History of the War for Independence

American Revolution, 1775-83, struggle by which the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called the American War of Independence.

Thirteen Colonies : They were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

On the morning of Apr. 19, 1775, shots had been exchanged by colonials and British soldiers, men had been killed, and a revolution had begun at Lexingtion and Concord. On the very day (May 10, 1775) that the Second Continental Congress met, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, together with a force under Benedict Arnold, took Fort Ticonderoga from the British, and two days later Seth Warner captured Crown Point. Boston was under British siege, and before that siege was climaxed by the costly British victory usually called the battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) the Congress had chosen (June 15, 1775) George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental armed forces.

Outnumbered and surrounded, the British commander surrendered (Oct. 19, 1781), and the fighting was over. The rebels had won the American Revolution.

The Treaty of Paris formally recognized the new nation in 1783, although many questions were left unsettled.

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Conrad Beymer (Böhmer;Beamer;Beemer)
Conrad arrived in Pennsylvania in 1767, and quickly settled in the south-central west area of Pennsylvania area, known now as Sommerset County. Some ten years later, Conrad served on the side of the Patriot's in support of the independence movement. He served in the Pennsylvania militia as documented in a Patriot submission to the D.A.R. (Daughters of American Revolution) filed in 1985. Excerpts from the filing is as follows:
Soldier in the Revolutionary Army Monmouth, 28 June 1778	State of Pennsylvania, County of Cumberland Fourth Company First Lieutenant Conrad Baymer 31 July 1777 Reference: Penn Archives, Vol. 6, Pg. 12-13
	Pennsylvania Militia - 1790-1800 A return of the field and other commissioned officers of the Sixth Battalion of Cumberland County Militia. Muster and Pay Rolls Rank of Lieutenant, Conrod Beamer, Signed, 25th day of January A.D. 1793 Reference: Penn Archives, Vol 5, Pg 169-170
	Active duty of militia - click on the photo to enlarge
	More on Conrad Beemer

Favorite Links of the War for Independence

Spy Letters - U of Mich	Am Revol Downloadable Wallpaper and ScreenSavers
George Washington - Smithsonian Site	Music of the Revolutionary War
George Washington - Library of Congress	Virtual Marching Tour of the War

American Revolution