatts. The minister from Fort Herkimer Church traveled the winding road into the hills to bring the word of God to such families as Grimm (Crim), Stauring (Staring) Osterhout, Frank, Moyer (Hoyer, Hawyer), Bell, and Lepper.

These farm families lived in comfortable frame houses and stored grain in spacious barns and sheds. Andrustown men served in the militia that stopped the British and Iroquois at Oriskany in August 1777. Their fields produced wheat, hay, and livestock, some of which was destined for the Continental Army.

After the attacks on isolated settlements on the north side of the river, the citizens of Andrustown knew it was only a matter of time before they were attacked. So, they moved down into the valley where Fort Herkimer provided protection from Tory and Indian raiding parties. From time to time they returned to their farms to plant and harvest crops, sometimes with a military escort.

But on July 18, 1778 there was no escort and only a handful of residents working the fields. At the time Joseph Brant, who commanded a large raiding party in the area, ordered a troop of Tories and Indians to destroy Andrustown.

Andrustown was not a village where homes were concentrated in one area, but consisted of widely-separated farmsteads located in the valleys and on hillsides at the headwaters of what is now Fulmer Creek.

Jeptha R. Simms interviewed Adam Bell, son of Frederick Bell, Jr. in 1852. Adam, who was 80 years old at the time of the interview, was born in Andrustown in 1773. His family’s recollections of the event were featured in Siims’ Frontiersmen of New York.

“In July, 1778, Stauring, Leppard, Hawyer and the two Bells, father and son, went to Andreastown to secure some hay, prepared to stay several days. At this time Fred Bell, Sen., was an old man and a widower, but the wife of the younger Bell, with the wives of Stauring and Hawyer joined the party to cook for them,, and render such aid as they could.

With the workers were two boys, one a son of Stauring, then in his teens, and Richard, a son of Fred. Bell Jun., some eight years of age. Just after breakfast on the morning of the 18th, when the men were engaged in their pursuit, a party of Indians with several tories, one of whom, some say Capt. Caldwell, led them, appeared suddenly in the settlement.

The Bells, father and son, chanced to be near their dwelling, and as the Indians approached it, the latter who had often said he would not be taken alive, ran into the house and was shot through a window while in the act of taking down his gun from a pair of brackets.

His father, who was arrested near the door, was ordered to catch a grey horse, owned by the Bells, which was in a field near and told that his life should be spared if he got it ; but as he was climbing a fence into the field, he was shot down and there scalped—the enemy, no doubt, fearing to trust him any distance from them.

“The firing at Bell’s seasonably alarmed the three men at work some distance off, and they fled and escaped to Fort Herkimer. The enemy arrived at Stauring’s dwelling too soon after the firing for any of the inmates to escape, but young Stauring in attempting to do so, was shot down at a little distance from the house and killed, while the Bell boy was made a prisoner.

The women were preparing to make bread when the surprise came, and young Stauring had been providing oven-wood. No indignity was offered the women, if we except their being divested of several articles of clothing, ere they fled from this terrible scene.

This war party as was subsequently learned, was sent thither by Brant , who was then in the vicinity of the Little lakes only a few miles distance, with a large force; being instructed by him before it left camp, not to kill or capture any women at that place ; and having secured what plunder they could, such as eatables, clothing, guns and three reeking scalps, the destructives reduced all the dwellings in the settlement to ashes, and with their little prisoner—who was compelled to witness the conflagaration of his birth place, in which was the body of his father, they soon retired.

“A party of soldiers from Fort Herkimer, accompanied by several citizens of that locality, went to Andreastown the day after the misfortunes and buried the remains of the elder Bell and young Stauring. The bones of Frederick Bell, Jun., were taken from the ashes and buried some time after.”

Frontiersmen of New York – Simms – 1883

After the war these highland fields were again tilled and harvested, but the community of Andrustown was gone forever. Today a couple of historic markers note the location.
Conclusion: British Victory

July 20, 1778 at Vincennes, Indiana

On June 26, Lt. Col. Clark set out with about 200 men from Virginia and arrived at Kaskaskia (Illinois) on the 4th of July. The local French militia leader at Fort Gage, the Chevalier Phillippe de Rocheblave, was caught by surprise and Fort Gage was captured without firing a shot. When the French learned that an Alliance with France had been signed in June 1778, and that France had declared war on Great Britain, they were elated.

On July 14, Father Pierre Gibault, with a few of Roger’s militia left for Fort Sackville at Vincennes in the Ohio Territory to inform them of the new treaty with France.

On July 20, the French at Vincennes also swore allegiance to the Americans. Because of his small force, Clark could only leave three men to man the fort. Clark then dispatched Captain Joseph Brown with 30 mounted men to the French settlements of Prairie du Roche and Cahokia, accompanied by some Frenchmen, to spread the word about the Alliance.

Father Gibault told the residents of Vincennes of the spiritual value in uniting with the Colonists. Somehow, he was able to get all the residents to pledge allegiance to the Colonies and soon an American flag was flying in every home.
Conclusion: American Victory

July 27, 1778 at Ushant Island, England

The first Battle of Ushant was a naval battle, fought between the French and British navies 100 miles west of the isle of Ile dOuessant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France.

The British had 30 ships of the line commanded by Admiral the Honourable Augustus Keppel in HMS Victory. The French had 29 ships commanded by Admiral Louis Guillouet, comte d’Orvilliers.

Keppel put to sea from Spithead on July 9, 1778, with a force of 30 ships of the line and sighted a French fleet of 29 sail west of Ushant on July 23. Comte d’Orvilliers, who had orders to avoid battle, was cut off from Brest but retained the weather gauge. Two of his ships to windward escaped into port leaving him with 27.

The two fleets manoeuvered during shifting winds and a heavy rain squall until a battle became inevitable with the British more or less in column and the French in some confusion. However, the French managed to pass along the British line to windward with their most advanced ships. At around noon, HMS Victory opened fire on Bretagne, 110, followed by Ville de Paris, 90. The British van escaped with little loss but Sir Hugh Palliser’s rear division suffered considerably. Keppel made the signal to wear and follow the French, but Palliser did not conform and the action was not resumed.

A violent quarrel exacerbated by political differences broke out among the British commands, which led to two courts-martial and to the resignation of Keppel, and did great injury to the discipline of the navy. Keppel was court-martialled but cleared of dereliction of duty charges, and Palliser criticised by an enquiry before the affair turned into a squabble of party politics.
Part of the European Waters Campaign, 1778 – 1782

August of 1778

August 6, 1778 at Bull Island Bay, South Carolina (Revenge vs. Charlotte)

On August 6, the British privateer Revenge chased the schooner Charlotte into Bull Island Bay near Charlestown. The Charlotte ran aground and was quickly captured.
Conclusion: British Victory

August 16, 1778 at Beaufort County, South Carolina

The English merchantman Sally surrendered to Patriot forces near Beaufort, after suffering damage in a storm. The Sally had sailed from Jamaica under Capt. Samuel Wilkins, with 140 hogsheads of rum and was bound for Glasgow, Scotland.
Conclusion: American Victory

August 25, 1778 at Nail’s Fort, Georgia

In August, Capt. Joseph Nail gathered most of the local settlers into Nail’s Fort when the Creek Indians attacked their settlement. The fort was built on the north side of the Broad River, at Deep Creek. It was for protection against Indian attacks.

On August 25, some Cherokee attacked Nails Fort on Broad River in Georgia, but were beat off. They stole all the horses, wounded Sampson Bunn, killed nine milk cows and cut out their tongues.

The Indians killed 20 settlers before the remainder fled into the fort. The Indians tried to capture the fort but was unsuccessful. Later that month. Col. Andrew Williamson brought a 500-man South Carolina militiamen to Georgia to protect the frontier from future Indian attacks.
Conclusion: British Victory

August 29, 1781 at Quaker Hill, Rhode Island

Information coming soon
Conclusion: Draw

August 31, 1781 at Indian Field, New York

British rangers, under Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe, ambush Chief Nimham and his warriors at Indian Field, killing 40. The Indians have been cooperating with the Americans.
Conclusion: British Victory

September of 1778

September ??, 1778 at North Carolina coast, North Carolina

In September, the Bellona was outfitted with twelve cannons, then augmented by Richard Ellis and some merchants of New Bern further with 16 to 18 guns for action against the British. Also outfitted was the 18-gun privateer Chatham, commanded by Capt. Pendleton.

Soon after setting sail, the Chatham captured the brig Elizabeth out of St. Augustine, carrying a load of indigo and lumber. The Bellona, commanded by Capt. Hinson, captured the schooner Actason from New York, along with another sloop. Then, the Bellona seized the privateer Harlecan out of New York, which surrendered without a fight.
Conclusion: American Victory

September 5, 1778 at New Bedford, Massachusetts

On September 5, a British raiding force, under Gen. Charles Grey, landed at Clark’s Neck. They burned the town and managed to destroy 70 vessels and a large number of buildings and mills.
Conclusion: British Victory

September 5, 1778 at Fairhaven, Massachusetts

On September 5, a British raiding force, under Gen. Charles Grey, landed at Clark’s Neck. They burned the town and managed to destroy 70 vessels and a large number of buildings and mills.
Conclusion: British Victory

September 8, 1778 at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

On September 8, a British raiding force attacked the island of Martha’s Vineyard. They destroyed several vessels and seized a large number of sheep and oxen for the British army.
Conclusion: British Victory

September 16, 1778 at Westchester, New York

Col. Mordecai Gist perceives an impending ambush orchestrated by Lt. Cols. John Graves Simcoe and Banastre Tarleton at Saw Mill River. Gist escapes the ambush intact.
Conclusion: SIDE Victory

September 25, 1778 at Currituck Inlet, North Carolina (USS Raliegh Captured)

On September 25, the USS Raleigh sailed for Portsmouth, Va., with a brig and a sloop under convoy. Six hours later, two strange sails were sighted. After identification of the ships as British, the merchant vessels were ordered back to port. Raleigh drew off the enemy.

Through that day and the next day, the British ships HMS Unicorn and HMS Experiment, pursued Raleigh. In late afternoon on September 26, the leading British ship closed with her.

A 7-hour running battle followed, much of the time in close action. About midnight, the enemy hauled off and Barry prepared to conceal his ship among the islands of Penobscot Bay.

The enemy, however, again pressed the battle. As Raleigh opened fire, Barry ordered a course toward the land. Raleigh soon grounded on Wooden Ball Island. The British hauled off but continued the fight for a while, then anchored. Barry ordered the crew ashore to continue the fight and to burn Raleigh.

A large party, including Barry, made it to shore. One boat was ordered back to Raleigh to take off the remainder of the crew, and destroy her, however the British again fired on the ship, striking the Continental colors. The battle was over. All three ships had been damaged, Unicorn particularly so. Of the Americans ashore, a few were captured on the island, but the remainder, including Barry, made it back to Boston, Massachusetts, arriving on October 7.
Conclusion: British Victory

September 30, 1778 near Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

The Battle of Edgar’s Lane was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War on September 30, 1778 between a force of 80 Hessians and 120 Continental dragoons under Major Henry Lee. The skirmish was fought in the village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Peter Post was the owner of Post’s Tavern in Hastings-on-Hudson. Peter himself was a patriot, but his customers were a mixed group of patriots and Loyalists. One evening in September, he overheard talk of a Hessian raiding party that would be coming through on a foraging mission. Peter informed the Continental Army and a plan was hatched to ambush the raiding Hessians. The Continental troops, organized a force of 120 dragoons to ambush the Hessians.

On the evening of September 30, Post was at his farm north of town when the expected Hessians came riding by. They asked him if any rebel soldiers were in the area. Post directed the 80 Hessians right toward a waiting group of about 120 American dragoons hiding in the woods near the Edgar’s farm on Edgar’s Lane. As the Hessians rode into the ambush, the firing began.

The Hessians dismounted their horses and began firing into the woods and chasing their attackers, but were surprised when the American force turned out to be much larger than they originally thought. Once they realized they had been led into an ambush, the Hessians turned and fled, chased by their American enemies down a ravine and toward the Hudson. In all, the Continental dragoons killed 23 Hessians, winning the skirmish, along with losing no men.

The fleeing Hessians were forced into the river where many drowned and others were shot in the water. Only a few escaped. Later, after the American soldiers had left the area, the Hessians returned and beat Peter Post to near death, but he did survive and became a prominent landowner in the town after the war.

Conclusion: American Victory

October of 1778

October 6-8, 1778 at Unadilla, New York

On October 6-8, a Continental detachment raided Unadilla. At Unadilla, Chief Joseph Brant had earlier established a base after the settlers had evacuated in face of Indian pressure.

In reprisal for the destruction of German Flats, a group of Continental soldiers and frontiersmen marches against the Iroquois town of Unadilla, located 50 miles west of German Flats. The Iroquois have previously fled and the patriots destroy the village.
Conclusion: American Victory

October 6-8, 1778 Chestnut Neck, near present-day Port Republic, New Jersey

On September 30, a fleet of nine British ships and transports, under the command of Captain Henry Collins, with 300 British regulars and 100 New Jersey Loyalists, under Captain Patrick Ferguson, sailed from New York, bound for Chestnut Neck.

Governor William Livingston learned of their sailing, and sent riders to warn the people. General Washington dispatched Count Kazimierz Pułaski and his Legion to assist the Patriots, although they did not arrive until the day following the battle.

On October 5, the British fleet did not arrive off Little Egg Harbor until late in the afternoon because of bad weather, and were prevented from getting over the bar.

Knowing the people had been warned and that Count Pułaski was on his way, the British troops made their way up the river to Chestnut Neck as quickly as possible.

On October 6, The troops were put aboard the galleys and armed boats and left at daybreak. They were delayed when two boats grounded, and did not reach Chestnut Neck until four o’clock, in heavy fog. They fought against American defenders and retrieved some supplies.

On October 7, having destroyed any supplies that they could not retrieve, and having received intelligence that Count Pułaski was on his way, they quickly left at noon, stopping at the mouth of the Bass River to destroy the salt works and mills of Eli Mathis. They also burnt the houses on his plantation, his home and barns and then rejoined their ships.
Conclusion: American Victory

October 15, 1778 at Mincock Island, New Jersey

On October 15, a British force surprised an advance post of infantrymen from Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski’s Legion. Before the American could send some reinforcements to help, the British killed about 40 men before they withdrew to their awaiting ships.
Conclusion: British Victory

November of 1778

November 15, 1778 at Currituck Inlet, North Carolina

In September, the Continental Navy frigate USS Raleigh was captured by the Royal Navy, leaving the North Carolina coast virtually unprotected from privateers. Loyalist Capt. John Goodrich repeatedly went into Currituck Inlet and captured or set fire to any vessels he could find.

On November 15, he again sailed into Currituck Inlet and burned two vessels that were attempting to leave the inlet. The cargo and cattle on board these two ships were destroyed before the local militia could sail out to their aid. Capt. Goodrich sailed out into the Atlantic with no impunity.
Conclusion: British Victory

November 19, 1778, South of Newport in Liberty County, Georgia

Brigadier General Augustin Prevost was commander of all British forces in East Florida, and his headquarters was at Saint Augustine. He implemented his role in Lord Germain’s scenario by planning a two-pronged drive north to Liberty County, one by land and one by sea.

He assigned command of 100 regulars, 300 Loyalists, and a number of Creek Indians to his brother, Lieutenant Colonel J .M. (“Marc”) Prevost, for the overland attack. The sea attack force command was given to Lieutenant Colonel L.V. Fuser, with vessels transporting 500 regulars, battering cannons, light artillery, and mortars.

On November 18, Lieutenant Colonel Prevost and his force crossed the Altamaha River entered Georgia and began looting and destroying plantations as they advanced north. All able-bodied men they encountered were killed or taken prisoner. By the time word of the advancing force reached Sunbury, the enemy was already inside of Liberty County.

On November 19, Colonel John Baker hastily collected small detachment of Mounted Militia and advanced along the Fort Barrington Road. They met the British force in Bull Town Swamp and a skirmish ensued.

White and Jackson were severely outnumbered, but they hoped to hold out until reinforcements arrived from Savannah. Colonel Baker was wounded in action. The Continental Army troops retreated to a position near the Riceboro bridge where they made another stand.

When this news reached Midway it so frightened some of the residents that they fled their homes and sought refuge in makeshift fortifications at the home of John Winn. Others went to what they considered more secure positions along the Ogeechee River. Still others took their families and hid them in the woods.
Conclusion: British Victory

November 24, 1778 at Midway Church, Liberty County, Georgia

On November 19, Colonel John White, Fourth Georgia Continental Battalion, arrived at the Midway Meeting House from his camp at Sunbury with 100 troops and two artillery pieces. He hastily constructed a barricade across what today is U.S. Highway 17 just south of the Meeting House, hoping to slow the British advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive from Savannah, Georgia. He had already dispatched a message there telling of the situation.

Major William Baker, brother of Colonel Baker, was dispatched with horse militia to the North Newport River bridge to reinforce Continental Army troops already fighting there, and slow the British advance. They were unsuccessful in their attempt.

Colonel James Screven and about 20 troops joined Colonel White at the Meeting House. It was decided to place an ambush and take up a defensive position at Midway Church, about two miles south of the Meeting House, where the Savannah-Darien Road passed through a thickly wooded area.

Daniel McGirth, a Loyalist with Lieutenant Colonel Prevost, was also familiar with the site. He and the British had already placed an ambush there for the American forces.

On November 22, Brigadier General Screven, Major James Jackson , Colonel John White, Captain Celerine Brossard, a French officer of the Fourth Continental Battalion. Captain George Young, commander of the First Company, Georgia Continental Artillery, 100 Continental Army troops, and 20 mounted militia proceeded to the site of the ambush.

They were surprised by 400 British regulars, Loyalists, and Creek Indians on Spencers Hill, name of the plantation owned by the grandfather of Samuel B. Spencer, who in time would be mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. Fierce but sporadic fighting commenced.

During a lull in the fighting, Brigadier General Screven, Colonel Baker, and a small party crossed a swamp to reconnoiter enemy positions. Hearing that Brigadier General Screven and Colonel John White were moving on the road with a force between Midway and Sunbury, Colonel Fuser ordered Brown and his Rangers to ambush the enemy.

Brown picked thirty-two men and intercepted Screven’s force. While Brown’s force was concealed on the side of the road, Screven and White halted their forces and made a speech about the upcoming reconnoiter.

Colonel Baker supposedly spotted the British and cried out, “General, here they are!”. The British forces opened fire, wounding and capturing Brigadier General Screven, and killing Judah Lewis and William D. Strother, formerly a lieutenant of the Second Georgia Continental Battalion, but who was at the Battle of Spencers Hill acting as a civilian volunteer, perhaps in a military capacity. Major James Jackson was also wounded.

Major James Mark Prévost arrived to support the Rangers and a battle began on the road. Prévost’s horse was killed by a cannon ball as it skipped down the road, both horse and rider fell, but he was uninjured.

Major James Jackson, believing that Lieutenant Colonel Prevost had been killed and that success was near, gave a lusty victory yell. But it was premature, because Lieutenant Colonel Prevost shortly thereafter appeared on a fresh horse. and the British advance to the north continued. Colonel White and his troops by this time had retreated to a point several miles north of the Meeting House.

Prévost sent the mortally wounded General Screven back to the Patriot lines under a flag of truce to the vestry house of the Meeting House, where he was treated by a physician from Liberty County. He was then moved to the home of John Elliott Sr.

On November 24, the British forces reached the Midway and the Meeting House. They burned it because they knew the church had been used as a command post, supply depot, and rallying point.

With British forces in pursuit. Colonel White prepared a false letter supposedly written by Colonel Samuel Elbert at Savannah, saying that a body of Continental Army cavalry had crossed the Ogeechee River and was preparing to encircle rear elements of the British force. The letter was dropped on the road. found by the British. and delivered to Lieutenant Colonel Prevost. He believed the letter and halted his advance six miles north of the Meeting House.

He sent a scouting party to Sunbury to contact Lieutenant Colonel Fuser and his sea expedition. The party returned with information that they were nowhere to be found.

Prevost began to get nervous and decided to pull back because he knew the closer they got to Savannah, the more likely it would be for large numbers of militia to join the Continentals and overpower them. His force on the road was unsupported and he was in danger of being cut off from the main army. He realized that he could expect no help from Lieutenant Colonel Fuser and his force.

He turned his troops around and started marching back to Florida. On their way, he and his troops burned still more homes, slave dwellings, and barns, and plundered plantations of valuables that could be transported. He took two thousand head of cattle and several slaves.

On November 24, General Screven died. He was 34 years of age.
Conclusion: British Victory

November 26-December 1, 1778 at Fort Morris, Georgia

On November 25, Lieutenant Colonel Fuser landed a force of 250 men on Colonel’s Island near Sunbury. His mission was to march upon Sunbury and to attack Fort Morris as a diversion for Major Prévost’s raid on the Midway Meetinghouse. Fort Morris was defended by 200 Americans, commanded by Colonel John McIntosh.

Upon his arrival he learned that two of his privateers had deserted and given the Patriots the alarm that he was coming. Fuser left sixty men to guard the naval force at St. Simon’s Inlet and proceeded towards Sunbury with 180 men of the 60th Regiment.

He mounted two swivel guns on a carriage to use for artillery. Along the way to Sunbury the column was sniped at occasionally, but did not receive any serious opposition.

On the night of November 26th Fuser occupied Sunbury without being detected by the 197 Georgians in Fort Morris. The British occupied the unfinished courthouse and celebrated their accomplishment with a puncheon of rum. Captain Wulff of the Grenadiers did a reconnaissance of Fort Morris, but could not find a gate in the darkness.

During the night the defenders of Fort Morris detected the presence of the British and fired their 18-pounders at the campfires of the British. The British were not at the fires and had spent the night in six houses in the town.

On November 27, In the morning Fuser demanded the surrender of the fort, but the fort’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel John McIntosh, told Fuser to “come and take it!”

on December 1 Fuser, like Prevost, realized his soldiers were in severe danger being so deep inside patriot territory, decided to withdraw back to Major Prévost. As the Royal Americans left the town a detachment of Patriot horsemen arrived and fired a few shots, but to no effect. Britain’s first invasion of Georgia came to end.
Conclusion: American Victory

November 28, 1778 at South Carolina coast, South Carolina (USS General Moultrie vs. privateer)

On November 28, the USS General Moultrie, commanded by Capt. Downham Newtown, engaged a Jamacian privateer, commanded by Capt. Smith, off the South Carolina coast.

Although Smith was hit 7 times during the battle, he refused to surrender. The battle ended when the General Moultrie’s crew boarded the privateer and defeated the Loyalist crew. The General Moultrie brought her prize back to Charlestown.
Conclusion: American Victory

December of 1778

December 16, 1778 at Port Royal, South Carolina

On December 16, the sloop Sally, commanded by Capt. Benjamin Stone, spotted a large transport ship at the mouth of the Port Royal Harbor. He sailed to within 25 yards of the transport to investigate. When the Sally pulled alongside the transport, its hidden crew emerged and opened fire on the Sally with muskets. Stone ordered the Sally to withdraw from the area.
Conclusion: British Victory.
Casualties: Americans: 6k, 12w.

December 17, 1778 at Vincennes, Indiana

In Detroit, Hamilton learned of Clark’s occupation of the Illinois country by early August 1778. Determined to retake Vincennes, Hamilton gathered about 30 British soldiers, 145 French-Canadian militiamen, and 60 American Indians under Egushawa, the influential Odawa war leader. On October 7, they began the journey of more than 300 miles to Vincennes. Coming down the Wabash, they stopped at Ouiatanon and recruited Indians who had declared allegiance to the Americans after Clark’s occupation of the Illinois country. By the time Hamilton entered Vincennes on December 17, so many Indians had joined the expedition that his force had increased to 500 men. As Hamilton approached Fort Sackville, the French-Canadian militia under Captain Helm deserted, leaving the American commander and a few soldiers to surrender. The townsfolk promptly renounced their allegiance to the United States and renewed their oaths to King George. After the recapture of Vincennes, most of the Indians and Detroit militia went home. Hamilton settled in at Fort Sackville for the winter with a garrison of about 90 soldiers, planning to retake the remaining Illinois towns in the spring.
Conclusion: British Victory

December 17, 1778 at Edisto Inlet, South Carolina

Capt. Joseph Fickling and the Edisto Island Volunteer company manned a position on Edisto Island with a small cannon – 4-pounder or 6-pounder – that was meant to serve as a warning gun if the enemy approached. A British privateer came into the South Edisto Inlet near Beaufort for provisions, dropped anchor, and sent a boat ashore.

Capt. Fickling had his men to move the small gun within range of the privateer and fired upon it from a Patriot shore battery, forcing it to leave the inlet. Five British sailors were left behind and the Patriots quickly captured and jailed in Beaufort.
Conclusion: American Victory

December 15-29, 1778 at St. Lucia, Bahamas

The Battle of St. Lucia was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies between 7 ships of the line of the British Royal Navy and 12 ships of the line of the French Navy.

On December4, d’Estaing sailed for the West Indies, on the very day that Commodore William Hotham was despatched from New York to reinforce the British fleet in those waters.

On December7, the French governor of Martinique, the Marquis de Bouille, had surprised the British island of Dominica.

On December 13-14, Admiral Samuel Barrington, the British admiral in the Leeward Islands, had retaliated by seizing St. Lucia after the arrival of Hotham from North America.

On December 15, at 1100 hours Admiral d’Estaing approached St. Lucia with ten ships of the line, and was fired on by one of the shore batteries. D’Estaing then moved to engage Barrington from the rear, and a “warm conflict” raged between the two fleets, with the British supported by two shore batteries. D’Estaing was repulsed but succeeded in reforming his line of battle.

At 1600 hours d’Estaing renewed his assault by attacking Barrington’s centre with twelve ships of the line. Again, heavy fire was exchanged and the French were eventually repulsed for a second time.

On December 16, Admiral d’Estaing appeared to be preparing for a third assault against Admiral Barrington’s line, but then sailed away towards the windward.

On December 16, in the evening d’Estaing anchored in Gros Islet Bay, where he landed 7,000 troops for an assault on the British lines at La Vigie. Three assaults were made but British control of the high ground meant each was repulsed.

On December 29, The French troops were re-embarked, and when d’Estaing’s fleet left, the island surrendered.
Conclusion: British Victory

December 31, 1778 at St. Helena Sound, South Carolina

After being blown off course by a storm, the British supply ship Sally entered the St. Helena Sound and was quickly taken by local Patriot forces.
Conclusion: American Victory