Time Line of U.S. Wars and Battles

Dates assigned to each conflict are those that are generally regarded as the formal start and finish of each war. It should be noted that the United States did not enter the two world wars of the twentieth century until several years after those wars began. In order to provide fuller perspectives, this time line includes events that preceded U.S. involvement in several conflicts and thus includes some battles and other developments in which the United States was not directly involved.

DateEventRevolutionary War, 1775–1783Mar. 5, 1770Boston Massacre.Dec. 16, 1773Boston Tea Party.Apr. 19, 1775Battles of Lexington and Concord begin Revolutionary War.May 10–11, 1775Battle of Fort Ticonderoga.June 17, 1775Battle of Bunker Hill.Dec. 31, 1775Battle of Quebec.Aug. 27–30, 1776Battle of Long Island.Sept. 6–7, 1776Submarine experiments.Oct. 28, 1776Battle of White Plains.Dec. 26, 1776Battle of Trenton.Jan. 3, 1777Battle of Princeton.Aug. 6, 1777Battle of Oriskany Creek.Sept. 11, 1777Battle of Brandywine.Oct. 4, 1777Battle of Germantown.Oct. 8–17, 1777Battle of Saratoga.Feb. 6, 1778Franco-American Treaties are signed.June 28, 1778Battle of Monmouth.June 21, 1779-Feb. 7, 1783Siege of Gibraltar.Sept. 23-Oct. 18, 1779Siege of Savannah.Apr. 1-May 12, 1780Siege of Charleston.Aug. 16, 1780Battle of Camden.Oct. 7, 1780Battle of King’s Mountain.Jan. 17, 1781Battle of Cowpens.Sept.-Oct., 1781Battle of Yorktown and Virginia Capes.Oct. 19, 1781British surrender at Yorktown.Sept. 3, 1783Treaty of Paris formally ends the war.War of 1812, 1812–1814June 18, 1812United States declares war on Great Britain.Sept. 10, 1813Battle of Lake Erie.Oct. 5, 1813Battle of Thames.Sept. 11, 1814Battle of Lake Champlain.Sept. 12–14, 1814Battle of Baltimore.Dec. 24, 1814United States and Britain sign Treaty of Ghent.Jan. 8, 1815Battle of New Orleans.Feb. 17, 1815Full terms of the Treaty of Ghent go into effect.Texas Revolution, 1835–1836, and Mexican War, 1846–1848June 30, 1835Texans seize Anahuac Garrison and Texas Revolution begins.Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1836Battle of the Alamo.Apr. 21, 1836Battle of San Jacinto.Oct. 22, 1836Texans declare independence and elect Sam Houston president.May 6, 1846Mexican War begins.Sept. 21–24, 1846Battle of Monterrey.Feb. 22–23, 1847Battle of Buena Vista.Apr. 17–18, 1847Battle of Cerro Gordo.Sept. 12–13, 1847Siege of Chapultepec.Feb. 2, 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war.Civil War, 1861–1865Oct. 16–18, 1859John Brown leads raid on Harpers Ferry.Apr. 12–14, 1861Confederate assault on Fort Sumter opens the Civil War.July 21, 1861First Battle of Bull Run.Feb. 11–16, 1862Battle of Fort Donelson.Mar. 9, 1862Battle of Monitor vs. Virginia (Merrimack).Apr. 6–7, 1862Battle of Shiloh.June 25-July 1, 1862Seven Days’ Battles.Aug. 29–30, 1862Second Battle of Bull Run.Sept. 13–15, 1862Battle of Harpers Ferry.Sept. 17, 1862Battle of Antietam.Oct. 3–4, 1862Battle of Corinth.Dec. 13, 1862Battle of Fredericksburg.May 1–4, 1863Battle of Chancellorsville.May 18-July 4, 1863Siege of Vicksburg.July 1–3, 1863Battle of Gettysburg.July 13–15, 1863Draft riots in New York City.Sept. 19–20, 1863Battle of Chickamauga.Nov. 23–25, 1863Battle of Chattanooga.May 5–7, 1864Battle of the Wilderness.May 8–20, 1864Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.June 3–12, 1864Battle of Cold Harbor.June 15, 1864-Apr. 3, 1865Siege of Petersburg.July 20-Sept. 2, 1864Battle of Atlanta.Nov. 15, 1864-Apr. 18, 1865Sherman’s March to the Sea.Dec. 9–21, 1864Battle of Savannah.Dec. 15–16, 1864Battle of Nashville.Apr. 9, 1865Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.Spanish-American War, 1898Feb. 24, 1895-Apr. 13, 1898Cuban war of independence.Apr. 24, 1898Spain declares war on the United States.May 1, 1898Battle of Manila Bay.July 1, 1898Battle of San Juan/El Caney.Dec. 10. 1898Treaty of Paris formally ends the war.Feb. 4, 1899Philippine insurrection begins.World War I, 1914–1918June 28, 1914Serbian nationalist assassinates Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo.Aug. 1, 3 1914Germany declares war on Russia and FranceAug. 4, 1914Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany opens World War I.Aug. 14–25, 1914Battle of the Frontiers.Aug. 26–31, 1914Battle of Tannenberg.Sept. 5–9, 1914Battle of Marne.Sept. 9–14, 1914Battle of Masurian Lakes.Oct. 30-Nov. 24, 1914First Battle of Ypres.Dec. 8, 1914Battle of the Falkland Islands.Feb. 19, 1915-Jan. 9, 1916Gallipoli Campaign.Apr. 22-May 25, 1915Second Battle of Ypres.May 2-June 27, 1915Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow.June 23, 1915-Sept. 12, 1917Eleven Battles of the Isonzo.Dec. 8, 1915-Apr. 29, 1916Siege of Kut-al-Amara.Feb. 19-Dec. 18, 1916Battle of Verdun.May 31-June 1, 1916Battle of Jutland.June 4-Sept. 30, 1916Brusilov Offensive.June 24-Nov. 13, 1916Battle of Somme.Mar. 11, 1917Battle of Baghdad.Apr. 9–15, 1917Battle of Vimy Ridge.July 31-Nov. 10, 1917Third Battle of Ypres.Oct. 24-Nov. 12, 1917Battle of Caporetto.Oct. 31, 1917Battle of Beersheba.Nov. 20-Dec. 7, 1917Battle of Cambrai.May 27-July 1, 1918Battle of Chateau-Thierry/Belleau Wood.Aug. 8-Sept. 4, 1918Battle of Amiens.Sept. 12–16, 1918Battle of St. Mihiel.Sept. 20, 1918Battle of Megiddo.Sept. 26-Nov. 11, 1918Battle of Meuse-Argonne.Nov. 11, 1918Armistice ends the war.Jan. 18, 1919Peace conference opens in Paris.June 28, 1919Germany signs Treaty of Versailles.July 2, 1921Joint resolution of U.S. Congress recognizes formal end to the war.World War II, 1939–1945Dec., 1937-Jan., 1938Japanese troops invade China, beginning World War II in East Asia.Sept. 15–29, 1938British and German leaders meet in Munich.Sept. 1, 1939Germany invades Poland, beginning World War II in Europe.Oct., 1939-Dec. 7, 1941Polish Campaign.May-June, 1940Germany occupies France.July 10-Oct. 31, 1940Battle of Britain.Nov. 11, 1940Battle of Taranto.Dec. 9–13, 1940Battle of Stdt Barr3ni.1941–1942Battle of Moscow.1941–1944Siege of Leningrad.May 20–31, 1941Crete campaign.July, 1941-Sept., 1941Battle of Smolensk.Sept. 16–26, 1941Battle of Kiev.Nov. 18, 1941-June 21, 1942Battles of Tobruk.Dec., 1941-Apr., 1942Battle of Bataan.Dec. 7, 1941Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into the war.Dec. 10, 1941-Feb. 15, 1942Battle of Singapore.Dec. 11, 1941Axis nations declare war on the United States.1942–1943Battles of Kharkov.Feb. 19, 1942U.S. government begins relocating persons of Japanese descent on the Pacific Coast.May 3–8, 1942Battle of the Coral Sea.June 3–5, 1942Battle of Midway.June 17, 1942President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves the Manhattan Project.Aug. 7, 1942-Feb. 9, 1943Battle of Guadalcanal.Aug. 19, 1942Raid on Dieppe.Aug. 23, 1942-Feb. 2, 1943Battle of Stalingrad.Oct. 23-Nov. 4, 1942Battle of El Alamein.Feb., 1943Casablanca Conference.July 5–15, 1943Battle of Kursk.Sept. 9-Oct. 1, 1943Battle of Salerno.Nov., 1943-June, 1944Battle of Monte Cassino.Nov. 20–23, 1943Battle of Tarawa.Jan. 22-May 25, 1944Battle of Anzio.June 6, 1944D Day: Operation Overlord’s Normandy invasion begins.June 15-July 9, 1944Battle of Saipan.June 15, 1944Superfortress bombing of Japan begins.June 22-July 11, 1944Operation Bagration.July 20-Aug. 10, 1944Battle of Guam.July 24-Aug. 1, 1944Battle of Tinian.Sept. 17–26, 1944Battle of Arnhem.Oct. 23–26, 1944Battle of Leyte Gulf.Dec. 16, 1944-Jan. 25, 1945Battle of the Bulge.Feb. 4–11, 1945Yalta Conference.Feb. 19-Mar. 26, 1945Battle of Iwo Jima.Mar., 1945Battle of Mandalay.Mar. 7-May 8, 1945Rhine Crossings.Apr. 1-July 2, 1945Battle of Okinawa.Apr. 19-May 2, 1945Battle of Berlin.May 7, 1945Germany signs surrender documents.May 8, 1945V-E Day: President Harry S. Truman declares victory in Europe.July 17-Aug. 2, 1945Potsdam Conference.Aug. 6 & 9, 1945United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.Aug. 14, 1945V-J Day: Japan accepts terms of surrender and occasion is declared “Victory in Japan” day.Korean War, 1950–1953June 25, 1950Korean War begins when North Korean troops cross the thirty-eighth parallel.July 29-Sept. 19, 1950Battle of the Pusan Perimeter.Sept. 15–25, 1950Inchon Landing.Apr. 22–30, 1951Battle of Imjin River.Spring, 1953Battle of Pork Chop Hill.July 27, 1953Armistice ends the fighting.Vietnam WarAug. 18, 1945Vietnam nationalists declare Vietnam an independent republic, beginning Indochina War with France.Mar. 13-May 7, 1954Battle of Dien Bien Phu.Aug. 11, 1954Formal peace treaty partitions the country into North and South Vietnam.1961North Vietnam begins struggle to absorb South Vietnam; United States gradually becomes involved.Aug., 1964Gulf of Tonkin incident.Nov. 14–16, 1965Battle of Ia Drang Valley.Jan. 21-Apr. 6, 1968Siege of Khe Sanh.Jan. 30-Feb. 25, 1968Tet Offensive.Jan. 31-Feb. 25, 1968Battle of Hue.Mar. 16, 1968My Lai Massacre.April 29-June, 1970U.S. troops invade CambodiaJan. 31, 1973Peace accord is signed; North Vietnam begins releasing U.S. prisoners.Mar. 29, 1973Last U.S. troops leave Vietnam.Apr. 30, 1975North Vietnam occupies Saigon, ending civil war, and last U.S. advisers leave the country.July 2, 1976North and South Vietnam are formally united.Caribbean ConflictsDec., 1956Fidel Castro launches Cuban Revolution.Feb., 1959Revolution overthrows Cuban government; Castro takes power.Apr. 17, 1961Bay of Pigs Invasion.Oct. 22-Nov. 3, 1962Cuban Missile Crisis.Apr., 1965-June, 1966United States occupies Dominican Republic.Oct.-Dec., 1983United States occupies Grenada.Dec., 1989-Jan., 1990United States occupies Panama.Post-Cold War ConflictsJan. 16-Feb. 28, 1991Gulf War.Dec., 1992-Mar., 1994U.S. troops occupy Somalia.Feb. 26, 1993Terrorist bombing of New York City’s World Trade Center.Apr., 1994 and Dec., 1995U.S. troops intervene in Bosnia.Aug. 20, 1998United States launches missile strikes against targets in Afghanistan and the Sudan.Dec. 16, 1998United States bombs military sites in Iraq.Oct. 12, 2000Terrorist attack on USS Cole.Sept. 11, 2001“9/11" terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.Oct. 7, 2001United States launches invasion of Afghanistan.Mar. 19-May 1, 2003Iraq War.

Time Line of U.S. Wars and Battles Summary