The Battle of Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill


After the militia surrounded Boston; both sides built strong defensive-works. The colonials tried to fortify Bunker Hill. A mistake resulted in them fortifying nearby Breeds Hill, and to correct the mistake Breeds Hill was renamed Bunker Hill.  After working through the night the militiamen managed to erect fairly strong earthworks on Breeds Hill. The British had been planning to occupy and fortify Bunker and Breeds Hills. They were suprised to find the hills heavily fortify and defended by 1200 militia. They landed a total of 2400 well-trained well-equiped British marines and land troops. At the start of the battle the British advanced in neat rows up the hill. As the British advanced one of the patriot commanders William Prescott yelled ''don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes. The patriots were short on ammunition and he wanted to make every shot count. The first British advance was bloodily beaten back by 2-3 deadly close range volleys. The British sent more troops up the hill and again the deadly fire of the patriots beat them back. By the third British advance the colonials were nearly out of ammunition. However they fought bravely, but of many of them were killed including prominent patriot leader Joseph Warren. They managed to retreat to Cambridge and the British didn't pursue. The losses for the Redcoats were nearly 1000 soldiers including Major John Pitcairn who told the minutemen to lay down their arms at Lexington. The Patriots lost 400 militiamen. The battle showed that the patriots weren't cowards and they could fight. It also increased support for the revolution.


To Be Continued        By CWS