Bunker Hill Essays - Charlestown, Boston, Battle Of Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill Essays - Charlestown, Boston, Battle Of Bunker Hill Bunker Hill The battle on Breeds 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 Breeds Hills. So the rebels decided to invade 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 Breeds 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 Breeds 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 nights 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. Breeds Hill was now tactically secure and was ready for battle. The next day when the British discovered this fortification they became infuriated. The boat Lively opened fire upon the hill. Joined in by the Glasgow and Somerset these three ships made much noise and did minimal to no damage. The British finally realized that the American position was not as completely stupid as it looked some eight hours later. Sir William Howe received tactical information from Gage on commands of operation. With this and 1,200 men Howe landed on the peninsula. Throughout that day the American forces had been reinforced to about 1,500 troops. The British grew to about 2,500 that would actually partake in the battle. The stage was now set for one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. The British could have easily taken over the hills by surrounding them but they wanted to show them who was boss so they decided on a head on battle. They realized faults in their plan where the rebels fortified the areas well, however the British paid no attention to it. They had no reason to stop and think twice from their past experiences with the rebel forces. So far they had shown no great ability to shoot and these men behind low stone walls or rails surely would be nothing to think twice about. British brought some light cannons for some direct artillery support but foolishly brought the wrong size ammunition, but no one expected to use them anyway so they remained there useless. This type of thinking was part of why the British had such seve re casualties. When it was obvious the battle was going to begin the officers were extremely nervous on the American side. Many of the officers paced back and forth in the trenches behind their men. They had