Battle of Bunker Hill

To attain its current state, America has undergone a lot of battles and life changing moments within its history. America was colonized by Europeans, and had to have a revolution to gain independence. The revolution was not a one-day battle but a series of them. The first battle towards the revolution was “The Battle of Bunker Hill” where American soldiers, going by the name ‘the American continental army’ stood against the British troops of Boston garrison. The battle took place on the 17^th of June in 1775 mostly around Breeds hill that was adjacent to the Banker hill, which was the main target of the Americans (Daniel 180). Additionally, this was in an effort to prevent the British soldiers from seizing further part of the countryside after Lexington and Concord. The American Continental army was led by Colonel William Prescott while the British army was led by Major William Howe. This was one of the major battles for Americans standing against the British killing and injuring of Americans. This gave them further courage to fight on for their freedom.

On the 13^th of June before the battle of Bunker hill, the American continental army had learnt of the British plans to send their troops to occupy some of the hills surrounding the city that were yet to be occupied. In response, the continental army sent around 1200 men to occupy the hills. Many came with the weapons they could manage to bring unlike the British who had all the weapons they needed to their disposal. Although the plan was for Bunker Hill initially, Breed’s Hill was seen as a better position than Bunker. Here, the soldiers built defense lines although they were light since they did not have enough men with arms. They built square redoubt with 130 feet each side (Englar 7).

Upon this news, the British army wasted no time in responding to their response, as well. They lunched an attack the next morning against the continental army. The continental army did not fire back at the British army at first. This was because they were low on ammunition and had to use them only when each would count. This was in realization of the situation arising upon the rising of the sun. The British army also fired briefly until they realized their firing had little effect on the American troops. At the sea, the British army had more cavalry of ship. In the first attack, the continental army was able to hold their position and won.

Upon realizing that the hill could be flanked from the north or even the west, Prescott had to take an action. He lacked a significant number of men and the only choice was ordering his men to build a breastwork that extended to the north from the built redoubt. At this time, the British were meeting in Boston where they were deliberating on the best way of attacking. While Clinton recommended attacking from Charleston neck where it was possible to cut off Americans, the rest advocated for a direct attack on the Americans at Breed’s Hill. The attack would be led by William Howe, who crossed Charleston Peninsula to land at Moulton’s point at the eastern edge. His intention was to attack from the left edge while one of the other colonels would attack against the redoubt. Upon arrival, Howe realized there were additional American men at Bunker Hill. He requested more men for reinforcement. On the other hand, upon realizing and seeing the preparations of the British soldiers, Prescott had also asked for reinforcements. His reinforcements came from Captain Thomas Kwnolton men who were deployed at the rail fence on the left and other troops from Hampshire led by Colonel John Stark.

With the American reinforcements, Howe could not make to his earlier planned position since the left edge was now extended with the reinforcement from Knowlton’s men. Additional reinforcement troops from Massachusetts arrived but struggled with organization. The British ships started attacking from the harbor. At 3 pm, the British were ready to attack but men led by Pigot near Charlestown were attacked by snipers. On the other hand, Howe started advancing along the river. However, they were cut in with heavy firing from Stark’s men who had covered that side. The British were unable to advance further and had to fall back due to loss of their soldiers after the attack. On the other side, Pigot saw Howe’s men falling back and did the same to unite. Howe ordered Pigot to attack on the redoubt while Howe attacked the men at the rail fence. However, the American troops reiterated quickly, and British suffered quite a large loss of its soldiers.

One of the setbacks to the Americans was the lack of organization at the rear where Putnam had several problems and had just few men reaching the front to fight. After regrouping from the second attack, Howe was able to reform and receive more men as reinforcement from Boston. Another attack was organized, this time focusing on the redoubt, where the British attacked uphill. “General Howe, the British commander, decided to assault the hill after a crucial maneuver to cut off and isolate Americans was botched,” (Daniel 181). This brought them under heavy firing from the Prescott’s men and continued to suffer more losses. However, the tables turned upside down when the Americans ran out of ammunition and had to result to a hand-to-hand battle. This gave the British soldiers an upper hand since they were equipped with bayonets.

Realizing the control of the British coming in, the other troops fell back. Most of the American troops fell back in a hurry since they had no means to defeat the British. Knowlton and Stark’s troops fell back in a controlled manner, giving the others time to fall back by covering Prescott’s men from the rear to allow them enough time to fall back. Putnam tried to get some of the troops to Bunker Hill but failed, and they fell back to Cambridge. The troops retreated and did not come to fight back. The fight ended with British taking up control of the hills.

Although the British had own, they suffered a greater loss considering American lost 115 soldiers, 305 injured, and 30 of them were captured by the British. On the other hand, the British suffered a bigger loss, with 226 loosing their lives, 828 ended up injured (Englar 33). However, these numbers may not be certain since different accounts give different numbers. The British were quite worried by their loss and Americans as well suffered a great loss considering nothing changed in Boston. After this battle, the British General Gage was replaced by Howe who was haunted by the death of his soldiers. After the battle, despite their win, the British soldiers continued to be trapped by the American troops in Boston, who rallied for more soldiers. This brought the realization that British soldiers could be defeated, giving the American troops greater morale to organize themselves for another battle. Two weeks after the battle, George Washington arrived at Cambridge to lead the continental army.

Although the Americans lost control of the hills, in a bigger way they had won and learnt. Despite their loss, they had managed to kill more of the British and realized it was possible to beat them. They lacked enough men, resources and even ammunition to take on such a vast army. However, their determination encouraged their fighting. It dawned on Americans that they could be able to defeat the British using the traditional fighting methods. This sent a message to all American troops from wherever they were, proving that the British army was not invincible as earlier thought. It was also thought to be too mighty to stand against, but all this proved otherwise. This was one of the deadliest wars in the American Revolution (Daniel 181).

Work cited

Daniel D. Alan. The Super Summary of World History. New York, N.Y: Xlibris Corporation, 2010. Print.

Englar Mary. The Battle of Bunker Hill. New York, N.Y: Capstone, 2007. Print.