Battle of Bunker Hill

Overview

The mission to fortify and defend Bunker Hill occured on June 17th 1775. The mission was to set up a fort with cannons pointing in towards Boston and scare the British soldiers into giving up the city. In the early morning the Colonists were found and Thomas Gage set up an attack on the hill, the British landed next to the hill without a propblem due to being under the cover of artillery fire. The battle was hard and would eventually become the bloodiest battle of the war. The British won with severe casualties, which inspired the colonists to continue to fight a long 8 years.

The tactis involed in the Battle of Bunker Hill were fairly simple; the British choosing to suround the fort and give them the best chance to spread the colonists fire power. The colonists plan was to use the hills hight as an advantage and continuously shoot down on the redcoats. The British plan worked the best due to them winning but at a very high cost of life.

Tactics

Weapons

Many weapons were used during the battle, the British used muskets with bayonets and cannons for cover fire. The colonists had an arangment of weapons but their main guns were hunting rifles and cannons.

Maj. General William Howe

William Howe was born in 1729 and died in 1814. He led the attack on Bunker Hill as well as became the head of military affairs in North America after Thomas Gage resigned. He attempted to stop the colonists but after the battle of Saratoga he lost all support from the government. He soon then resigned and had no other military involvement after the war.

Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage was born in 1721 and died in 1787(66 years old). He was a General by the end of his military career and fought in many wars including the French-Indian war. He was in charge of the North American forces from 1763-1774. He was the main person who influenced the intolerable acts as well as ordering the march on Lexinton and Concord.

Col. William Prescott

William Prescott was put in command of about 1000 soldiers and were given the mission to fortify Bunker Hill. Due to some error he mistook Breeds Hill as Bunker Hill. This hill was a better place in relation to Boston but it was not as easily defendable.

About 450 americans were killed, wounded or captured in the battle of bunker hill including General Joseph Warren. The British on the other hand lost roughly 89 officers and 1054 soldiers overall. The Americans lost about 45% of their soldiers while the British lost about 50% of their forces.

Casualties

Signifigance

(Short Term)

At the end of the battle the British won due to numbers of people and lack of suplies for the Americans. This effectively gave the British full control over the Charlestown Peninsula allowing them to have a solid foothold in the colonies.

Signifigance (Long Term)

The British won the battle but they made a fatal mistake of not capturing Dorchester Heights a hill south of the city of Boston. Due to this mistake, when General George Washinton took over the Continental Army, he led a group of people to Dorchester and held Boston at gun point. This forced the British to evacuate the city and leave if for the colonies.