Wars & Battles — America, Colonial Wars to the Civil War flashcards
10 of 77 cards free to study here · 5 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
The famous battles and campaigns from the colonial wars through the Revolution, the War of 1812, Texas and the Mexican-American War to the Civil War: who fought, when, what happened and why it mattered.
Learn deck · part of Wars and famous battles · written against: Conventional dates and outcomes from ancient Greece to 1945; contested figures given as ranges or left out. Updated 2026-10-10.
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Which New England conflict of 1675–1676 pitted colonists against a Wampanoag-led alliance and devastated towns on both sides?King Philip's War, named for the Wampanoag sachem Metacom, whom the English called King Philip. Measured against population, it was one of the deadliest wars in American history.Colonial Wars
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What French fortress did New England militia capture in 1745, only to see it handed back to France by the 1748 peace treaty?Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island. Its return under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle angered colonists who had paid for the expedition.Colonial Wars
Why: British and American forces took it again in 1758, opening the way up the St. Lawrence. -
What were British troops sent to do when they marched out of Boston on the night of April 18–19, 1775?Seize the colonial militia's military stores at Concord. Riders including Paul Revere and William Dawes spread the alarm along the way.American Revolution
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Lexington or Concord: where did the first shots of April 19, 1775, ring out, and where did the militia first force the British back?The first shots came on Lexington Green at dawn, scattering a small militia company; later that morning militia drove British soldiers from the North Bridge in Concord. The march back to Boston became a running fight.American Revolution
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Which British practices pushed the United States to declare war in June 1812?The impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy, British restrictions on neutral trade with France, and British support for Native resistance in the Northwest. Western and Southern War Hawks such as Henry Clay pressed for war.War of 1812
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How did the frigate USS Constitution earn the nickname "Old Ironsides" in August 1812?In its victory over HMS Guerriere, British shot was reportedly seen bouncing off its thick oak sides. The win lifted American spirits after the surrender of Detroit that same month.War of 1812
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Who commanded the Mexican army at the Alamo, and when did the mission fall?General Antonio López de Santa Anna; after a siege that began in late February 1836, his troops stormed the Alamo early on the morning of March 6, 1836.Texas & the Mexican-American War
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What happened at Goliad in March 1836, and how did it feed Texan anger?Several hundred Texian prisoners taken with James Fannin were executed on Santa Anna's orders on Palm Sunday. Along with the Alamo, it gave the cry "Remember Goliad!"Texas & the Mexican-American War
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Why did the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 bring more states into the Confederacy?After the fort surrendered, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, and Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee seceded rather than supply troops.Civil War › 1861–1862
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What did Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan" propose?Squeezing the South with a naval blockade of its coast and Union control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy and choking its trade rather than seeking a quick decisive battle.Civil War › 1861–1862
Why: Mocked at first, its two elements became core Union strategy.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Checked against National Park Service battlefield and park history pages (nps.gov; US government work), the treaty texts in the Yale Law School Avalon Project (Paris 1763 and 1783, Ghent, Guadalupe Hidalgo), the National Archives Milestone Documents and the State Department Office of the Historian (archives.gov, history.state.gov; US government works), Library of Congress exhibitions (loc.gov), Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs (Project Gutenberg; public domain), the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Encyclopedia Virginia, the South Carolina Encyclopedia and American Battlefield Trust battle summaries (battlefields.org). Reference only; all wording original.
- Also checked against the Naval History and Heritage Command's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (history.navy.mil; US government work), Parks Canada's history of the Fortress of Louisbourg, the National Battlefields Commission's account of the 1759–1760 battles on the Plains of Abraham, John Burgoyne's A State of the Expedition from Canada (London, 1780; Internet Archive; public domain), Polk's war message to Congress of May 11, 1846 (Miller Center), the 1864 election results in the American Presidency Project, the Alamo's official site (thealamo.org) and the Mexican state and municipal records on the Niños Héroes (Congress of Durango, City of Acapulco) (reference only; no text copied).
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