The Revolutionary War

A look at the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and other events that led to the battle in Lexington, Mass. The war for American independence began almost by accident, when a single, unidentified shot rang out at Lexington. Examine the decade of conflict that sparked rebellion, as well as the Continental Congress' decision to hire a physically imposing Virginia aristocrat to lead its army.

This episode chronicles the defeat of the patriots at Bunker Hill and examines how the Continental Congress turned to a Virginia aristocrat named Washington to lead an army short on men and ammunition, and traces the growing momentum of rebellion, spurred by Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and Washington's leadership, that led to the signing of Jefferson's document on July 4, 1776.

A look at the bold Christmas campaign to recapture Trenton and Princeton that made Washington a legend and inspired more than half of his depleted army to reenlist for 1777. Divide and conquer was the strategy of the British. Follow General Burgoyne's relentless march to split New England from Canada to Albany, and how elusiveness, as much as anything, defined General Washington's early campaigns. Then follow the fateful crossing of the Delaware, and the subsequent battles that made Washington a legend.

This episode shows how Washington, with a third of his army unfit for duty during the brutal winter at Valley Forge, received help from an unlikely source, where a German impostor proved to be a godsend. The episode also details how the French and a new regiment of black soldiers aided in the war, and details how Washington savagely punished the Indians for their support of the British.

A look at how the daring strategy of Nathanael Greene to split his army unfolded and how Daniel Morgan's upset of the British at Cowpens was the turning point in the war. The war was decided in the South in 1781, where an American victory seemed unlikely just a year before. As the war dragged on, the costs to both sides in terms of casualties and economics began to mount. See how the Revolution affected families at home, and learn how the introduction of guerrilla warfare in the South helped the patriots stave off defeat.

This episode follows the events that led to Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown and examines what happened to the major figures of the war after the final curtain fell.