Bunker Hill

A detailed Summary of Bunker Hill

The battle on Breed's Hill, wrongly named the Battle of Bunker Hill, changed the course of the American Revolution. This battle was the first large-scale engagement and also one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. It was held on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown (now part of Boston), Massachusetts.

The prior battle to this one would be the at Lexington and Concorde which sort of started it all. This battle took place April 19, 1775. After the battle at Concorde British troops decided to give up and stop fighting and marched back. Meanwhile the Americans continuously made hit and run attacks on the retreating forces. This heightened the heat between the rebels and the British. Later, 5 days before the battle at Breeds Hill, General Thomas Gage would declare martial law. Stating to give pardon to anyone who would lay down their arms and pledge himself to King George. He did this to avoid further uprisings and armed conflict. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect and upset many of the colonists. Thus, adding to the flame and making the battle almost imminent.

On June 16, 1775 the Americans became aware of the British plan to take control of Bunker and Breed's Hills. So the rebels decided to i

The night's work turned out to be tactically genius. Between those ours of midnight and first light the troops dug up a square frame on the hill. Each side being about 45 yards. They also fortified an area running northeast from the hill about halfway to the water. A quarter of a mile behind that, they continued the barricade along a stone wall and rail fence that went the rest of the way down the shore. Breed's Hill was now tactically secure and was ready for battle.

nvade the area before the British in a hope to fortify it and be prepared for the Redcoats. Colonel William Prescott and 1,200 men, mostly from Massachusetts, moved in to the peninsula with the mission to fortify Bunker Hill. Two ours upon arriving they realized that they needed to fortify Breed's Hill and fall back on Bunker Hill if necessary. During the night of the sixteenth Colonel Prescott gave them the orders to "Dig, and dig hard." Trying to get the soldiers to fortify Breed's Hill as best as possible. If they learned anything from that night they learned that a Yankee soldier, at this stage of war, was a great digger.

The third attack started off similar to the first two. The British advanced very close to the American defense until the patriots opened fire. The British sustained heavy losses again however they were determined to break through and the did. The fire from the rebels started to diminish and the British finally broke through. The men were helpless with out ammunition. Some fought back with rocks, fists, teeth, feet, and clubbed muskets as best they could. However, the rebels knew that they were defeated and retreated to Bunker Hill. The totally exhausted British tried to go after the rebels but could not pursue them.

Howe wasted no time and prepared for a second attack within fifteen minutes. The second strike met the same fate as the first. The rebels held their fire until the last moment and then completely decimated the British lines. The British troops were once again forced to retreat.

The Patriots however held the opposite fate. They had done everything correctly until the third strike. Many troops refused to march from exhaustion or fear. The biggest problem was that their small supply of ammunit

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Approximate Word count = 1509
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History