As an aside, intelligence work and the concept of spies intrigues me. I've read Benedict Arnold's biography (I nearly sympathize with him, because he did basically secure the French with his heroics at Saratoga) but I was curious if there were any other agents on either side that made a large impact? Is there any suggested reading on spies or intelligence officers during the Revolution?
And if I haven't exhausted you all with my inquiries, I also found that American forces were very often bailed out by weather. The few examples I can think of include the issues Howe had moving troops by sea (were he as successful as he could have been rounding everyone up and redeploying where he deemed fit, I think we could have been routed much more easily.), and the British reinforcements in Canada being slowed by winter (which, if they had constructed their ships fast enough and had taken off soon enough, could have crashed down the Hudson and taken New England.)
So I guess my last question would be: knowing that we didn't have meteorology in the way we have today, was the American side lucky, and British just unlucky? Or was there any chance the American could have been aware of how badly the weather would turn things in their favor?
In regards to the first question, the answer is simple in two parts. The first is that, in most towns, the most remarkable building is the church or courthouse. Ever town needs a center of government and a center of religion, and they therefore make a reliable landmark in the Christian world.
The second part is that since war is strategic in nature, it's more common for armies to move from city to city. This not only is a part of securing strategic objectives, but also allows the army to keep itself fed. Therefore, it's more likely that one army engages another at or near a city/town.
But lastly, as a more historiographical note, a large influence is probably that it sounds more interesting. The battle of Bob's Bagel Shop Down The Corner doesn't have the same ring as the Battle of Lexington and Concord, or the battle of new hope church. To expand on the idea that it's a matter of recording, note that different sides sometimes name battles different ways.
To Americans, we learn about the French and Indian war, while this is regarded by Europeans as a single theatre of the Seven Year's War. When we look at the civil war, the Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Manassas are two battles that happened to take place at the same time and place, and involve the same belligerents. One might even argue they were the same battle with different names.