Bunker Hill, Battle of
1775 CE
The Battle of Bunker Hill takes place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War.
The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill.
"On June 13, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learn that the British generals are planning to send troops out from the city to occupy the unoccupied hills surrounding the city.
In response to this intelligence, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupy Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill, construct an earthen redoubt on Breed's Hill, and built lightly fortified lines across most of the Charlestown Peninsula.When the British are alerted to the presence of the new position the next day, they mount an attack against them.
After two assaults on the colonial lines ware repulsed with significant British casualties, the British finally capture the positions on the third assault, after the defenders in the redoubt run out of ammunition.
The colonial forces retreat to Cambridge over Bunker Hill, suffering their most significant losses on Bunker Hill.While the result is a victory for the British, they suffer heavy losses: over 800 wounded and 226 killed, including a notably large number of officers.
The battle is seen as an example of a Pyrrhic victory, because the immediate gain (the capture of Bunker Hill) is modest and does not significantly change the state of the siege, while the cost (the loss of nearly a third of the deployed forces) is high.
Meanwhile, colonial forces are able to retreat and regroup in good order having suffered few casualties.
Furthermore, the battle demonstrates that relatively inexperienced colonial forces are willing and able to stand up to regular army troops in a pitched battle.
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The Second Continental Congress takes various steps toward organizing an American government, appointing George Washington commander-in-chief (June 14), Benjamin Franklin postmaster general (July 26) and creating a Continental Navy (October 13) and a Marine force (November 10) as landing troops for it, but as yet the thirteen colonies have not declared independence, and both the British (June 12) and American (July 15) governments make laws.
On July 6, Congress issues the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and on August 23, King George III of England declares the American colonies in rebellion, announcing it to parliament on November 10.
On June 17, two months into the colonial siege of Boston, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, just north of Boston, British forces are victorious, but only after suffering severe casualties and after Colonial forces run out of ammunition, Fort Ticonderoga is taken by American forces in New York Colony's northern frontier, and American forces unsuccessfully invade Canada, with an attack on Montreal defeated by British forces on November 13 and an attack on Quebec repulsed December 31.
It is a British victory—but at a great cost: about one thousand British casualties from a garrison of about six thousand, as compared to five hundred American casualties from a much larger force.
Three generals had arrived on May 25, on HMS Cerberus: William Howe, John Burgoyne, and Henry Clinton.
Gage had begun planning to break out of the city.
The plan decided on by the British command is to fortify both Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights.
They fix the date for taking Dorchester Heights at June 18.
The colonists' Committee of Safety had learned of the British plans 0n June 15.
In response, they had sent instructions to General Ward to fortify Bunker Hill and the heights of Charlestown; he has ordered Colonel William Prescott to do so.
On the night of June 16, Prescott leads twelve hundred men over the Charlestown Neck, and constructs fortifications on Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill.
British troops, two months into the colonial siege of Boston, open fire on June 17 on Breed's Hill on Charles Town Peninsula in what has been misnamed as the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Joseph Warren, appointed a Major General by the Provincial Congress on June 14, had arrived where the militia was forming and asked where would the heaviest fighting be; General Israel Putnam had pointed to Breeds Hill.
He had volunteered as a private against the wishes of General Putnam and Colonel William Prescott, who had requested that he serve as their commander.
Since Putnam and Prescott are more experienced with war, he had declined command.
He is among those inspiring the men to hold rank against superior numbers.
Warren is known to have repeatedly declared of the British: "These fellows say we won't fight! By Heaven, I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood!"
He fights in the redoubt until out of ammunition, and remains until the British make their third and final assault on the hill to give time for the militia to escape.
He is killed instantly by a musket ball in the head by a British officer (possibly Lieutenant Lord Rawdon) who had recognized him.
This account is supported by a 2011 forensic analysis.
His body is stripped of clothing and he is bayoneted until unrecognizable, then shoved into a shallow ditch.
British Captain Walter Laurie, who had been defeated at Old North Bridge, later said he "stuffed the scoundrel with another rebel into one hole, and there he and his seditious principles may remain." (In what may be the first recorded instance of post-mortem identification by forensic odontology, his body will be exhumed ten months after his death by his brothers and Paul Revere, who will identify the remains by the artificial tooth he had placed in the jaw.)
The British succeed in their tactical objective of taking the high ground on the Charlestown peninsula, but they suffer significant losses.
With some one thousand men killed or wounded, including ninety-two officers killed, the British losses are so heavy that there will be no further direct attacks on American forces.
The Americans, while losing the battle, had again stood against the British regulars with some success, as they had successfully repelled two assaults on Breed's Hill during the engagement.
From this point, the siege essentially becomes a stalemate.