On this day in 1775, the Revolutionary colonists and the British engaged each other in what would be called the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Boston-overlooking Charlestown Peninsula and Dorchester Heights in Massachusetts lay abandoned at this period in time, due to the fact that the colonial militiamen had moved their numbers outward to encircle the countryside near Lexington and Concord to prevent more British attacks on the area. Because key areas so near to Boston were virtually undefended, General Gage, along with British military leaders William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne planned a maneuver to capture these areas for themselves while the colonists were occupied. By doing this, General Gage hoped to make the British “the masters of these heights.”
(General Thomas Gage, left, and General William Howe, right).
This new intelligence spread to the side of the colonists and reached the ear of Adam Ward, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety Orders General. Armed with this information, General Ward instructed Colonel William Prescott to gather a force of one thousand colonial militiamen in order to beat the British to the Peninsula, fortify the elevated ground at Bunker Hill, and prevent British control of the Boston area. Ultimately, Colonel Prescott and his men arrived at Charlestown Peninsula, but made the decision to bypass Bunker Hill in lieu of an area known as Breed’s Hill, situated further south and within cannon range of Boston and its harbor. Prescott’s men toiled hard through the night in order to erect 160-foot-long fort made of earth at the top of the hill — its fortified walls rose up to 30 feet high, complete with a rail fence.
(Statue of Colonel William Prescott).
When the British soldiers awoke on the morning of June 17th, they were unpleasantly shocked to find the colonial fortifications standing in their way upon the hill. The British lay on the attack, but Colonel Prescott encouraged the men to continue working and reportedly walked the bulwarks of the fort to raise the morale of the untrained men. As two thousand British troops arrived in the Charlestown harbor and launched shells at the town, more British troops attempted to advance uphill on Prescott’s troops. The colonial militia had the upper hand as they held the higher ground and the British troops struggled uphill, hindered by the newly-built fences, uneven earth, and excessively tall grass. It is at this point in time that Colonel Prescott’s famous line, “Hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” was uttered; the British approached within 150 feet of the wall when the colonists opened fire. At this range, the deadliness of the gunfire was severe and the British recoiled. General Howe quickly ordered his stunned troops to regroup and attempt a second charge, this time with more caution. Yet again, colonial bullets soared into the British ranks and decimated the numbers for a second time.
After the remainder of the British troops regrouped from the defeat of the first two charges, General Howe received reinforcements of about 400 British troops from Boston and ordered a third attack with hopes that the new addition of men would tip the scales in British favor. Once again, a charge was led on Prescott’s fort, and, again, the colonial militia waited for their enemy to draw near before they opened fire. This time, the British were slightly refreshed by their new men and the colonists were running short on ammunition from the first two attacks, resulting in a British overrun of the fort and exchange of hand-to-hand combat and the use of musket butts and rocks as weapons. However, this type was combat was not enough — Colonel Prescott’s remaining men were forced to retreat from the fort and into the town of Cambridge, where colonial troops from New Hampshire attempted to cover their flanks. The colonial militia suffered 140 causalities, 271 wounded men, and the loss of the upper ground near Bunker Hill and Boston. However, despite the establishment of British control in Charlestown, the British military had suffered twice as many casualties as the colonists and just over three times the amount of wounded men.
http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-bunker-hill
>> Battle of Bunker Hill: Legacy
“The British had won the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill, and Breed’s Hill and the Charlestown Peninsula fell firmly under British control. Despite losing their strategic positions, the battle was a significant morale-builder for the inexperienced Americans, convincing them that patriotic dedication could overcome superior British military might. Additionally, the high price of victory at the Battle of Bunker Hill made the British realize that the war with the colonies would be long, tough and costly.”
And, for your younger ones, here is a link to a personal favorite video of mine from my childhood: Schoolhouse Rock’s song, “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” Although it is a very cursory overview of the Revolutionary War, there is a section around the middle with a nod to the very important engagement near Bunker Hill. It is a beloved song of mine and my old elementary school peers’!
The History Museum of Western Virginia 