The Continental soldier often had to provide his own eating utensils, but on occasion they came as standard issue. Maryland troops, for example, were provided a wooden trencher (plate), and bowl, as well as wooden and pewter spoons. Each man would have his knife, of course; and for quaffing his rum, cider, beer, or whiskey, a horn cup, which was extremely light compared with pewter or ceramic. Officers, as might be expected, had more refined utensils. George Washington’s mess kit, for example, was a very elaborate affair housed in a handsome fourteen-compartment wood chest lined with green wool.
Timeline of the Revolution
10-Feb | The Peace of Paris ends the French and Indian War; Britain gains an empire. |
05-Apr | Parliament passes the The Sugar Act, which is an indirect tax on the colonists, in order to raise revenue. |
01-Sep | Parliament passes the Currency Act, which has the effect of tightening the money supply in the North American colonies. |
22-Mar | Parliament passes the Stamp Act, which includes taxes on most forms of paper, including playing cards. It is the first direct tax on the colonists. |
24-Mar | Parliament passes the first Quartering Act, which orders local colonial governments to provide housing and provisions for British soldiers. |
29-May | In the Virginia House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry, during his speech against the Stamp Act, reputedly answers a cry of |
30-May | The Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act ( |
19-Oct | The Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York with representatives from nine colonies, adopt the Declaration of Rights & Grievances. |
01-Nov | The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies and is met with fierce resistance. |
17-Mar | King George III reluctantly agrees with Parliament and gives his assent to repeal the Stamp Act. |
18-Mar | Parliament passes the Declaratory Act, which asserts its authority to pass laws binding on the American colonies. |
29-Jun | Parliament passes the Revenue Act, the first of the Townsend Acts, levying taxes on the American colonies. |
01-Aug | The Boston Non-Importation Agreement calls for a boycott certain types of British goods. |
01-Oct | British Regulars, under General Thomas Gage, arrive in Boston to maintain order. |
05-Mar | British troops, taunted by a crowd, kill five colonists — the event is dubbed the Boston Massacre. Crispus Attucks, a slave, is the first one shot. |
12-Apr | Following widespread boycotts in the colonies, most of the Townshend Revenue Act is repealed. |
27-Apr | British Parliament passes the Tea Act; King George III gives his royal assent on 10 May. |
16-Dec | Bostonians dressed as Mohawks dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor. |
31-Mar | Parliament passes the Boston Port Act — the first of the Intolerable Acts — which closes the ports of Boston to all commerce. |
20-May | Two more Intolerable Acts become law: the Administration of Justice Act and the Massachusetts Government Act. |
02-Jun | Parliament passes a second Quartering Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, which mandates that colonists must board English troops in their homes. |
22-Jun | The Quebec Act, the last of the Intolerable Acts, becomes law. |
05-Sep | In response to the Intolerable Acts, representatives from twelve colonies assemble in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. |
14-Oct | First Continental Congress passes a declaration of colonial rights. |
26-Oct | First Continental Congress adjourns but agrees to meet again 10 May 1775. |
26-Oct | Congress of Massachusetts reorganizes their defenses so that one-third of their militia are |
09-Feb | Parliament declares that Massachusetts colony is in rebellion. |
23-Mar | During an illegal meeting of Virginia colony representatives in St. John’s Church in Richmond, Patrick Henry declaims: |
18-Apr | Paul Revere and William Dawes ride on separate routes from Boston to Lexington to warn that the British Regulars are coming. |
19-Apr | The Battle of Lexington / Concord. The American Revolution begins after a shot is fired in Lexington Common. |
10-May | The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia. |
10-May | The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, along with troops under Benedict Arnold, capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. |
15-Jun | The Second Continental Congress elects George Washington, a delegate to Congress from Virginia, as Commander of the Continental Army. He leaves for Boston the next day. |
17-Jun | The Battle of Bunker Hill gives the British a victory with so many troops killed or wounded, that it almost seems a defeat. |
03-Jul | General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
06-Jul | Second Congress issues |
22-Aug | King George III proclaims the North American colonies to be in open rebellion. |
13-Nov | Brigadier General Richard Montgomery leads Continental Army soldiers to take Montreal without opposition. |
22-Dec | Continental Congress creates a Navy, naming Esek Hopkins, Esq., as commander in chief of the fleet. Four captains are also named, as well as five first lieutenants, including John Paul Jones. |
31-Dec | General Montgomery dies while fighting the British unsuccessfully in the Battle of Quebec. |
10-Jan | Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is published. |
16-Jan | Reversing itself from 23-Oct-1775, the Continental Congress approves enlistment of free blacks. |
04-Mar | Fortification of Dorchester Heights with cannon (taken from Fort Ticonderoga by a team led by Henry Knox). |
17-Mar | British forces evacuate Boston, accompanied by Loyalists, to winter in Nova Scotia. |
12-Apr | North Carolina adopts Halifax Resolves to declare independence. |
04-May | Rhode Island declares independence from Britain. |
07-Jun | Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moves for the Continental Congress to declare independence from Britain. |
11-Jun | Congress appoints a |
12-Jun | Virginia adopts a Declaration of Rights, largely written by George Mason. |
23-Jun | The final draft of the Declaration of Independence is submitted to Continental Congress. |
29-Jun | The Virginia state constitution is adopted. Patrick Henry becomes Governor. |
02-Jul | Continental Congress resolves |
04-Jul | The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Continental Congress and sent to the printer. |
08-Jul | Colonel John Nixon gives the first public reading in Philadelphia of the Declaration of Independence. |
09-Jul | The Declaration of Independence is read to George Washington’s troops in New York. |
27-Aug | The British, under command of William Howe, overwhelm the Continental Army in Battle of Long Island. |
30-Aug | Under cover of night and early morning fog, Continental troops avoid defeat on Long Island by escaping across the river to Manhattan. |
09-Sep | Congress renames United Colonies the United States. |
15-Sep | British forces capture Kip’s Bay, Manhattan. |
21-Sep | A fire starts in lower Manhattan, burning much of it, as the Continental Army, pursued by the British, withdraws to the north. |
28-Oct | Battle of White Plains. Washington crosses the Hudson and retreats to New Jersey. |
16-Nov | Battle of Fort Washington. British troops capture Fort Washington in upper Manhattan. |
20-Nov | Nathaniel Greene evacuates his troops from Fort Lee (across the Hudson River from Fort Washington) just ahead of its unopposed capture by Lord Cornwallis. |
26-Dec | Battle of Trenton. General Washington and his soldiers complete their crossing of the Delaware River to surprise and defeat 1,400 Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey. |
03-Jan | Battle of Princeton. Washington follows his victory at Trenton by overcoming the British in Princeton, New Jersey. |
13-Jun | Marquis de Lafayette, age 19, arrives from France to fight along side the Americans. Congress commissions him a Major General six weeks later on 31 July. |
14-Jun | Continental Congress adopts the |
05-Jul | Major General Arthur St. Clair abandons Fort Ticonderoga, allowing British General John Burgoyne’s much larger force to take it without firing a shot. |
16-Aug | Battle of Bennington. New England’s Green Mountain Boys rout the British in Vermont. |
11-Sep | Battle of Brandywine. Continental forces are defeated by the British, who then move towards undefended Philadelphia. |
25-Sep | First Battle of Saratoga. General John Burgoyne holds the fields but suffers serious losses by the Americans under General Horatio Gates at Freeman's Farm, New York. |
26-Sep | General Howe and the British Regulars take Philadelphia, which will serve as their winter quarters. |
30-Sep | Continental Congress opens session in York, Pennsylvania, after fleeing from Philadelphia, which is occupied by the British. |
04-Oct | Battle of Germantown. General Washington's troops attack British at Germantown, Pennsylvania, but suffer a defeat with heavy casualties. |
06-Oct | Battle of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. British seize the Forts near West Point as a diversion to draw troops from General Gates. |
07-Oct | Second Battle of Saratoga. American troops under General Gates defeat the British at Bemis Heights in New York. Burgoyne surrenders on 17-Oct. |
22-Oct | Battle of Red Bank. Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, is repulsed by militia. |
15-Nov | The Articles of Confederation is adopted by the Continental Congress and submitted to the 13 states for ratification two days later. |
16-Nov | Siege of Fort Mifflin. British capture the Fort, just below Philadelphia, on the Delaware River. |
17-Dec | France recognizes the independence of North American colonies, just days after King Louis XVI hears of British defeat at Saratoga. |
19-Dec | General Washington settles his troops for the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. |
06-Feb | The French-American Treaty of Alliance is signed in Paris, the first U.S. treaty, providing aid and support to the American cause. |
06-Feb | Britain declares war on France. |
23-Feb | Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge. |
07-Mar | British General William Howe is called back to London, replaced by his second-in-command Henry Clinton. |
18-Jun | Following a winter and spring in Philadelphia, the British evacuate the city. |
19-Jun | Washington’s army leaves Valley Forge more disciplined as a result of enforced drilling by Baron von Steuben. |
28-Jun | Battle of Monmouth. Washington holds the field against General Clinton in New Jersey. |
08-Aug | Battle of Rhode Island. Combined American and French and American forces unsuccessfully besiege Newport. |
04-Sep | Amsterdam signs trade agreement with the U.S. |
11-Nov | The Cherry Valley massacre, an attack by British and Seneca Indian forces in eastern New York, is one of the most horrific frontier massacres of the Revolution. |
29-Dec | Battle of Savannah. British begin their |
18-Jun | Following Washington’s orders for |
21-Jun | Spain, an ally of France, declares war on Great Britain. |
16-Jul | Battle of Stony Point. American General |
23-Sep | John Paul Jones’s ship, Bon Homme Richard, defeats the British H.M.S. Serepis near English coast. |
27-Sep | Congress names John Adams to negotiate terms of peace with England. |
23-Dec | Benedict Arnold is court-martialed for improper conduct. By the end of January he will be cleared of all but two minor charges. |
01-Mar | Pennsylvania becomes the first U.S. state to abolish slavery — though for new-borns only. |
12-May | Battle of Charleston. British capture Charleston, South Carolina. |
11-Jul | French troops arrive at Newport, Rhode Island, to aid the American cause. |
16-Aug | Battle of Camden. Lord Cornwallis decisively defeats General Gates’s American forces in South Carolina. |
23-Sep | British Major John André is arrested leading to the exposure of Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British. |
07-Oct | Battle of King’s Mountain. American militia led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Major Patrick Ferguson and one-third of Lord Cornwallis’s army in a battle that lasts 65 minutes. |
14-Oct | Following Horatio Gates ignoble defeat in Charleston, Washington names General Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army. Without winning a single battle, Greene will wear the British down. |
05-Jan | A British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia. |
17-Jan | Battle of Cowpens. Militia General Daniel Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Colonel Banastre Tarleton in South Carolina. |
01-Mar | The Articles of Confederation is officially in effect when it is ratified by the 13th state, Maryland. |
15-Mar | Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Lord Cornwallis wins a costly victory against Major General Nathanael Greene’s troops in North Carolina. |
01-Aug | British troops, under General Charles Cornwallis, arrive in Yorktown, Virginia. |
21-Aug | Washington and French General Rochambeau begin to move their troops south to fight Cornwallis in Yorktown. |
05-Sep | Battle of the Chesapeake Capes. The French fleet commanded by Admiral d’Estaing drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay. Cornwallis’s troops are trapped in Yorktown. |
08-Sep | Battle of Eutaw Springs. Nathanael Greene is narrowly defeated by British in in the last major engagement of the Carolinas. |
15-Sep | French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay, leaving Cornwallis and the Regulars without an exit from Yorktown. |
28-Sep | Battle of Yorktown. 9,000 American forces and 7,000 French forces begin siege of Yorktown, Virginia. |
19-Oct | British General Charles Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia. Though no one knows it yet, the Revolutionary War is effectively over. |
20-Mar | Lord North resigns as British prime minister. |
20-Jun | Congress approves the Great Seal of the U.S. with the eagle as its symbol. |
11-Jul | British evacuate Savannah, Georgia. |
30-Nov | British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace which recognizes U.S. independence. |
14-Dec | British evacuate Charleston, South Carolina. |
03-Feb | Spain recognizes U.S. independence. |
03-Sep | The Treaty of Paris, the formal agreement ending hostilities between America and Britain, is signed in Paris. |
02-Nov | The Continental Army is disbanded; General Washington bids farewell to his soldiers at Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan. |
23-Nov | Annapolis, Maryland, becomes the temporary U.S. Capitol (until June 1784). |
25-Nov | British troops evacuate New York, their last military position in the U.S. |
23-Dec | Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He tells congress in Annapolis: |
31-Dec | The import of African slaves is banned by all of the Northern states. |
14-Jan | Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, which formally concludes the Revolutionary War. |
29-Aug | Shays’ Rebellion. Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Revolution, leads debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts in a rebellion — ironically it is a rebellion against taxes. |
11-Sep | Delegates from five states convene in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss interstate commerce. They call for a Constitutional Convention. |
04-Feb | Shays’ main forces are scattered by a surprise attack by militia. Though there is scattered resistance for several months to come, the Rebellion ultimately fails. |
25-May | The Constitutional Convention convenes in Philadelphia with the prestige of George Washington presiding. |
17-Sep | All but three of the delegates — George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph — adopt the Constitution in Philadelphia. |
27-Sep | The new Constitution is submitted to the states for ratification. |
27-Oct | The first |
07-Dec | Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution. |
12-Dec | Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution. |
18-Dec | New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the Constitution. |
02-Jan | Georgia is the fourth state to ratify the Constitution. |
09-Jan | Connecticut is the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. |
06-Feb | Massachusetts is the sixth state to ratify the Constitution. |
28-Apr | Maryland is the seventh state to ratify the Constitution. |
23-May | South Carolina becomes the eighth state to ratify the Constitution. |
21-Jun | The Constitution is adopted when New Hampshire is the ninth state to ratify it. |
26-Jun | Virginia is the tenth state to ratify the Constitution. |
26-Jul | New York becomes the 11th state to ratify the Constitution. |
13-Sep | Continental Congress votes to begin a new government on 4 March 1789. |
13-Sep | Continental Congress votes for New York City to become the first capitol of United States. |
04-Feb | The first Electoral College chooses Washington as president and John Adams as vice president of the new government. |
04-Mar | The First Congress of the United States, comprising nine senators and 13 representatives, convenes and declares the Constitution to be in effect. |
21-Apr | John Adams is sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President. |
30-Apr | George Washington is inaugurated and becomes the first President of the United States. |
25-Sep | Congress passes 12 constitutional amendments guaranteeing personal rights and proposes them to the states for ratification. |
29-Sep | The First Congress adjourns its first session. |
21-Nov | North Carolina is the 12th state to ratify the Constitution. |
13-May | Rhode Island is the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution. |
15-Dec | Three-fourths of the states ratify 10 of twelve amendments to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights becomes law. |