As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution, the United States Post Office is commemorating the occasion with 15 new stamps memorializing five turning points in the fight for American independence.
Watercolor paintings depicting scenes of five battles appear alongside photographs of sites involved in each battle.
As the first armed conflicts of the American Revolution, the Battles of Lexington and Concord ignited outrage in Massachusetts and showed the potential of citizen soldiers, relying on local organizing and knowledge of their home terrain, to confront the highly trained and professional British military.
Fought primarily on Breed’s Hill just outside Boston, the Battle of Bunker Hill was an early demonstration of American tenacity. Although the battle was a tactical loss for the Americans, heavy casualties forced the stunned British to rethink their strategy for the long war to come.
Notable for the victory that followed George Washington’s risky and audacious crossing of the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, the Battle of Trenton highlighted Washington’s ability to see opportunity in desperate times, rally his army, and save the revolutionary cause.
In New York, the Battles of Saratoga halted a determined British campaign to divide the colonies. American resolve at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights drew international support that ultimately secured independence.
As the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Yorktown involved a weekslong American siege of this Virginia city and prompted a British surrender, a testimony to both the strategic leadership of George Washington and the essential support of the French.
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps, with illustrations by Greg Harlin and photographs by Jon Bilous, Richard Lewis, Tom Morris, Gregory J. Parker and Kevin Stewart.
The Battlefields of the American Revolution stamps are being issued as Forever stamps and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.
To purchase stamps, visit Usps.com/shopstamps or call 844-737-7826.