From the Quibble and Harrumpf Encyclopedia and all that-

Until the Declaration of Independence was signed at the second 'Continental Congress', July 4, 1776, no battles could be said to have been won or lost by the 'united colonies' let alone by the United States. The Continental Congresses of 1875-1776 were the legislature of the thirteen colonies, not the United States.

A bunch of insurgents AKA Green Mountain Boys from Vermont took Fort Ticonderoga.
The battle at Saratoga in 1777 the first official U. S. victory?

Something I was never told in grade school- The city-state of Dubrovnik was the first country to recognize the United States!