1778
While the news hadn't yet reached America, February 13, 1778, was a critical day in Paris. The French Foreign Minister, the Comte de Vergennes, was finalizing the delivery of the formal treaties signed just days earlier (the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance). On this day, preparations were being made to dispatch the news to Congress. This alliance fundamentally changed the war from a colonial rebellion into a global conflict, forcing Britain to defend its interests in the Caribbean and Europe.
1779
In the South, the war was often fought between neighbors (Patriots vs. Loyalists). On February 13, 1779, a large force of roughly 700 Loyalists under Colonel James Boyd was moving through Georgia toward South Carolina. They were being shadowed by Patriot militia led by Andrew Pickens. This maneuvering set the stage for the Battle of Kettle Creek, which took place the very next morning (February 14). The intelligence gathered on the 13th allowed the Patriots to launch a surprise attack that devastated Loyalist morale in the South.
1781
The most notable military action on this date occurred in North Carolina during the famous “Race to the Dan.” General Nathanael Greene was leading his Continental Army on a tactical retreat to Virginia, with Lord Cornwallis in hot pursuit. On February 13, 1781, Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee’s Legion (the American rear guard) clashed with Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s British Dragoons at Bruce’s Cross Roads. It was a sharp, bloody encounter. Lee’s men managed to kill or capture several of Tarleton's scouts, providing Greene the crucial time he needed to reach the Dan River and escape Cornwallis's “clutches.”
Following the Mutiny of the New Jersey Line in January 1781 (at Pompton), February 13 was a day of reorganization and discipline. The Jersey troops were stationed near Morristown and Princeton. General Washington and the Jersey officers spent mid-February restructuring the regiments to ensure loyalty and better supply lines. It was a somber time in NJ history, as the state grappled with the exhaustion of five years of continuous warfare on its soil.